OntheWilderSide

The youtube recommended by Patti Smith is below. More explanation at the readmore…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fat1UMLzjEg]

Ian and I went to the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center tonight (well, errr, yesterday, since it is after midnight) to see Patti Smith and her band.

Awesome performance. The audience was fairly sedentary until the last few songs. Though, Patti Smith got everyone up for “Power to the People”, and a lot of people stayed on their feet until the last encore, “Talkin’ Bout My Generation.”

More notes tomorrow.

Though, I wanted to share that Patti Smith gave a suggestion at the beginning of the show, and reiterated at the end that people should watch the Pavrotti master class series of videos on youtube. Patti Smith especially enjoys the youtube of the song from Puccini’s opera La Boheme, above. She sang it in English (her world premiere!) and says that she is trying to learn it in the Italian.

The youtube she recommended has Robert Briggs singing for a Luciano Pavarotti Masterclass. Pavrotti sings a section and gives input. The opera is La Boheme, the song is “Vecchia Zimarra”, which Patti Smith described as an ode to an old coat.

Wikipedia about La Boheme: here.

Thanks to an interesting blog by a fellow Gemini, who published a translation of the song: here.

Old Coat, listen,
while I remain here, you must rise to the sacred mount.
My thanks you receive.
You never bent your back to the rich or powerful.
You carried in your pockets, like in calm caverns, philosophers and poets.
Now that the happy days have gone, I say to you: goodbye, my faithful friend.
Goodbye, goodbye.

Filed under: Art, local, long island, Long Island Music, music, News, original music, progressive politics Tagged: | La Boheme, long island, music, opera, patti smith, power to the people, punk, Robert Briggs, Roberto Briggs, Vecchia Zimmara, Westhampton