Sharing my latest post from my Empress Books wordpress blog:
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The new Empress Books website
The new Empress Books website is now up and running:
https://empressbooksca.wordpress.com/
Welcome to Empress Books, website home of journalist, author, artist, artisan and all-around crafter, Lorraine Dmitrovic.
“I’m inspired by nature and by traditional and classic styles in art and fashion. The world is a wide realm of creative influences, from rustic to elegant, historic to contemporary, foundational to futuristic, and reality to dreams.” ~ Lorraine Dmitrovic
empressbooks@empressbooks.com
lorrainedmitrovic@empressbooks.com
On the Empress Books homepage, you’ll find links to Lorraine’s personal/professional pages:
The Empress Arts& Music Zine
The Art of Lorraine/L. Chrystal Dmitrovic in Private Collections
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eBay
Amazon Handmade
Yeahflix/other reviews
Guest blog by Bart Hawkins Kreps – “An Outside Chance”
Coming soon – the new Empress Books website
The future home of The Empress Arts & Music Zine
https://empressbooksca.wordpress.com/
The zine can currently be accessed at:
http://www.empressbooks.com/newsletter/the_empress.html
From Fall 2016: “Wallis Giunta – The Mezzo with the Magic”
http://www.empressbooks.com/newsletter/Fall2016/cover.html
(once on the page, click on the “to the magic” icon to access)
About “Mozart’s Magic Flute Diaries” (2008) by L. Chrystal Dmitrovic
From the latest issue of The Empress Arts & Music Zine
“Olivier Laquerre – Baritone – gallantry & charm in perfect harmony”
by L. Chrystal Dmitrovic
Interview with Mireille Asselin and commentary by Kevin Sullivan of Sullivan Entertainment for “Mozart’s Magic Flute Diaries” (2008)
This TV-movie version inspired by Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” has an ingenious twist. The traditional opera is intertwined with a contemporary storyline that runs concurrently and involves the same characters with different names from the opera fantasy world. Olivier shines as the goodhearted Papageno and shares some sweet magical scenes with soprano Mireille Asselin in the dual role of Masha/Pamina. Impressive CGI by Sullivan Entertainment convincingly created stunning landscape and architecture mattes for the fantasy fairy tale world and the contemporary storyline.
Interview with Mireille Asselin, soprano
Lorraine:
You’ve had quite a long operatic association with baritone Olivier Laquerre, on stage with Opera Atelier and other companies. Can you share a few career highlights you experienced together in various productions that you found were especially enchanting, humorous, challenging or professionally gratifying?
Mireille:
I remember so clearly seeing Olivier on stage with Opera Atelier when I was still just a student at the conservatory and being a huge fan of his! I had rarely seen someone run around the stage with such total abandon and he was also incredibly funny and sang beautifully. So when we got to collaborate for the first time I was completely star struck. Luckily he’s the most down to earth and humble person. He put me at ease and treated me as his equal immediately, even though I was incredibly green and not even yet out of school. We’ve worked together many many times since then, especially at Opera Atelier and with the Boston Early Music Festival. One of the most touching moments we’ve shared on stage was during a production of Monteverdi’s “Orfeo” in Boston – I was singing Eurydice and for those who don’t know the myth of Orpheus, she dies on her wedding day and her death is followed by the most incredibly heart wrenching, beautiful laments sung by the chorus. Olivier was tasked with carrying my body across the stage and laying me on the ground, while he joined the other voices in the lament. It was an especially touching and moving moment to share with my friend, and I found it very difficult to stay still and not cry as he sang over me.
“Olivier and I between scenes in 2007 during the filming of “Mozart’s Magic Flute Diaries” (2008)” (Photo courtesy of Mireille Asselin)
Lorraine:
What did you enjoy about working with Olivier especially during the production of “Mozart’s Magic Flute Diaries” (2008).
