There just SOMETHING about The Flight of the Bumblebee! Not only do we recognize it from the Green Hornet tv series from yesteryear, but various artists such as jazz artist Al Hirt, rockabilly Brian Setzer and heavy metal band Manowar have put their own unique spin on the tune.
And if you can believe it, Brazilian Tiago della Vega absolutely shredded his guitar breaking the 2008 Guiness World Record for fastest guitar playing with The Flight of the Bumblebee at 320 beats per minute.
And perhaps not quite as exciting, this score has also been used in adverts for butter, mobile phones and allergy medications.
This little humble tune is the orchestral interlude from Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, which was based on the Alexandr Pushkin poem of the same name.
The tune, written in 1899, closes Act III, Tableau I. This little frantic piece of music is such a challenge for musicians to play, with its uninterrupted runs of chromatic sixteenth notes.
And exactly how it makes one feels, there is a sense of urgency with the piece, as the magic swan-bird transforms Prince Gvidon Saltanovich into a flying insect so that he can visit his father, the Tsar. (who doesn't know he's still alive) It is interesting to note that in the actual opera, there are lyrics to this tune, which the swanbird sings.
Most recently, The Flight of the Bumblebee have been tied to women who absolutely kick butt.
In 2003's Kill Bill movie by Quentin Tarantino, it's used in the pivotal scene where Uma Thurman boards an airplane to Japan to have the ultimate showdown with Lucy Liu. The tune was given a trumpet treatment, for that kitschy and swingin' 60s feel that's prevalent in Tarantino's other movies, such as Pulp Fiction.
But what's even more butt-kickingly awesome is Shanghai cellist Tina Guo's heavy metal take on the bumblebee. You can also check her out without the gold bodypaint, as she plays the tune in the studio here.
Guo has played as a soloist with San Diego Orchestra, but has crossed over into other musical genres by playing with Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban, John Legend, Chris Isaak, Il divo and her own progressive metal band, Off the Deep End.
She has performed at the Grammys, MTV Movie Awards, the Jimi Hendrix tribute concert in Rio and Comic-Con where she played with the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra. Guo is also featured as cellist for both the Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes scores.
And all by the age of 23.
From the humble little beginnings of being just a musical interlude to "I am woman, hear me roar", The Flight of the Bumblebee sure packs a sting!
~ Ling Chan
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Attack of the Killer Bees
There just SOMETHING about The Flight of the Bumblebee! Not only do we recognize it from the Green Hornet tv series from yesteryear, but various artists such as jazz artist al hirt, rockabilly brian setzer and heavy metal band manowar have put their own unique spin on the tune.
And if you can believe it, brazilian Tiago Della Vega absolutely shredded his guitar breaking the 2008 Guiness world record for fastest guitar playing with the Flight of the Bumblebee at 320 beats per minute.
And perhaps not quite as exciting, the score has also been used in adverts for butter, mobile phones and allergy medications.
This little humble tune is the orchestral interlude from Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, which was based on the Alexandr Pushkin poem of the same name.
The tune, written in 1899, closes act III, tableau I. This little frantic piece of music is such a challenge for musicians to play, with its uninterrupted runs of chromatic sixteenth notes.
And exactly how it makes one feels, there is a sense of urgency with the piece, as the magic swan-bird transforms Prince Gvidon Saltanovich into a flying insect so that he can visit his father, the tsar. (who doesn't know he's still alive) it is interesting to note that in the actual opera, there are lyrics to this tune, which the swanbird sings.
Most recently, The Flight of the Bumblebee have been tied to women who absolutely kick butt.
In 2003's Kill Bill movie by Quentin Tarantino, it's used in the pivotal scene where uma thurman boards an airplane to Japan to have the ultimate showdown with Lucy Liu. The tune was given a trumpet treatment, for that kitschy and swingin' 60s feel that's prevalent in Tarantino's other movies, such as Pulp Fiction.
But what's even more butt-kickingly awesome is Shanghai cellist Tina Guo's heavy metal take on the bumblebee. You can also check her out without the gold bodypaint, as she plays the tune in the studio here.
Guo has played as a soloist with San Diego orchestra, but has crossed over into other musical genres by playing with the Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban, John Legend, Chris Isaak, il Divo and her own progressive metal band, Off the Deep End.
She has performed at the Grammys, MTV Movie awards, the Jimi Hendrix tribute concert in Rio and Comic-Con where she played with the Battlestar Galactica orchestra. Guo is also featured as cellist for both Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes scores.
And all by the age of 23.
From the humble little beginnings of being just a musical interlude to "I am woman, hear me roar", The Flight of the Bumblebee sure packs a sting!
And if you can believe it, brazilian Tiago Della Vega absolutely shredded his guitar breaking the 2008 Guiness world record for fastest guitar playing with the Flight of the Bumblebee at 320 beats per minute.
