Theatre and live music in Santander, October 2019

It’s Halloween already — and so it’s time for my overview of October in Santander.

• 2 October: Mabel Sierra Soul Band @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4, Santander
  Fantastic Mabel Sierra with Iván Velasco (guitar), Miguel Sánchez (bass) and Natxo Miralles (drums).
  

• 5 October: Maison Close @ Paraninfo de Las Llamas de la Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (UIMP), Avenida de los Castros, 42
  The ninth Festival de Teatro Amateur organised by Federación de Grupos de Teatro Aficionado de Cantabria (FETEACAN) was opened by Maison Close by Paraskenia Teatro (Talavera de la Reina, Toledo) featuring Prado Amor as Madame Nicole and Roberto Jifer as Totó. I enjoyed the play so much that I came again next day (Sunday), and the following weekend. Incidently, all the shows at UIMP were free of charge.
  

• 6 October: La gata @ Paraninfo de Las Llamas
  An adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Athenea Teatro (Valladolid). With Nuria García as Maggie, Pedro Yllera as Brick, Francisco Alonso as Big Daddy, Pilar Redondo as Big Mama, Carlos Barrientos as Cooper and Diana Saraiva as Mae. Directed by Xiqui Rodríguez.
• 6 October: Jazz Jam @ Rvbicón
  After watching La gata, I directed myself to Rvbicón to see what was remaining of the traditional jam session. With the base band featuring Nadir Ibarra (sax), Rafa Santana (piano), Manuel Cavero (double bass) and Yeyo Pilatti (drums).
• 12 October: El burgués gentilhombre @ Paraninfo de Las Llamas
  Alhama Teatro of Corella (Navarre) presented their version of Molière’s classic comedy. Adaptation and direction by Rebeca Sanz-Conde, with Lucas Eza, Antonio Martín, Manuel Izal, Javier Fernández, Mónica Garbayo, Ángela Jiménez Traí and Mª Luz Sesma.
• 13 October: Persona, yo y nosotros al mismo tiempo @ Paraninfo de Las Llamas
  A modern comedy by La Peseta Teatro of Asturias directed by Cristina Bravo. I loved the way the actors were taking their turns to break the fourth wall while the rest of the cast stayed “frozen”. With Esperanza Munilla, Kuka Suárez, Javier Val and Fernando Zapatero.

• 18 October: Gaye Su Akyol @ El Centro Botín, Muelle de Albareda
  That evening, there were at least two other concerts in Santander that I wanted to see but I think I made the right decision. Gaye Su Akyol and the band were phenomenal.

• 27 October: MAR (Micrófono Abierto Rvbicón) @ Rvbicón
  I went to see, for the first time ever, what the MAR is all about. Basically, anybody who wants to sing, play, read poetry, perform monologues etc. can do it. Inevitably, a mixed bag of an evening saved by the inimitable ambience of the place.

Bring on November...

Über sieben Brücken

by Karat

Über sieben Brücken was the first — and, in my view, still the best — LP of the East German band Karat I ever heard. I’m not quite sure where my brother’s classmate, who lent it to us, got it from; it even could have been the famous Moscow record store, not-too-inventively named Мелодия — I bought some of Karat’s later vinyls there. Does not matter really.

German has never appealed to me as particularly musical language, yet, in spite of this, I instantly fell in love with this record. For me, the first riffs of He, Mama became the quintessence of rock’n’roll; the seamless transition to Blues by shifting the accent within its quasi-final five-note figure (mind you, it’s the same note) is impeccable, as is the gradual acceleration of the Blues and surprise return to the chorus of He, Mama. The haunting Musik zu einem nichtexistierenden Film has always made me daydream of that non-existent film. One day, I thought, I’ll shoot it myself. The magnificent Auf den Meeren is my favourite song of this album: today it makes me think of a funkier version of Another Brick in the Wall, although I am pretty sure Karat were not aware of it at the time (Pink Floyd released their hit only in November 1979). The country-influenced Das, was ich will could have been awfully out of place here if not for the fact it’s just one minute long. As such, it makes a welcome break and brings the first side to a close.

