Westport Public Library MOVIE & MUSIC Blog

As the days get shorter and the weather turns colder, our thoughts turn to the upcoming holiday season. To ease the drudgery of cleaning, cooking and shopping, many people listen to music.

If you are planning a family reunion or a casual get-together, the Library offers these classical suggestions:

Bach, Johann Sebastian. Christmas Oratorio BWV 248

Browne, John. Music from the Eton Choirbook

Charpentier, Marc Antoine. Te Deum

Corelli, Arcangelo. Christmas Concerto.

Handel, George Frederick. Messiah

Haydn, Joseph. Symphony #96 in D "Miracle"

Humperdinck, Engelbert. Hansel and Gretel

Ives, Charles. Christmas Carol

Messiaen, Olivier. Vingt Regards sur L'Enfant Jesus

Menotti, Gian Carlo. Amahl and the Night Visitors

Respighi, Ottorinio. "Adoration of the Magi" from Three Botticelli Pictures

Scarlatti, Domenico. Stabat Mater

Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich. Nutcracker

This family friendly one hour opera was originally commissioned by the NBC Opera Company for television viewing. Composer and librettist Gian Carlo Menotti was inspired by Hieronymus Bosch's picture The Adoration of the Magi at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; he completed it just before the live broadcast on December 24, 1951. Since it was quite successful, it became an annual Christmas eve special.

With its beautiful melodies, divine story, simple vocal writing, and small orchestra, it has become a mainstay of church, college and community opera organizations.

Westport's production will feature the American Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher James Hisey and Carl Serbell; soloists include Rod Davis, Bill Hall, Lucas Kesselman, Susan Marnell, and Allan Wieman. A special showing of the opera will be staged for the students at Bridgeport's Beardsley Elementary School.

If you would like to acquaint yourself with this inspiring work, stop by for the book, compact disc, libretto, or videorecording.

November 28, 1950

Harris is married to actress Amy Madigan, with whom he has worked many times, including in the film Pollock. Which film were they filming when they got married by a Justice of the Peace in Texas in 1984?

So, you are a little rusty on your recollection of the plot? The Rocketbook summary of the epic poem can be viewed on MyLibraryDV, a service provided by the Westport Library. Rocketbooks are dynamic tools used to engage viewers with the classic.

While you on the MyLibraryDV site, be sure to take a look at all the interesting literature videos including new Author Talks by such notables as Jane Smiley and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

And coming soon to MyLibraryDV, an author talk by Westport resident and best selling author, Jane Green. Scenes from this were filmed in the library, Jane's home away from home.

As you ponder the significance of this holiday, feel free to stop by and borrow some compact discs from our music collection. Charles Ives, the eccentric Connecticut Yankee, included "Thanksgiving and Forefathers' Day" as part of his New England Holidays. Piano soloist George Winston selected "Thanksgiving" as part of his December: Piano Solos. Soprano Kathleen Battle tells us "Sinner, Please Don't Let This Harvest Pass" from her Spirituals in Concert album. Count Basie's used "Shine On, Harvest Moon" as part of his Greatest Hits.

For those who may not remember the "Thanksgiving Day" poem and song from school, here is the first verse:

Over the river, and through the wood,
To grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way,
To carry the sleigh,
Through the white and drifted snow.

The Westport Library has many different versions of this song by Johnny Mercer and Joseph Kosma. If you are in the mood for a light, popular rendition, please try the Mills Brothers or the Streets of Paris Orchestra. If you prefer a jazzy vein, feel free to check out Patricia Barber, Stan Getz or Wynton Marsalis. While you are listening and raking up the leaves, you may want to sing along:

"The falling leaves drift by my window
The falling leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sunburned hands I used to hold..."

Who better than Rolling Stone to issue a list of the top 25 music DVDs? That's just what the editors recently did. You can see the entire list on their website and view clips of the films. To watch the entire film, visit the Westport Library's AV department and choose from among an eclectic group of music DVDs including most of the notables appearing on Rolling Stone's list. Number one on the list is The Last Waltz featuring the 1976 farewell concert of The Band captured by no less a director than Martin Scorsese. The Band is joined by Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Muddy Waters and Bob Dylan. Dylan is the subject of No Direction Home also directed by Scorsese.

Speaking of The Band, they are featured in # 4 on the list, Woodstock, joining other legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Country Joe McDonald and The Who. All of these groups were captured the year before in a documentary about the Monterey Pop Festival.

Moving forward in time The Filth and the Fury is gleaned from the archives of the Sex Pistols, a band that only existed for 26 months. Want to see some talking heads that aren't political now that Election Day is over? See them in Stop Making Sense, number eight on the list.

Icons represented include Elvis in his 1968 Comeback Special, Madonna in Truth or Dare and Prince in Purple Rain.

The Greater Bridgeport Symphony will present the magical world of fairy tales with performances of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter & the Wolf and Igor Stravinsky's Petrushka on Saturday, November 10, 2007, at 8:00 p.m. These two children's stories capture the imagination while examining the ideas of good and evil.

Prokofiev wrote both the text and music to this symphonic fairy tale. In doing so, he portrayed the characters as distinct musical themes played by specific instruments of the orchestra. This pedagogical work which is read by a narrator, demonstrates the range, technique, and tone colors of each instrument for easy recognition by a child. Many illustrious individuals have narrated this piece including David Bowie, Boris Karloff and Andre Previn. Rev. Charles H. Allen will recite Prokofiev's words at the Klein Auditorium.

Petrushka was the second work that Stravinsky wrote for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes with its premiere performance on June 13, 1911 in Paris. Like Prokofiev, he wrote both the libretto and the music. Alexandre Benois who designed the stage sets, aided Stravinsky in writing the story with his fond memories of the Butter Week Fair in St. Petersburg. The ballet begins with various scenes from a fair, one of which has a mysterious showman who entertains the children with a puppet show; the characters of this show are Petrushka, a well-known puppet or clown in Russian folklore, a beautiful Ballerina, and a dashing, good-looking Moor; the ensuing love triangle between the three puppets ends tragically. This ballet demonstrates Stravinsky's musical prowess as well as the smooth integration of acting, art, choreography, costumes, and music.

If you cannot attend the concert, feel free to check out the stories, the music or the films.

Dudamel's conducting studies began in 1996; he quickly became the Music Director of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra and furthered his studies with Abreu. He gained world-wide recognition by winning the inaugural Bamberger Symphoniker Gustav Mahler International Conducting Competition for conductors under the age of 35. His opportunities increased with appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, La Scala Orchestra, Gothenberg Symphony, the Lucerne Festival etc. His awards include the 2006 Pegasus Prize, the 2007 the Premio de la Latinidad by the Union Latina, the 2007 ECHO Award by the German recording industry, and the second annual WQXR Gramophone Special Recognition Award.

This exciting, electrifying, enthusiastic composer and his youthful musicians may be viewed and enjoyed in a performance of the "Mambo" from Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.

The movie evolved into a family-friendly Broadway musical with additional songs and music by Alan Menken and Tim Rice. This version takes place in a little French village where Belle lives with her eccentric father. When he fails to come home, Belle searches for him and finds that he has been captured by a gruesome beast. Her father is released in exchange for her freedom. The story describes the fear, friendship and eventual love that Belle feels toward the Beast leading to his redemption and transformation.

Maurice Ravel incorporated this tale "Les entretients de la Belle et de la Bete" in his Ma Mere L'Oye. Philip Glass included selections from "La Belle et la Bete" in Philip on Film.

If you cannot attend the live performance, the Library invites you to check out the book, compact disc, DVD, or score.