And perhaps not quite as exciting, the score has also been used in adverts for butter, mobile phones and allergy medications.
This little humble tune is the orchestral interlude from Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera, The Tale of Tsar Saltan, which was based on the Alexandr Pushkin poem of the same name.
The tune, written in 1899, closes act III, tableau I. This little frantic piece of music is such a challenge for musicians to play, with its uninterrupted runs of chromatic sixteenth notes.
And exactly how it makes one feels, there is a sense of urgency with the piece, as the magic swan-bird transforms Prince Gvidon Saltanovich into a flying insect so that he can visit his father, the tsar. (who doesn't know he's still alive) it is interesting to note that in the actual opera, there are lyrics to this tune, which the swanbird sings.
Most recently, The Flight of the Bumblebee have been tied to women who absolutely kick butt.
In 2003's Kill Bill movie by Quentin Tarantino, it's used in the pivotal scene where uma thurman boards an airplane to Japan to have the ultimate showdown with Lucy Liu. The tune was given a trumpet treatment, for that kitschy and swingin' 60s feel that's prevalent in Tarantino's other movies, such as Pulp Fiction.
But what's even more butt-kickingly awesome is Shanghai cellist Tina Guo's heavy metal take on the bumblebee. You can also check her out without the gold bodypaint, as she plays the tune in the studio here.
Guo has played as a soloist with San Diego orchestra, but has crossed over into other musical genres by playing with the Foo Fighters, Stevie Wonder, Josh Groban, John Legend, Chris Isaak, il Divo and her own progressive metal band, Off the Deep End.
She has performed at the Grammys, MTV Movie awards, the Jimi Hendrix tribute concert in Rio and Comic-Con where she played with the Battlestar Galactica orchestra. Guo is also featured as cellist for both Iron Man 2 and Sherlock Holmes scores.
And all by the age of 23.
From the humble little beginnings of being just a musical interlude to "I am woman, hear me roar", The Flight of the Bumblebee sure packs a sting!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The 'Bots Are Coming!
Our Operabot animation contest just got its first submission! Kudos to the good folks at Art Institute of Colorado for uploading it on our Youtube Channel today.
Contest runs until November 1, 2009.
Winners will be awarded a plethora of prizes.
Three winners will be chosen by a panel of judges from Vancouver's leading animation studios. One winner will be chosen by popular vote. The judging will take place at a special screening party we'll be hosting! (details to come!)
So tell your friends and make sure to vote for your favourite animated shorts!
Operabot is sponsored by The Georgia Straight
~ Ling Chan
Contest runs until November 1, 2009.
Winners will be awarded a plethora of prizes.
Three winners will be chosen by a panel of judges from Vancouver's leading animation studios. One winner will be chosen by popular vote. The judging will take place at a special screening party we'll be hosting! (details to come!)
So tell your friends and make sure to vote for your favourite animated shorts!
Operabot is sponsored by The Georgia Straight
~ Ling Chan
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Operamania 101: You Will Be Converted
The start of the season is almost upon us. With the Golden Anniversary Gala & Concert just around the corner and our first opera of the season opening up November 28, the office has been buzzing with activity. Most of us will be working around the clock to ensure that everything runs seamlessly.
We are now rushing headlong into our busy season, which typically runs from November to May. For me, that means that my dance card is full. Get togethers often take a backseat as I work nights and weekends during productions.
Friends have often asked me what's all the big hullabaloo over opera? What's the appeal? Why do people, season after season, buy tickets to watch such a grandiose form of entertainment? And wondering why and if they could ever get into such a thing?
These questions bring me back to that famous scene in 1993's Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Aids ravaged Hanks, preparing for his courtcase with his lawyer Washington, is suddenly overwhelmed with emotion when he catches the aria from Umberto Giordano's verismo opera, Andre Chénier playing in the background.
Like a man possessed (and over-acting), Hanks sways rapturously (with IV unit in tow) as he translate for Washington, the words soprano Maria Callas is singing in La mamma morta. Washington who doesn't know anything about opera is moved and transformed by Hanks explaining the meaning of the aria and his obvious passion for the art form.
I dare say, Washington may have just become a convert right then and there.
Andre Chénier is an opera about the French Revolution with the age old subject of the indifference of the aristocracy and the suffering of the imporverished. High emotions, most definitely.
Based loosely on the real life poet and revolutionary activist, Chénier and Maddalena are so madly in love, they pledge their eternal troth to each other. Gérard, who presides over the revolutionary tribunal, is also in love with Maddalena.
Wanting to get his competition out of the picture, Gérard falsely signs Chénier's death warrant.
Maddalena, having just lost her mother and home to the revolution is now faced with losing Chénier. She sings the heartbreaking La mamma morta.
