La fin du bal / Il volo interrotto / Прерванный полёт

a song by Vladimir Vysotsky
French lyrics by Maxime Le Forestier
Italian lyrics by Sergio Secondiano Sacchi

Unbelievably, until now I was not aware of this version sung by the author in French.

The (Russian-language) original was composed by Vysotsky for the 1975 sci-fi drama The Flight of Mr. McKinley (Бегство мистера Мак-Кинли) but was left out of the movie. The widely accepted name Прерванный полёт appears to be a back-translation of Le Vol Arrêté, the title of the song on the 1977 French LP Vladimir Vissotsky and the 1981 (posthumous) album Le Vol Arrêté; Vysotsky himself used to announce the song as Недолюбил. The phrase “прерванный полёт” does not appear anywhere in the lyrics.

According to Russian Wikipedia, the author was not quite satisfied with Le Forestier’s translation. (Yes it’s far from being true to the letter; for one, the words “la fin du bal” do not correspond to anything in the Russian text.) But here it is, arguably the most popular Vysotsky song among the Francophone performers. Its Italian counterpart, Il volo interrotto, translated by Sergio Secondiano Sacchi, has been interpreted by the likes of Franchesco Guccini and Eugenio Finardi. I’m sure Vladimir Semyonovich would approve of this wonderful “acquired in translation” bit:

Он начал робко — с ноты «до», но не допел ее, не до...

Ed intonò la voce in “la” la nota non andò più in la...

It probably won’t surprise you that my favourite interpretations of the Russian original is the one by Alexander Gradsky who sadly passed away last year.

El barranco

I went to Teatro Guiniguada to see five short films inspired by the novel El barranco (1959) by Nivaria Tejera, the Cuban-born writer I never heard before. (Now El barranco is on my “to read” list.) Before the screening, there was a videoconference with María Hernández-Ojeda from New York.

El Barranco Teatro Guiniguada, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Thursday, 20 January 2022, 19:00

Estoy de regreso de un sitio remoto by Silvia Navarro Martín Allí se metían para que no los cogieran by Daniasa Curbelo Aquí estuvimos by Macu Machín Tanqueabajo by Estrella Monterrey Viña El barranco by Violeta Gil Quintana

Au revoir là-haut

a film by Albert Dupontel

I missed the beginning of this period drama shown on the telly last night, but what I’ve seen was great. Slightly shorter than Un long dimanche de fiançailles (is it a pun?), it shares with the latter a number of themes and two good actors. The costume design by Mimi Lempicka is stunning. Highly recommended.

Scoop

a film by Woody Allen

According to Wikipedia, Scoop is considered to be one of Woody Allen’s weakest films. So what? I enjoyed it much more than his other collaborations with Scarlett Johansson, viz. the “critically acclaimed” Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, none of which I’d like to watch again.

Ms. Johansson shines in this romantic comedy while Sid “The Great Splendini” himself makes very authentic Woody Allen — or is it the other way around?

La sombra del viento

by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The first time I had a go at this book was some five years ago. I liked The Prince of Mist and was ready to take on Zafón in the original. Besides, I just finished Angela Carter’s Fireworks and thought I could read anything.

There was no way that the very first sentence — “Todavía recuerdo aquel amanecer en que mi padre me llevó por primera vez a visitar el Cementerio de los Libros Olvidados” — would not remind me of One Hundred Years of Solitude. After a brisk start (the first chapter is a sheer magic), I found myself slowing down, as if wading through increasingly sticky sand. Upon reaching the chapter dealing with unfortunate events succeeded on Daniel’s sixteenth birthday, I came to a halt. Which was a shame since I was a page away from discovering the novel’s most colourful character, one Fermín Romero de Torres.

The book has laid dormant on the desk for three years. Last spring I dusted it off and started again from the beginning. This time I was not in a hurry and tried to enjoy every single page. Because it’s meant to be enjoyed.

As is the case with almost every novel I’ve read, this one could benefit from being shorter. For instance, a 100-page-long “story within a story”, narrated by Nuria Monfort, explains the things that the reader must have already figured out. La sombra del viento might be a flawed masterpiece but a masterpiece nonetheless. I learned — and, sadly, already forgot — a lot from it. So more reasons to re-read it in another five years’ time.