Mireille:
This was our first project together, and I was especially grateful to him as my “ally in opera” during that shoot. All the other actors and tech people on the project were film and tv veterans, and I felt like a fish out of water! He was a great comfort and also so fun loving and ready for anything. I remember filming a sequence where he was climbing up a balcony to come save me, but the balcony set was in fact resting right on the ground and Olivier, great big tall guy that he is, had to crouch down as low as possible while seeming to strain to lift himself up. From my angle I could witness the whole, ridiculous conceit of it, and it was a hard scene to do with a straight face! The film also experimented with a fair bit of green screen techniques, so we had many late nights on set strapped into harnesses and “flying” in the air in front of wind machines. Another strong memory of that time was how enamoured the production and directorial staff were with his blue eyes – eyes made for the screen, they said. 🙂
Olivier and I after he had successfully climbed up onto the balcony. (Photo courtesy of Mireille Asselin)
Lorraine:
What was involved in the filming of green screen scenes? How were you directed to act, and did you and Olivier improvise anything? Were there a few memorable moments for you while filming this TV-movie with Olivier? What was your overall impression of the movie while filming – and then seeing the completed movie after?
Mireille:
I don’t remember any specifics of filming particular green screen moments, really. However in general, the thing I found most disorienting and challenging about filming a movie versus doing live theatre or opera is that you feel like your ownership over and control of your performance is out of your hands. The scenes are filmed out of order, so it’s difficult to sense the pacing of the piece or your character’s arc, and most importantly your final performance is decided for you in the editing room. When I finally saw the film it was all a huge surprise, really! Especially since the final edit moved all sorts of scenes around, lots of over-dubbing was added later, etc.. so it didn’t even adhere to the original script we had been working from. I think it was all just so new to me at the time, and I would probably know more about what to expect and how to manage it if ever I got to do something similar again, but I am so glad I had Olivier there with whom to experience it all.
Olivier and Mireille being filmed in front of a “green screen” backdrop. A realistic CGI location/matte background will be added later during the editing process.
The “forest scene” still depicts Olivier and Mireille as Pamina singing Mozart’s ‘Man Wife and Wife and Man’ after CGI special effects and background have been edited in. Photo courtesy of Kevin Sullivan. Photo © 2007: Sullivan Entertainment
Special commentary by Kevin Sullivan, producer, writer and director of “Mozart’s Magic Flute Diaries” and president of Sullivan Entertainment
“The film version of Mozart’s classic opera, starring Rutger Hauer, was created almost entirely using CGI technology with all of the filming being done partly on location in Salzburg, Vienna and at Nesuchwanstein in Bavaria, but also on a virtual green-screen set at Sullivan Studios in Toronto.
“The film was made for television for CTV/BellMedia. The impossibility of shooting the entire film in Europe inspired the ingenuity of the film makers to shoot significant scenes in studio. The process allowed the actors, dancers and singer’s of Toronto’s Opera Atelier company to be filmed on hard sets but also in front of blue and green screens. (In the case of Laquerre and Asselin in the still they were attached on wires and suspended in the air to move through the clouds while singing). In post-production, backgrounds and animation were added to create a virtual environment which allowed Sullivan to recreate Mozart’s 18th century fantasy in the same method as similar films of that period such as “Sin City” and “The 300.”
“The technique also allowed for an abundance of creative freedom in depicting modern Salzburg where characters could travel through the picturesque city – from the baroque Landestheater to bustling train stations or hotels and on to vast Austrian palaces and monasteries, as well as imaginative fantasylands within the story of the opera itself; all without ever leaving the Toronto studio.
“The film brings together two diverse art forms, CGI and Opera creating an extraordinary creative synergy.” ~ Kevin Sullivan, Sullivan Entertainment
The movie was released on DVD in 2008 and has definitely stood the test of time, with all its magic moments intact. The unique and remarkable CGI utilizing and combining mattes, special effects and green screen filming holds up well in light of advancements in the technology. The CGI behind the film is featured in an excellent documentary on the DVD, “Filming Mozart’s Magic Opera.” In addition to the splendid music and imaginative mounting of the film production as a whole, “Magic Flute Diaries” was superbly cast with opera singers like Olivier and Mireille, and with non-singing actors such as Rutger Hauer as Masha/Pamina’s manager, and Warren Christie (whose singing was dubbed) as Tom/Tamino.
