Great songs: Nessun Dorma

Nessun Dorma is one of the most beautiful works of music that has ever been made. I am sure you all have heard it before but here is a bit about the story of it. And also a translation of the lyrics. Made it even more beautiful. (Like I wasn't all ready crying?)

For a long time I thought the only one that could sing this was Pavarotti. I just get tears to my eyes from listening to him and the way he lives through his music when he sings is amazing.
But then I found another clip of another version of the piece. It's Areatha Franklin singing it at the Grammys because Pavarotti got sick in the last minute. I also really love her voice and it actually is amazing to hear her sing soul/opera. Also brings tears to my eyes.

Here is Pavarotti:


Here is Aretha

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Nessun dorma (English edition: None shall sleep tonight)[1] is an aria from the final act of Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot,[2] and is one of the best known tenor arias in all opera. It is sung by Calaf, Il principe ignoto (The unknown prince), who falls in love at first sight with the beautiful but cold Princess Turandot. However, any man who wishes to wed Turandot must first answer her three riddles. If he fails, he will be beheaded.

In the previous act, Calaf has correctly answered the three riddles put to all of Princess Turandot's prospective suitors. Nevertheless, she recoils at the thought of marriage to him. Calaf offers her another chance by challenging her to guess his name by dawn. (As he kneels before her, the 'Nessun Dorma' theme makes a first appearance, to his words Il mio nome non sai!.) If she does so, she can execute him, but if she does not, she must marry him. The cruel and emotionally cold princess then decrees that none of her subjects is to sleep that night until his name is discovered. If they fail, all will be killed.

As the final act opens, it is now night. Calaf is alone in the moonlit palace gardens. In the distance he hears Turandot's heralds proclaiming her command. His aria begins with an echo of their cry and a reflection on Princess Turandot:

"Nessun dorma! Nessun dorma! Tu pure, o Principessa, nella tua fredda stanza, guardi le stelle che tremano d'amore, e di speranza!"

(English translation: "None shall sleep! None shall sleep! Even you, o Princess, in your cold bedroom, watch the stars that tremble with love and with hope")

"Ma il mio mistero è chiuso in me; il nome mio nessun saprà! No, No! Sulla tua bocca lo dirò quando la luce splenderà!"

(English translation: "But my secret is hidden within me; none will know my name! No, no! On your mouth I will say it when the light shines!")

"Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio che ti fa mia!"

(English translation: "And my kiss will dissolve the silence that makes you mine!")

Just before the climactic end of the aria, a chorus of women is heard singing in the distance:

"Il nome suo nessun saprà... E noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir!"

(English translation: "No one will know his name... and we will have to, alas, die, die!")

Calaf, now certain of victory, sings:

"Dilegua, o notte! Tramontate, stelle! Tramontate, stelle! All'alba vincerò! Vincerò! Vincerò!"

(English translation: "Vanish, o night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At daybreak I shall win! I shall win! I shall win!")

Great commercials: Heroes of the future - Statolihydro

This commercial is one of the most moving I have ever seen. The vocals are just so amazing and the pictures too. The song is a cover, crisp, quiet and beautiful version of Elton John's Rocket Man, before fading over into the original. The movie is about a lot of different kids and how they train to reach their goal or dreams in the future. Impossible to describe, so just watch it. I get tears in my eyes after 3 seconds. Emotional? No, not at all.

Film: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

I can't wait!! Looks like the best one so far!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Quicktime - Trailer | Moviecentre.net

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New Music: Zoe Keating

I have always been a huge fan of cellos. It has that melancholic but at the same time very warm quality about it that just hits my soul. Today I was watching a vblog by Imogen Heap. She was talking about going to pop!tech and I just randomly clicked on a related pop!tech clip. On came Zoe Keating. I have also been a fan of sampling for a long time and really wanted to learn it (I just need money for some equipment). Anyways, Zoe Keating samples her own cello playing live and makes music of it. Some of the most amazing stuff I've seen for a long while. Really beautiful and new.
Take a look.

Great interviews: Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood looking strange and funny in Japan.

This is one of my favorite interviews of all time. Just look at them!!! And look at the difference between them. There is something very nervous and strange and very cultural crash about the whole thing. I love the whole, "We have been very lucky with the weather so far". This interview just has a whole life of it own. strange and very funny.

