French Bass-Baritone Sévag Tachdjian Presents Recital In Pakistan

Sévag Tachdjian performed works of Dvořák,
Ravel, Mahler, and Tosti, during the concert
in Islamabad. (Photo: Frédéric Broyer)

"An opera concert titled A musical journey through Europe was held at the German embassy auditorium on Monday evening. The concert, hosted by German Ambassador Dr Cyrill Nunn, featured performances by Sévag Tachdjian and Yukiko Tidten-Yoshikawa. The ambassador complimented the audience for braving the inclement weather, saying he had an advantage of living only a few metres away from the auditorium. Introducing the musicians, he said both are internationally active and had played in many operas. 'I hope you enjoy the music from different parts of Europe,' he added. 'The musical journey through Europe is a wonderful opportunity to show the range of poetical inspiration from where this music comes,' said Tachdjian, who is a French bass-baritone and vocalist of Armenian descent. He was accompanied Yukiko Tidten-Yoshikawa, who has been internationally-active as a concert pianist in Japan and Europe....'It is absolutely fabulous that we had the opportunity to listen to any form of opera in Pakistan and generally, I don’t like Mahler, but even that was an experience,' said Saira Khan, an audience member at the event. [Source] Watch a video of Sévag Tachdjian, singing Massenet's "Le Jongleur de Notre Dame," after the jump. Click here to learn more about Sévag Tachdjian.

Coffee Break: Vocalise-Étude en forme de Habanera By Ravel

"L'Indolence" by Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1847-1928)

Lush Meets Lush: The transcendent voice of Jessye Norman wraps itself in the intoxicating perfume of Maurice Ravel's romantic music in G minor composed in 1907. The composer marked the score: "Presque lent et avec indolence." This music is meant to be luxurious, but not self-indulgent. 

Mahler Gets Appearance In "Birdman" Scene Featuring Naomi Watts

The new film Birdman, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, has original music composed by Antonio Sanchez playing throughout the film. Additional classical music is added to several scenes including works by Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Rachmaninoff and John Adams. The real standout scene comes when Lesley (Naomi Watts) is emotionally thanking Riggan (Michael Keaton) for the opportunity of making her Broadway debut in his new play. At this point, the character of Riggan is starting to unravel and things seem as though they are imploding. The vocal line that starts under the scene is "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" (I am lost to the world) from Gustav Mahler's Rückert-Lieder. A full translation of the piece can be found here and a performance by Violeta Urmana (the artist used in the film) is after the jump. "Riggan Thomas, once known quite well to movie theater goers as an iconic super hero called 'The Birdman' had recently turned down a third installment of the franchise. Now washed up, he attempts to reinvent himself as a director by staging a new retelling of a classic Broadway dramatic play called What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. The events leading up to the Saturday night premiere prove to be one disaster after another as the original lead actor is injured while on set and Riggan scrambles to find a replacement, but the replacement proves to be exactly who he needs - a method actor who takes the job way too seriously. But Riggan has a hard time juggling between the set, his replacement actor, his equally washed up daughter, and a host of other disasters that prevent a proper staging of the play. Meanwhile, a New York Times critic who Riggan has to woo threatens to shut down production of the play before it even starts with a scathing review of the dress rehearsal. Does Riggan have a hit on his hands or will he even make it to opening night?" [Source]