Following their involvement in “Mozart’s Magic Flute Diaries” Mireille and Olivier have appeared in many other operatic productions together, most recently in Opera Atelier’s splendid staging of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” in late 2019. Mireille was cast as Zerlina and Olivier as Masetto.
A co-production of Sullivan Entertainment and Opera Atelier, the “Mozart’s Magic Flute Diaries” DVD is available from the Sullivan Entertainment shop, and is also available to stream online at http://www.gazebotv.com
“Olivier Laquerre – Baritone – gallantry & charm in perfect harmony” issue and “Interview with Mireille Asselin and commentary by
Kevin Sullivan of Sullivan Entertainment for “Mozart’s Magic Flute Diaries” (2008)” Copyright © January 2020 Lorraine Dmitrovic
To link to the issue: http://empressbooks.com/newsletter/Winter2020/Laquerre_cover_page.html
To link to the article:
http://empressbooks.com/newsletter/Winter2020/Laquerre-Asselin-Sullivan.html
Olivier Laquerre – Baritone, gallantry & charm in perfect harmony by L. Chrystal Dmitrovic
Now online. I’m so very pleased to share the latest issue of The Empress Arts & Music Zine in which singer baritone Olivier Laquerre is featured. One of Canada’s best known and beloved baritones, Olivier Laquerre’s career includes a succession of highlights – opera, period and contemporary music and playing the French horn.
It was a great honour to interview this talented man, Olivier (who also has a great sense of humour!), as well as some of his colleagues he’s worked with – William Right, Paris Black, soprano Mireille Asselin and composer-pianist Louis Dominique Roy.
Olivier Laquerre – Baritone, gallantry & charm in perfect harmony
by L. Chrystal Dmitrovic
http://empressbooks.com/newsletter/Winter2020/Laquerre_cover_page.html
Hint: After arriving at the cover page, click on the Medusa icon to access “all things enchanted.” This will take you to the issue’s index page where you can again click on a Medusa icon to choose one of the articles to read more about Olivier.
“Toujours Provence: Music for Stage and Screen” by William Perry – CD review by Lorraine Dmitrovic
“Toujours Provence: Music for Stage and Screen” by William Perry
CD review by Lorraine Dmitrovic
Tracks 1- 4, written in 2018
Track 1 – “Part One: A Brief History” is a silky, idyllic introduction to this 4-piece Provençal suite. Beginning glimmering notes awaken your mind’s eye to a gentle musical sunrise, and being Provence, one is misted by the heady scent of lavender fields in high summer bloom. It eases you into the mood for the grand eloquence and then the jazzy, brashy brass coin flip of the remaining tracks. Piano solo merriment. You begin to look over your shoulder and back through history. Conductor Paul Phillips sweeps all the orchestral elements together in a crisp flourish of music that highlights France’s centuries past of glory days .
In the CD liner notes, Douglas Bruce states that the opening piece is a “‘Welcome to Provence’ theme. It calls forth the spirit and beauty of Provence from the earliest days of settlement…‘The Arrival of the Romans’….” then onto “moves to the High Middle Ages” and a ”period of ‘courtly love’” ….”The last bit of history comes with piccolo trumpet presenting ‘La Carmagnole,’ widely sung and danced during the French Revolution.
Track 2 – Part Two: Lavender Fields and Vineyards
A tranquil pace and dusty paths usher you to discover village and fields; instrumentals mid-point are like wind and rain waving the fields at first playfully and lightly, and oboe d’amores intertwine like the necks of courting geese, and then – a mid-day temptest begins chaotically whipping and swirling snippets of lavender blossoms into the darkening vortex suggested by the piano arpeggios. Soon those darker musical clouds part, revealing a sunny peaceful day once again.