Gérard has a change of heart and tries to halt the execution of Chénier, but is ultimately unsuccessful.
Maddalena, literally, will not live without her love. She then becomes a condemned woman and joins Chénier to die by guillotine.
With such universe emotions such as love, honour and sacrifice, it's no wonder that people are taken by opera. Some even become hard-core "fanatics." Opera's themes is all about the human condition. The music expresses all the emotions that everybody feels.
Asked why I've come to appreciate opera, I would tell my friends that it's the beauty of the costumes and sets, the intensity of the drama unfolding on the stage, the dedication of all those involved and of course, the music and the singing that reaches to the rooftops and beyond.
I am a believer.
~ Ling Chan
We are now rushing headlong into our busy season, which typically runs from November to May. For me, that means that my dance card is full. Get togethers often take a backseat as I work nights and weekends during productions.
Friends have often asked me what's all the big hullabaloo over opera? What's the appeal? Why do people, season after season, buy tickets to watch such a grandiose form of entertainment? And wondering why and if they could ever get into such a thing?
These questions bring me back to that famous scene in 1993's Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Aids ravaged Hanks, preparing for his courtcase with his lawyer Washington, is suddenly overwhelmed with emotion when he catches the aria from Umberto Giordano's verismo opera, Andre Chénier playing in the background.
Like a man possessed (and over-acting), Hanks sways rapturously (with IV unit in tow) as he translate for Washington, the words soprano Maria Callas is singing in La mamma morta. Washington who doesn't know anything about opera is moved and transformed by Hanks explaining the meaning of the aria and his obvious passion for the art form.
I dare say, Washington may have just become a convert right then and there.
Andre Chénier is an opera about the French Revolution with the age old subject of the indifference of the aristocracy and the suffering of the imporverished. High emotions, most definitely.
Based loosely on the real life poet and revolutionary activist, Chénier and Maddalena are so madly in love, they pledge their eternal troth to each other. Gérard, who presides over the revolutionary tribunal, is also in love with Maddalena.
Wanting to get his competition out of the picture, Gérard falsely signs Chénier's death warrant.
Maddalena, having just lost her mother and home to the revolution is now faced with losing Chénier. She sings the heartbreaking La mamma morta.
Gérard has a change of heart and tries to halt the execution of Chénier, but is ultimately unsuccessful.
Maddalena, literally, will not live without her love. She then becomes a condemned woman and joins Chénier to die by guillotine.
With such universe emotions such as love, honour and sacrifice, it's no wonder that people are taken by opera. Some even become hard-core "fanatics." Opera's themes is all about the human condition. The music expresses all the emotions that everybody feels.
Asked why I've come to appreciate opera, I would tell my friends that it's the beauty of the costumes and sets, the intensity of the drama unfolding on the stage, the dedication of all those involved and of course, the music and the singing that reaches to the rooftops and beyond.
I am a believer.
~ Ling Chan
You will be converted
The start of the season is almost upon us. With the golden anniversary gala & concert just around the corner and our first opera of the season opening up November 28, the office has been buzzing with activity. Most of us will be working around the clock to ensure that everything runs seamlessly.
Friends have often asked me what's all the big hullabaloo over opera? What's the appeal? Why do people, season and season, buy tickets to watch such a grandiose form of entertainment? And wondering why and if they could ever get into such a thing?
These questions bring me back to that famous scene in 1993's Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Aids ravaged Hanks, preparing for his courtcase with his lawyer Washington, is suddenly overwhelmed with emotion when he catches the aria from Umberto Giordano's verismo opera, Andre Chénier playing in the background.
Like a man possessed (and over-acting), Hanks sways rapturously (with IV unit in tow) as he translate for Washington, the words soprano Maria Callas is singing in La Mamma Morta. Washington who doesn't know anything about opera is moved and transformed by Hanks explaining the meaning of the aria and his obvious passion for the art form.
I dare say, Washington may have just become a convert right then and there.
Andre Chénier is an opera about the French Revolution with the age old subject of the indifference of the aristocracy and the suffering of the imporverished. High emotions, most definitely.
Based loosely on the real life poet and revolutionary activist, Chénier and Maddalena are so madly in love, they pledge their eternal troth to each other. Gérard, who presides over the revolutionary tribunal, is also in love with Maddalena.
Wanting to get his competition out of the picture, Gérard falsely signs Chénier's death warrant.
Maddalena, having just lost her mother and home to the revolution is now faced with losing Chénier. she sings the heartbreaking La Mamma Morta.
Gérard has a change of heart and tries to halt the execution of Chénier, but is ultimately unsuccessful.
Maddalena, literally, will not live without her love. She then becomes a condemned woman and joins Chénier to die by guillotine.
With such universe emotions such as love, honour and sacrifice, it's no wonder that people are taken by opera. Some even become hard-core "fanatics." Spera's themes is all about the human condition. The music expresses all the emotions that everybody feels.