— No me ofenda, Daniel. Le recuerdo que está usted hablando con un profesional de la seducción, y eso del beso es para amateurs y diletantes de pantufla. A la mujer de verdad se la gana uno poco a poco. Es todo cuestión de psicología, como una buena faena en la plaza.
— O sea, que le dio calabazas.
— A Fermín Romero de Torres no le da calabazas ni san Roque. Lo que ocurre es que el hombre, volviendo a Freud y valga la metáfora, se calienta como una bombilla: al rojo en un tris, y frío otra vez en un soplo. La hembra, sin embargo, y esto es ciencia pura, se calienta como una plancha, ¿entiende usted? Poco a poco, a fuego lento, como la buena escudella. Pero eso sí, cuando ha cogido calor, aquello no hay quien lo pare. Como los altos hornos de Vizcaya.
Sopesé las teorías termodinámicas de Fermín.
— ¿Es eso lo que está usted haciendo con la Bernarda? — pregunté —. ¿Poner la plancha al fuego?
Fermín me guiñó un ojo.
— Esa mujer es un volcán al borde de la erupción, con una libido de magma ígneo y un corazón de santa.

Todo bajo el sol

by Ana Penyas

A quienes tuvieron que abandonar su lugar y a quienes se quedaron como extraños en su tierra.

Mass tourism, property boom and bust, gentrification and displacement on the Mediterranean coast through the eyes of three generations. Don’t let the subject scare you off: the second graphic novel by Ana Penyas (Valencia, 1987) must be one of the best Spanish comics of 2021. Even The Guardian paid attention.

Penyas combines drawing with collage and “multimedia” which include

• A fragment of España es para usted (1964), a Francoist-era guide edited by the Ministry of Tourism;
• A fragment of the Swedish film I Am Curious (Yellow) (1967) by Vilgot Sjöman;
• A fragment of the Spanish TV game show Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez aired on 12 April 1985;
• The introduction of the contest A guanyar diners! from the Valencian TV programme El show de Joan Monleón (broadcast between 1989 and 1992);
• Hillary Clinton doing Macarena at the 1996 DNC;
• A fragment of the documentary A tornallom (2002) by Enric Peris and Videohackers;
• A fragment of the documentary Casas vacías, las nuevas ruinas (2014) by Manuel Muñoz Monterde.

For me, the best bits are those which are left without much — or any — explanation, such as the one with Alba’s unnamed lover in Germany (2006).

Live music and stuff in Santander and beyond, December 2021

This month was a bit hectic. I could have seen more — then again, I could have seen less. Now I read on the Rvbicón page that from 26^th of December they had to suspend all the cultural activities until further notice. Damn.

• 5 December: Jazz Jam @ Rvbicón, Calle del Sol 4, Santander
  The first of only two events of the seventh Raqueros del Jazz (postponed from ther last year) that I was able to attend. All familiar faces, with the base group featuring Chisco Villanueva (tenor sax), Rafa Santana (piano), Manuel Cavero (double bass) and Rodri Irizábal (drums) and guest musicians Manuel San Emeterio (guitar), Tom Ranby (alto sax) and others.

  

• 7 December: Marco Mezquida Dreams Trio @ Rvbicón
  With Marco Mezquida (piano), Martín Meléndez (cello) and Aleix Tobías (drums, percussion).
• 11 December: «Siri, ¿Tú qué piensas?» @ Café de Las Artes Teatro, Calle García Morato 4
  By Cía. Dunatacà (Valencia), featuring Mónika Vázquez and Andrea Torres; also, two random people from the audience taken to the stage, with yours truly just happening to be one of them.

• 18 December: «Good Sex Maritxu» @ Centro Municipal de Otxarkoaga, Casals Pau Hiribidea 19, Bilbao
  A play by Yolanda García Serrano, performed by Teatro Ttipia featuring Gurutze Beitia, Itxaso Kintana and Susana Soleto. Directed by Jose Cruz Gurrutxaga.

Back to Las Palmas: thanks to almost non-existent publicity, I almost missed the mercadillo musical (CDs, vinyls and merchadise of Canarian musicians) and its showcase programme DiscoBolo in the patio of Palacete Rodríguez Quegles. This week, we went to see some of the free concerts there — with no pre-registration, no COVID passports and, I am sorry to say, with very low attendance.

• 28 December: Sanches @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles, Calle Benito Pérez Galdós 4, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  A singer-songwriter in need of a proper singer.
• 29 December: Luis Merino @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles
  Luis Merino (guitar) with José Carlos Cejudo (electric bass) performing compositions from Pelula and Blacky.
• 30 December: Augusto Báez and Germán López @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles
  Augusto Báez (piano) played a few compositions from his latest album Piano Solo Vol. II; later, he was joined by Germán López (timple).

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was 2021.