Bruce in the liner notes relates about the musical suggestion of stormy weather that indeed, “the countryside is interrupted by the arrival of the Mistral, the strong, sometimes violent, wind that roars down the Rhône River Valley and, as [author of books about the region] Peter Mayle put it, ‘can blow the ears off a donkey.’”
William Perry himself has said about the origins of his Toujours Provence CD that “I had long considered writing a suite about Provence, and it all came together with the encouragement of the late Peter Mayle (1939–2018), author of ‘A Year in Provence’ … His spirit inhabits every note … Musically, I describe the piece as being for Orchestra and Piano. It’s not quite a concerto, but the piano does have a prominent role representing modern-day Provence. The four movements are linked by a solo clarinet who serves as our guide. I’ve incorporated some less usual symphonic instruments including an alto saxophone, a pair of oboe d’amores (also playable on regular oboes) and a long Provençal drum sometimes called a tambourin.”
As to how and why specifically the Provence region in France inspired Perry to compose the first four tracks, he explains, “Like the author Peter Mayle (‘A Year in Provence’) I was an advertising executive for some fifteen years (actually one of the original Mad Men), and I treasured the times I could stretch my creative legs and travel abroad. I fell in love with Provence, its people, its traditions, its sheer natural beauty and, admittedly, its wines. I vowed one day to write a piece that would express my affection and admiration, and this opportunity came along when planning the present CD. And Peter Mayle was kind enough to loan me the title of his subsequent best-seller, ‘Toujours Provence.’”
Too, numerous memorable occasions and amazing co-incidences with colleagues and musicians arose while working on Toujours Provence. Recalls Perry, “Composing and then recording new music is always a challenge but, if the gods are smiling, the process can be very rewarding. In this particular instance we were combining recorded material from the 1980’s with music being performed and recorded for the first time. The orchestra, the wonderful Slovak Philharmonic, had a new set of musicians but a tradition of sound, especially in the strings, that had been maintained for decades. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that one of the cellists was a young man sitting in the same chair his father had occupied 30 years previous. He was quite pleased that he and his dad were appearing together on the same CD! Our producer, Marek Piaĉek, discovered that the microphones we had employed in the 1980’s were still in their storeroom and using them in the same concert hall and with an identical seating arrangement, he was able to blend the earlier and present sessions seamlessly. Credit, too, goes to conductor Paul Phillips who maintained orchestral balances that duplicated perfectly. All in all, an unusual undertaking, but I think a major achievement.
Track 3- Part Three: Café Terrace at Night
Inhibitions fall like silk stockings around ankles in the carefree-a little-tipsy waltz that is embellished with the burnished golden highlights of piano treble glissandos. Do the last dancers in the cafe pause and turn on the rests and stops in the soulful melody and the bluish Van Gogh night emotion so expertly imbued by pianist Michael Chertock? Perhaps the dance music lingers yet in that timeless cafe.
As Bruce records in the liner notes: “In September of 1888, Vincent van Gogh, then living in Arles, painted his Café Terrace at Night, an atmospheric depiction of nightlife in Provence and the first instance where Van Gogh presented his iconic starry sky.”
Track 4 – Part Four: Market Day
The journey musically in Toujours Provence culminates in the final movement. Every tourist in countryside France is compelled to visit an authentic village market, to feast on regional fare, who will inevitably be absorbed and caught up by the sights and sounds. In the early quiet of morning, vendors in huge white aprons are setting up their tables and wares. A goose girl is penning her prize flock. A farmer taps his piglets to their spot. Slowly, buyers fill the market. Wine sellers call out their vintages. Ponies clop with ribbons streaming from manes. Young men and ladies dally and jig. The music is a tactile to and fro experience and serves to records such memories of the market surroundings and happenings.
