music is a journey
Accompanied by the English-Italian conductor and pianist Antonio Pappano on piano, Dutch violinist Janine Jansen performs Yesterdays, a 1933 song about nostalgia composed by Jerome Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) with lyrics by Otto Harbach (August 18, 1873 – January 24, 1963). The song was written for Roberta, a musical based on …
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Accompanied by the Orchestre National de Bretagne, French cellist Gautier Capuçon plays “Over the Rainbow” from Harold Arlen’s score to the 1939 American musical fantasy film The Wizard of Oz. Capucon is surrounded by the natural and historical beauty of Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France in this beautiful video by Electron Libre Productions. Capucon’s last …
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American tenor of Italian origin, Mario Lanza sings “Be My Love” with the Jeff Alexander Choir and Ray Sinatra as the conductor. Be My Love is a 1950 song written for Mario Lanza. Lyrics by the American lyricist, songwriter, and musician Sammy Cahn (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), and music by the Russian-born …
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Twice Olympic gold medalist German figure skater Katarina Witt’s exceptional performance with Habanera in Carmen on Ice, a 1990 dance film with choreography for figure skaters made in Germany. The music of the film is based on Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera Carmen, in an orchestral version arranged especially for this film.
American tenor and Hollywood star of Italian origin, Mario Lanza sings “Torna a Surriento” (Come back to Sorrento), a Neapolitan song composed in 1902 by Italian musician Ernesto De Curtis (October 4, 1875 – December 31, 1937) to words by his brother, the poet, and painter Giambattista De Curtis (20 July 1860 – 15 January …
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The great American tenor of Italian origin, Mario Lanza sings “Mamma Mia, Che Vò Sapé?”, a beautiful Neapolitan song written by the Italian composer Emanuele Nutile (1862-1932) in 1900, with lyrics by his fellow Neapolitan Ferdinando Russo (November 25, 1866 – January 30, 1927). Video from the 1949 Technicolor American musical romance film “That Midnight …
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Accompanied by the Camerata Orchestra, the Greek composer Eleni Karaindrou gave a concert at the Concert Hall of Athens in March 2005. Excerpts from this concert (Eternity and a Day soundtrack).
The American tenor and Hollywood star of Italian origin, Mario Lanza sings “Una furtiva lagrima” (English: A furtive tear), a romanza from act 2, scene 8 of the Italian opera L’elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti. There are two videos in the post: the first one is from the 1949 American musical film “That Midnight Kiss”, starring …
One of the leading operatic tenors of the 20th century, Jussi Björling sings Till Havs (English: at sea). It is originally a poem by the Finnish-Swedish poet Jonathan Reuter, with the opening words “Smokey and the ocean’s healthy wind”. In 1922, the song was set to music by the Swedish composer Gustaf Nordqvist (born 12 …
The legendary American tenor and Hollywood film star of Italian origin, Mario Lanza sings “Vesti La Giubba”, a famous tenor aria from Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1892 opera Pagliacci (Clowns). From “For the First Time”, Lanza’s final film, was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1959.