Asked why I've come to appreciate opera, I would tell my friends that it's the beauty of the costumes and sets, the intensity of the drama unfolding on the stage, the dedication of all those involved and of course, the music and the singing that reaches to the rooftops and beyond.
I am a believer.
Friends have often asked me what's all the big hullabaloo over opera? What's the appeal? Why do people, season and season, buy tickets to watch such a grandiose form of entertainment? And wondering why and if they could ever get into such a thing?
These questions bring me back to that famous scene in 1993's Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Aids ravaged Hanks, preparing for his courtcase with his lawyer Washington, is suddenly overwhelmed with emotion when he catches the aria from Umberto Giordano's verismo opera, Andre Chénier playing in the background.
Like a man possessed (and over-acting), Hanks sways rapturously (with IV unit in tow) as he translate for Washington, the words soprano Maria Callas is singing in La Mamma Morta. Washington who doesn't know anything about opera is moved and transformed by Hanks explaining the meaning of the aria and his obvious passion for the art form.
I dare say, Washington may have just become a convert right then and there.
Andre Chénier is an opera about the French Revolution with the age old subject of the indifference of the aristocracy and the suffering of the imporverished. High emotions, most definitely.
Based loosely on the real life poet and revolutionary activist, Chénier and Maddalena are so madly in love, they pledge their eternal troth to each other. Gérard, who presides over the revolutionary tribunal, is also in love with Maddalena.
Wanting to get his competition out of the picture, Gérard falsely signs Chénier's death warrant.
Maddalena, having just lost her mother and home to the revolution is now faced with losing Chénier. she sings the heartbreaking La Mamma Morta.
Gérard has a change of heart and tries to halt the execution of Chénier, but is ultimately unsuccessful.
Maddalena, literally, will not live without her love. She then becomes a condemned woman and joins Chénier to die by guillotine.
With such universe emotions such as love, honour and sacrifice, it's no wonder that people are taken by opera. Some even become hard-core "fanatics." Spera's themes is all about the human condition. The music expresses all the emotions that everybody feels.
Asked why I've come to appreciate opera, I would tell my friends that it's the beauty of the costumes and sets, the intensity of the drama unfolding on the stage, the dedication of all those involved and of course, the music and the singing that reaches to the rooftops and beyond.
I am a believer.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sparkly Raffle Prizes at Golden Anniversary Gala!
Holidays coming up and you're wondering what to get for your one and only?
Well, if you're at the Golden Anniversary Gala on November 6, you could have a chance to win a sparkly raffle prize or two. Or even three.
Did I mention that the raffle prizes are from Tiffany & Co.?
Wanna take a peek at what the prizes will be? (of course you do)
Third Prize:
From Tiffany's Somerset range comes a medium-sized modern yet elegant wide mesh bracelet in sterling silver accented with round brilliant diamonds.
Retail value $1650
Second Prize:
Style has a name with this large round dome watch from the Atlas Collection. This watch with a black leather strap was designed with a Swiss quartz resonator movment in sleek stainless steel.
Retail value $2500
Grand Prize:
A pair of Tiffany & Co. earrings from the iconic and stylish Atlas Collection. Diamonds really are a girl's best friend with these open hoop earrings with exquisite round brilliant diamones set in 18 karat white gold.
Retail value $4600
So join us for a swanky night of dining and hob-nobbing with opera lovers, listening to the best voices in the business and a chance to win these fab prizes! Your earlobes and wrists will thank you!
To get in on the full Gala Package, call our Ticket Centre at 604-683-0222. Tix $650 each ($300 tax receipt)
~ Ling Chan
Friday, October 16, 2009
Music At The Click Of A Mouse
They say music calms the savage beast.
Well, we're all about the music so you've come to the right place!
Didja know that Operalive.ca has podcasts and audio clips of our upcoming Norma, Nixon in China, The Marriage of Figaro and Madama Butterfly?
(pssst. Operalive.ca also showcases our much talked about manga series, audience feedback, artwork and photo gallery)
You can also link on here to our podcasts:
Norma
Nixon in China
The Marriage of Figaro
Madama Butterfly
Still in the mood for more? How about some featured audio tracks?
Norma:
Casta Diva
Oh, di qual sei tu vittima
Qual cor tradisti
Nixon in China:
The people are the heroes now
News has a kind of mystery
Ladies and gentlemen, Comrades and friends
Cheers
The Marriage of Figaro:
Non piu andrai
Dove sono
Contessa perdone
Madama Butterfly:
Vogliatemi bene
Un bel di
Muore Butterfly
So when you're having "one of them days" at work or at home, click on any of these links to help tame that raging beast within and turn it into a flower loving Ferdinand the Bull.
~ Ling Chan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)