As with other Perry compositions featuring crowd “scenes”, the market song is rife with trumpets and horns, and it’s easy to imagine the locals in ethnic garb spontaneously twirling to dance routines handed down by centuries of ancestors. Perry has mentioned that he was inspired by the music “Kalenda Maya,” written by the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras very early in the 1200s.
Composer Perry is currently preparing projections that can specifically accompany the Toujours Provence Suite, tracks 1 to 4, in performance if an orchestra should so wish.
To read more about William Perry during the planning stages of his Toujours Provence CD, see “The Empress Interview: In discussion with William Perry about his Music for Silent Film, Film and Television, and the Stage”: http://www.empressbooks.com/newsletter/Wm_Perry_2016/interview.html
Track 5, written in 2016
Track 5 – Fiona
Perry’s composition “Fiona” is a touching tribute to pianist Fiona Albek. She and twin sister Ambra, who played violin and viola, comprised the Albek Duo, who Perry had collaborated with numerous times, and also engaged them for his “Gemini Concerto,” appearing on his 2011 Naxos CD release, “Music for Great Films of The Silent Era.” For me, “Fiona” has the gentle warmth of a sunlit park bench under a wise oak tree where friends have sat and chatted, throwing bits of bread to brave squirrels, sharing old postcards or perhaps phonograph records with smiles and laughter, streams of sunshine dappling good times and memories.
As Bruce relates in the liner notes: “A subsequent Suite for Viola and Piano was nearly complete when Fiona fell critically ill and passed away at far too early an age. Perry arranged one of the movements of the Suite for full orchestra and dedicated it as a tribute to Fiona. Solo piano, Fiona’s instrument, is featured throughout, and the viola theme that would have been a solo for Ambra is here played by ten orchestral violas. The principal melody of this piece is one that Perry had originally written as title music for the silent film Irene (1926). It will now be forever associated with Fiona.”
Tracks 6 – 16, written in 2018
Wind in the Willows: Ballet Suite Commentary by Douglas Bruce in the Toujours Provence liner notes:
“Just before Christmas in 1985, following an earlier sold-out run in Washington, D.C., a new musical version of Kenneth Grahame’s classic, The Wind in the Willows, opened on Broadway. The author of the musical version was Jane Iredale, William Perry composed the music, Roger McGough and William Perry provided the lyrics and Nathan Lane had his first Broadway starring role as Toad …. In 2018 Perry completed a long-held wish of turning the stage score into a ballet, arranged and orchestrated for full symphony.
Here is the cast and the scenario:
The ballet principals include Mole (a ballerina) and Rat, Toad and the Chief Weasel. Subsidiary soloists include Mother and Father Rabbit and the Jailer’s Daughter. Members of the corps de ballet portray the Chief Weasel’s gang, Bystanders, Can-Can Dancers, Policemen and most especially Rabbits (and Bunny Rabbits) of all shapes and sizes.”
“Wind in the Willows” poster design © 2018: Marina Perry
My brief impressions of the ballet suite tracks 6-16:
6 The Overture has upbeat tiptoe whimsy and hinted homages to historic Broadway productions, with various dance steps and instruments encouraging the action.
7 Mole’s Waltz
Having existed previously only in dim underground, the Mole now irresistibly waltzes with sweet joy of newly discovering her world is filled with sunshine. Accordingly the orchestra supplies Mole with the perfect lightness and glee for her “happy dance.”
8 Gasoline Can-Can
This number begins with a sense of trepidation then exits stage left and returns “on stage” with comedy and clowning characters. The energy is chipper, the feel of the music is as if Wagner has met Looney Tunes – perfectly cartoonish for the goings-on in this dream scene of sorts. Toad in a pedal-car thinks he has won a Grand Prix and of course is danced around by Can-Can girls as part of the celebration, and then suddenly a man with two policemen in tow accuses Toad of stealing his car. Toad’s arrested and escorted off stage, with the Can-Can dancers waving him off. The song perfectly suggests the humorous chaos.