New music: Benjamin Costello

Sometimes you stumble over things on the internet that are truly amazing. Benjamin Costello is like that. I stumbled over his profile about 6 months back and has kept track of his new things since then. This is one of those cases when music speaks loader than words, so just listen for yourself. He does both covers and his own music. Let's hope he gets famous some day! :D Certainly got both the voice and looks and talent for it, if you ask me :)

Start of by this great cover version of Black Star by Radiohead:



This his beautiful original song "Fall"



This is his profile on YouTube where you can find tons more.

Wow, I found out he's doing live shows in people's houses every week. Read more on his homepage

Reckoner Remix competition: Amazing strings version

Radiohead has released the song Reckoner in all it's tracks and has invited people to remix it. You go into this site and vote for your favorite. There are a lot of strange stuff there and some are quite boring, but there is a string quartet that has made an amazing version (see below) Go to the site and listen and vote. It's truly an amazing version. It's by the Iskra String Quartet.

New video: Reckoner by Radiohead

(I think I'll just let mr. yorke do the talking. quote from homepage.)

hello
my mind is not functioning at the correct speed at the moment thanks to being in Tokyo
but however and here
is one of my favourite video things that has ever happened
for Reckoner it is, the result of somebody entering a competition to make an animation to one of the tunes on IN RAINbows.
on aniboom. you can scroll down dead air space and find all about it.. but anyway

so we asked them whether it was ok to make it the official one we use as it goes with the song so well. they said yes.

and if you're like me and find it hard to find videos on televsion any more, or even turn on the television you can watch right here.

ok now im going to fold some clothes.

Find more videos like this on w.a.s.t.e. central

Great interviews: Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood on Chicago Public Radio - All about chickens

I just found this very cute radio interview with Thom York and Jonny Greenwood. It's very like unedited and Thom is trying to convince Jon-jon (haha) to play and says he's a chicken, so Jonny goes on to talk about his chickens in stead. Quite a strange but beautiful little thing :)



The whole interview can be found here. And the version of "None of This" that Thom end up playing here. Such an amazing song!!

Great Musicians: The genius of Jonny Greenwood - Part I

Mr. Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead might be my favorite musician of all time. That man can do anything, do it right and still be so humble about it. It's just amazing. I'll give you a long lecture about this some other time. In the meanwhile, watch these two videos (one and two) and just be amazed. It's better to watch it and listen to it, than trying to describe really.

Papa Fran and Berlin

Fran Healy of Travis became a father a few years ago to The Boy with No Name (both a baby and an album) The boy has later got the name Clay. Fran has now moved to Berlin with his wife and their little boy. I think she is German? Anyways, I found this really really cool little video thing on YouTube. Fran is talking about his 5 favorite things about Berlin and gets interrupted by little Clay. Prizeless :)

The new Travis video!

Ladies and gents, I have been a bit sloppy. It has been out since the 15th of September, but here it is. The great "Something Anything" video by Travis. I will write more about the album later. Starting to like it more and more :)

Guestbook - Give me all your comments!!

This post is added to give my blog a guestbook. Please leave your comments :)

Musical memories: Chris Rea - Tell Me There's a Heaven

This song I found when I was about 13 in my father's record collection and it still touches me. It's very over the top, but still it's quite cute. It's something in Chris Rea's voice that is comforting in a way and cliches are always true, so it's quite cute :) Look here

Great songs: Such Great Heights - The Postal Service

One thing I really can miss when traveling is listening to music. When on holiday with family it's not a good time to listen to an mp3-player... I usually really don't notice it before I get really irritated for no reason, and then I realize that I haven't listened to music for a few days. After about 15 minutes of good music all is back to good :)

An example of a great song that I never get tiered of is "Such Great Heights" by The Postal Service. It is now used in a Norwegian commercial, so I am sure you will hear it on the radio to soon. I discovered The Postal Service about a year ago, as I was searching for similar artists to Lali Puna online. The intro has the same kind of "blipp blopp" sound as Lali Puna often use and it's something about the bass and the drums to. It somehow makes me feel safe and happy this song. It's so light and so groovy at the same time. I really love the voice of Ben Gibbard (who is maybe more known as the vocalists from Death Cab for Cutie). Another similarity with Lali Puna songs is that it can just float in the background for hours and is really good to work to. Most of The Postal Service music is like that too. Here it is. Enjoy!

Life: Back from Rome!

One of my 440 photos of Rome. This is a view over the city from the Aqua Paola Fountain and is the first view I saw of Rome when I first visited a few years ago, so it means a lot to me. All I could think was... "WOW.. I am so lucky to be spending 2,5 weeks here..."

Hello good people, I am back from Rome :) There will be more about this later in the blog as soon as my stomic flue ends, the cat stops killing birds all over my living room and I get my job interview done tomorrow :)