Tango

[Original Post at my Blogs | My Blogs]

A (rather) senior aerospace engineer pointed me to the Schindler's List theme in youtube played by Perlman. It's a beautiful piece — there's absolutely no doubt about that. But I find it a bit too ... dark, and too ... grim. I really can't explain, but it somehow reminds me to the kind of music played right at the end of an enforced battle between two good friends/siblings/etc.; a battle where the winner wins loses as much as the defeated; a battle where the winner feels empty and full of resignation; where the winner just wants to completely wipe out the undeniable historical fact of his/her hollow victory.

Fortunately, I managed to spot the video of Perlman playing Por una Cabeza, a Tango. And I find this one to be much much lighter and cheerful for my ears, my head, and my heart. Here's the obligatory video on youtube which you could also find below. [PS: Don't be intimidated by the first 20-25 seconds, in case you're not used to classical instrumental songs.]




Perlman played the same piece for the Schindler's List movie, albeit with a different arrangement. I found two audio recordings on youtube, supposedly the original soundtracks: 1st version and 2nd version. Some how I prefer the 1st version than the 2nd, even though it's repetitive. It just sounds ... more cheerful. Might be due to the more upbeat tempo and more variations in the tempo itself [ha, me at my f.k.k.b.l. best]. In any case, the 1st version is also embedded below.

The Young Prodigies

[Original Post at my Blogs | My Blogs]

These have been in my locker for quite sometime (yeah, I blame myself for procastinating): two video footage of renowned violinists, born in the early-to-mid of 1900, performing at their (later stage of) childhood. These footage come from circa 1950-ish and therefore, are still in black-and-white.

• Michael Rabin (1936-1972) — he who (tragically) lived for only a short period of time of ~36 years. Here's the video of Rabin performing at the age of 15, in case the youtube video is not embedded below.
  
  
  
  
  
• Itzhak Perlman (1945-present) — he who overcome polio and defied the odd to become one of today's most celebrated violinists. Here's the video of Perlman performing at the age of 13, in case the youtube video is not embedded below.