9 Along the River (Pas de Deux)
True love knows no boundaries. Regarding Ms. Mole and Rat, their shyness of meeting and growing attraction is reflected musically in crescendos and increasingly a rising intensity – including a clashing cymbal – in the romantic piano solo played on this track by Donald Sosin.
10 Evil Weasel
To the sound of a bluesy saxophone and red hot horns, the villainous Chief Weasel exerts his padrone dominance over his gang. All rivals are dispersed from his territory, and in true boss fashion the Chief is adored by his molls, who to the gutsy, smokey music must surely be swooning and teetering in their weasel-size high heels.
11 Toad’s Dance
Toad soon tangos right out of jail in this track, after the Jailer’s daughter appears with food. To the sensual heartbeat of a habanera, Toad disguises himself. Like the scene in Puccini’s opera “Tosca” in which the character Angelotti escapes from a chapel in his sister’s garments, Toad escapes from jail in some of the daughter’s clothes.
12 March of the Rabbits
The march is perfectly suited to the image of a regiment of rabbits armed with giant carrots on their way to rescue Toad Hall from usurping weasels who had taken over Toad’s ancestral haunts. A fitting touch of humour for a triumphant finale with a sprightly hop and a skip, especially if uniformed rabbits are playing in an accompanying marching band.
13 Wind in the Willows (Pas de Deux)
With Mole and Rat in the woods searching for Toad, the magical “Wind in the Willows” is heard, given voice by a wordless choir, sprinkling a touch of wonder to their pas de deux. Pan, the god who watches over all animals, appears upstage in a mysterious orb of light, and Toad returns and is reunited with his friends. The nostalgic orchestra and vocals are filled to the brim with happiness. Disney couldn’t have presented the reunion premise and score with any more sentimentality.
14 Weasel Gavotte
The track starts out with elegant chamber music on the harpsichord, with the Chief Weasel dangling tempting tidbits to keep their ways changed. The true Capone colours of the gangland weasels, however, prevail. The gang again grows raucous, as does the music, and the Chief if-you-can’t-beat-’em joins them.
From Douglas Bruce’s liner notes:
“A quote from a Haydn sonata sets the stage for the Weasels’ occupancy of Toad Hall. They are now attired in elegant costumes, or as elegant as a Weasel can get. The Chief asks them to show some couthe and promises that there’ll be:
“Croquet on the lawn, a gentle breeze, as many strawberries as we please.
Silken hankies when we sneeze, silver peaspoons for our peas.
An aristocratic life of ease
Where money grows on family trees.”
15 The Fight
To the strains of a full-orchestra, huge, jazzy dance number, The Weasels are congratulating each other when, Bruce relates, “suddenly Toad, Mole and Rat burst in along with the rabbits swinging their huge carrots like cudgels. Toad and the Chief face off, and Toad is quickly flattened. On his knees, Toad pretends to beg for mercy, and while the Chief is striking a victor’s pose, Toad springs up and delivers a decisive punch. He has won the day.”
There is a little buffa in the music, and a busyness in the phrasing, which peak together to echo victory in the story. The imaginative voice of the “wind in the willows” had been given strong underlying bones as well.
16 Finale
The early calm music of the finale and the boisterous finale fini grand moments, brings together all the characters, all their scenes, to a positive conclusion in an altered nature world. Another beauty to all these songs composed by Perry is their adaptability from Broadway tunes into modern Ballet numbers. Who says that toads and weasels can’t dance? All it takes is a bit of music fantasia, a composer with a sense of magic delight, and the listener to seize that enchantment for a brief moment.
Track 17, written in 2017
Swordplay! (concert overture fashioned by Perry from his two scores written for the Douglas Fairbanks Sr. silent films, “The Three Musketeers” (1921) and the part-talkie though usually screened as a silent, “The Iron Mask” (1929). Perry’s overture is upbeat and adventurous, romantic, a “swordplay” of orchestral instruments that takes a victory lap to the fini. What inspired Perry to fashion a concert overture from the two separate scores he wrote for Fairbanks Sr’s The Three Musketeers and The Iron Mask?