The second side opens with playful Gewitterregen full of odd meters — I still scratch my head trying to figure out what is going on here. It makes way to epic rock-waltz Albatros. As I realise now, the bass line of the Albatros’s bridge, together with the one in Auf den Meeren, had influenced my own bass playing a lot. Another solid rock’n’roll, Wenn das Schweigen bricht, is probably the only “disposable” song of the album; at least I prefer to skip it and go straight to the closing track, a beautiful ballad-cum-drinking song in the best sense of the latter term.

Über sieben Brücken mußt Du gehn (Ed Swillms/Helmut Richter) Manchmal geh’ ich meine Straße ohne Blick, manchmal wünsch’ ich mir mein Schaukelpferd zurück. Manchmal bin ich ohne Rast und Ruh’, manchmal schließ’ ich alle Türen nach mir zu. Manchmal ist mir kalt und manchmal heiß, manchmal weiß ich nicht mehr was ich weiß. Manchmal bin ich schon am Morgen müd’, und dann such’ ich Trost in einem Lied. Über sieben Brücken mußt du geh’n, sieben dunkle Jahre übersteh’n, siebenmal wirst du die Asche sein, aber einmal auch der helle Schein. Manchmal scheint die Uhr des Lebens still zu stehn, manchmal scheint man immer nur im Kreis zu gehn. Manchmal ist man wie von Fernweh krank, manchmal sitzt man still auf einer Bank. Manchmal greift man nach der ganzen Welt, manchmal meint man, dass der Glücksstern fällt. Manchmal nimmt man, wo man lieber gibt, manchmal hasst man das, was man doch liebt. Über sieben Brücken mußt du geh’n, sieben dunkle Jahre übersteh’n, siebenmal wirst du die Asche sein, aber einmal auch der helle Schein.

Über sieben Brücken Side 1 Introduktion (Swillms) He, Mama (Swillms/Dreilich) Blues (Karat/Dreilich) Wilder Mohn (Swillms/Kaiser, Dreilich) Musik zu einem nichtexistierenden Film (Swillms) Auf den Meeren (Swillms/Demmler) Das, was ich will (Dreilich) Side 2 Gewitterregen (Swillms/Kaiser) Albatros (Swillms/Kaiser) Wenn das Schweigen bricht (Swillms/Kaiser) Über sieben Brücken mußt Du gehn (Swillms/Helmut Richter) Herbert Dreilich: lead vocals, 12-string guitar Henning Protzmann: bass guitar, vocals Bernd Römer: guitar, 12-string guitar Michael Schwandt: drums Ulrich “Ed” Swillms: piano, keyboards String and Woodwind Ensemble “Otto-Karl Beck” (5, 9)

In the Court of the Crimson King

by King Crimson

Fifty years young today, In the Court of the Crimson King still sounds fresh and powerful. The lenghty article in Rolling Stone goes on about how KC inspred everybody from Yes to Kanye West — strangely, failing to mention Deep Purple’s Into the Fire.

I first heard and saw ITCOTKC in mid-1980s. In my humble opinion, it is one of the handful of rock albums worth having on vinyl for their cover art alone. Sadly, its creator, Barry Godber, died in 1970 at the age of 24, leaving after himself no other album cover. The cover art alone, I said, but isn’t it nice to have inside the first ever prog-rock record as well? Both the vinyl I heard back then and the CD I acquired in Italy in 1994 (one of the very first CDs I ever bought) predated the 1993 “rediscovery” of the original master tapes. I have to say that I didn’t hear any of the “newer” version of the album. I suppose they are all very decent, and the 50^th anniversary edition is coming out soon. Undoubtedly it will be branded “definitive” for the next 10 years or so. However, for me and for everyone who grew on their music in 1970s and 1980s, the ’69 version is the definitive.

Theatre and live music in Santander and Las Palmas, September 2019

I spent this September in Santander and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

• 7 September: Devórate @ Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria, Calle de Gamazo, Santander
  There is nothing wrong in dancing in the nude. It will do us a lot of good to dance more, to get naked more, and to make love more, and any combination thereof. Personally, I preferred Retrópica to Mari Paula’s brand new creation, Devórate. The opening is almost painfully slow; I’m sure the lovers of Sokurov would appreciate it more than I did. However, there was an absolutely stunning African dance part in the middle; I’d love to see more of that.