Perry responds, “I grew up in Elmira, New York, a small city but one that treasured the few cultural activities it could afford. One of these was the visit each year of a full symphony orchestra, most likely from Minneapolis, Cleveland or Rochester. At that time, the invariable program format consisted of an overture and concerto in the first half, a popular symphony in the second. It was exciting to hear the Grieg Piano Concerto or the Franck D Minor Symphony, but I equally enjoyed the tuneful overtures that opened the evening: Zampa, Poet and Peasant, Merry Wives of Windsor, etc. This is a format that no longer exists, the overture part of the program having given way to a de rigueur contemporary piece, often quite angular and dissonant, but a good deed in our modern musical world. Contrarily and with more than a bit of nostalgia, I decided to write an overture that might have had some popularity under the old format. The hustle and swashbuckle of my Three Musketeers film scores, with always an outrageously romantic love theme, seemed just right for my objective. At least it made me smile.”
Track 18, written in 1982
Shopping in Paris
When you’re Mark Twain, a day in Paris is bound to be a vigorous gambol, and Perry has impressed the sense of fast-paced, non-stop activity through busy strings and also stylish orchestral tango and dances moves. Perry also has a great fondness for Mark Twain and his times.
As to whether Perry updated the three Mark Twain-related tracks on Toujours Provence originally composed by him in 1971, 1982 and 1983, he explains more about them, saying “Sometimes when I record, if time permits, I lay down miscellaneous tracks that are not part of that particular project but which I hope will find a home on some future release. That’s the case with the Soliloquy for harmonica and orchestra that had to wait 36 years before coming to the surface. Alas, the brilliant soloist, Richard Hayman, is no longer with us to enjoy the fruits of his performance. Two other pieces, Shopping in Paris and the Graduation March were designed for stage and screen use, the first in the film The Innocents Abroad and the second in the Mark Twain stage musical. They now have an independent existence on this CD.”
Douglas Bruce, Toujours Provence liner notes:
“In his lifetime, Mark Twain’s best-selling book was The Innocents Abroad (1869). Immensely entertaining, it chronicled his adventures and observations in the company of American travellers making a ‘Great Pleasure Excursion’ to Europe and the Holy Land. In 1983, William Perry produced with his score a film version of the book starring Craig Wasson, Brooke Adams, David Ogden Stiers, and, playing the universal guide they named ‘Ferguson’, the Italian star, Gigi Proietti. In a scene in Paris, when Twain and his companions ask Ferguson to take them to the Louvre, he steers them instead to an assemblage of silk stores where he has arranged to get a cut of the sales. The music of Shopping in Paris, with its very Parisian orchestration, accompanies their whirlwind tour of the stores.”
Track 19, written 1983
Soliloquy is based on a song composed by William Perry (also co-writing the lyrics) for Act Two of the Broadway musical, “The Wind in the Willows.” Separate from the Windballet suite preceding on Toujours Provence, this number is relaxed and soulful, with the harmonica solo by the late Richard Hayman fitting perfectly with the ballroom grand nature of the song. Perry once again steers us down a gentle path, with strings soaring harmoniously with the harmonica line.
Track 20, written in 1971
Graduation March
The song, also a “graduate” of “Mark Twain: The Musical,” Douglas Bruce shares in the liner notes that the large production had a successful run for ten summers in Elmira, NY and Hartford, CT, and was employed in the play to accompany Twain and his co-recipients as they walked the aisle to receive their college degrees. Bruce further states that, “Interestingly, it is now becoming used by other colleges for their present-day Commencement ceremonies. When composer Perry received an honorary degree, he reminded his audience of Twain’s advice: ‘Let us endeavour so to live that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry’.”