• 8 September: Jam session @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4, Santander
  The sixth edition of Raqueros del Jazz, organised and hosted by Rvbicón, kicked off with a jam. Toño Gutiérrez (bass), Rafa Santana (piano), Rodrigo Irizábal (drums), Manuel Cavero (double bass) and others.

• 10 September: Víctor Antón Group @ Rvbicón
  Technically accomplished but rather predictable mainstream jazz collective featuring Víctor Antón (guitar), Roberto Nieva (alto sax), Marcos Salcines (piano), Darío Guibert (double bass) and Mikel Urretagoiena (drums). The original compositions sounded as if I heard all this before. Then they played encore which was simply fantastic. Why not the all of the concert?
• 12 September: Raynald Colom Trio with Eliot Zigmund @ Rvbicón
  Raynald Colom (trumpet), Juan Sebastián (piano), Manel Fortiá (double bass) and jazz legend Eliot Zigmund (drums) playing mostly modern jazz standards and making them sound fresh and their own. (Cf. the previous act.) Unfortunately, I wasn’t in Santander for the second week of Raqueros; then again, nobody could be in two places at once.
• 19 September: Fasur Rodríguez @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  An event organised by Mousikê La Laguna opens the new season of jazz masterclasses.

• 21 September: Totem @ Meloneras
  The final live event as well as the highlight of the month. Bravo, Cirque du Soleil!

Back to Santander, I’m looking forward to see and hear more.

Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht

a film by Werner Herzog

This 1979 film is the second feature in El reflejo del vampiro cycle (and the last one I was able to watch). Curiously, just like it was the case with Drácula, there were two versions made, English and German, to avoid dubbing, although this time the same cast was involved. Filmoteca Canaria screened the German-language version in VOSE.

Not exactly a horror movie but it is very atmospheric, stylish and even beautiful (as vampire films go). Bruno Ganz makes a pretty convincing Jonathan Harker, although after watching the final few minutes you might argue otherwise. Isabelle Adjani shines as Pre-Raphaelitesque Lucy — little wonder that even Count Dracula couldn’t resist. On the contrary, the count himself, played by Klaus Kinski, is little more than an (also stylish, but quite repulsive — complete opposite of Villarías’ Dracula, I say) homage to original Nosferatu. My favourite character, however, is still Renfield, here masterfully portrayed by Roland Topor.

Concerto for Group and Orchestra

by Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Arnold

I first got acquainted with this Jon Lord’s masterpiece (first performed 50 years ago today) in the early 1980s, already being familiar with the rest of the Deep Purple Mark II studio legacy. I had a 19 cm/s audio tape reel recorded from a very scratchy vinyl. There were several skips, most notably during the Ritchie Blackmore’s lenghty solo in the First Movement (Moderato — Allegro), but, as this solo is very repetitive, I didn’t miss much. More annoying for me was the fact that the Second Movement (Andante) was split between the two sides of the LP.

What still amazes me that the score of the Concerto was lost in 1970. How? Was there really just one copy? That Marco de Goeij was able to reconstruct it by listening to the original recording is even more amazing. The result, performed twenty years ago already, could have been great... if you hadn’t heard the original, that is. What was revolutionary in 1969 became a tribute in 1999. Still, worth watching, not least because of great guest musicians, such as Annie Whitehead.

Totem

by Cirque du Soleil

We (Tamara, Timur and I) went yesterday to Meloneras to see Cirque du Soleil on their penultimate day in Gran Canaria. Not just an improvement compared to Dralion five years ago (since retired) but simply an amazing show. Of course, it’s so much better to see circus in Grand Chapiteau rather than in a sports arena. One act (Contortion) was missing from the yesterday’s spectacle but I wouldn’t know it without reading the Wikipedia article. The Scientist’s act (“Appearance is based on Charles Darwin”, Wikipedia says), is a slightly annoying stereotype of what a scientific work entails (playing with colourful test tubes, for example). For me, the three best acts — both performance- and costume-wise — were:

1. Unicycles with Bowls
2. Crystal Ladies
3. Russian Bars

The band and the music were outstanding. What was not so great was overpriced merchandise, food and drink (of which we bought none) but, absurdly and disturbingly, no ice cream. Cirque du Soleil! If you are reading my post, I expect this to be fixed next time you are in Canarias.