In conclusion, William Perry who wrote the updated scores for many silent films for PBS and other media companies, has an intrinsic understanding of the relationship between the visual and the faithful to the era audio in silent film. Perry shines in writing scores to match the visual action, feeling and emotion. Cresting glissandos of the piano and gliding horns are bolstered by the faithful swashbuckling melody in the string section. Add a touch of romance to the strings and the silent stage is set for instrumental song to dance like scintillating stars while heroic images of derring-do flicker on the silver screen. Such soundtracks eventually become inseparable from their films, and soon immediately identifiable. “That’s from that Douglas Fairbanks film, or that Chaplin short,” we say. Perry, in the style of the greatest film composers, has accomplished this musically with his silent film accompaniments many times over.
The Toujours Provence CD is a combination pleasure, with its Provençal and Broadway-ballet themes, a cohesive mix of surprise and familiarity. It’s a perfect inducement to bringing back delightful memories of traipsing across Southern France – leisurely strolls, evocative, taking that inviting chair at the little cafe table and sipping a dark roast brew, or something glinting purple-red with a bite of Roquefort Bleu and crusty rustic village bread. It’s a Broadway night out at the ballet, too. An homage to silent film, to the arts, to Mark Twain in Paris. Internationally we are all tourists, who may well stop in Paris one day along the way. Of course our travels any and everywhere are a toujours thing, encompassing all things toujours of yesterday – and right now. The CD encourages visitations and revisiting. Tea and cakes, or a bottle of fine Napoleon brandy, sit invitingly on the French-tatted lace doily on the table between two comfy wingbacks. Take out those family photo and wedding album memories, in solitary or good company. Your own reminiscing may not have all the flavours of Provence, but will have all the elements of Toujours as you listen – always.
To view other articles about William Perry’s composing music for and producing Mark Twain-related stories for television and CD/DVD release:
http://www.empressbooks.com/newsletter/Wm_Perry_2016/two_reviews.html
For more information about/to purchase William Perry’s Toujours Provence CD:
https://www.amazon.com/Perry-Toujours-Provence-Music-Screen/dp/B07W5CDB4H/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=William+Perry+Toujours+Provence+CD&qid=1575146221&sr=8-1
Copyright © November 2019: Lorraine Dmitrovic
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https://www.facebook.com/The-published-works-of-Lorraine-Dmitrovic-L-Chrystal-Dmitrovic-421181198011653/?ref=hl
The Empress Arts & Music Zine Online –
http://www.empressbooks.com/newsletter/the_empress.html
The Art of L. Chrystal Dmitrovic in Private Collections –
http://empressbooks.com/gallery/private.html
The 2010 Northumberland County Author Meet & Greet –
http://empressbooks.com/meet_and_greet.html
Friends of the Centreton Library –
https://www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheCentretonLibrary?ref=hl
The Ultimate Movies Page – Silents to New Releases –
https://www.facebook.com/theultimatemoviespagesilentstonewreleases/?ref=hl
A World Stage of Opera, Operetta and Song –
https://www.facebook.com/worldstageopera?ref=hl
The Ultimate Movies Broadcast Show –
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy34ydy1VbbA9CXchqzEQmg
Contact –
empressbooks@empressbooks.com
lorrainedmitrovic@empressbooks.com
PURSUED IN BARBICAN! by Lorraine Dmitrovic – stills short film assignment
PURSUED IN BARBICAN! by Lorraine Dmitrovic – stills short film assignment Sept 2018
Edited by Lorraine Dmitrovic. Text, photo arrangement, all photo special effects and music are Copyright © August 2018: Lorraine Dmitrovic-Giampieri.
“I thought to create an experimental soundtrack that would complement the surreal nature of the story. You can pause at any frame to fully read a caption; humans and space beings likely never move at the same speed. ;)” ~ Lorraine
Original, experimental instrumental soundtrack composed and performed by Lorraine on instruments including; maracas, sticks, accordion, guitar (complete song originally performed at a grade 9 high school performance), tuning pitch pipe, violin (with a pretty well shredded bow and a totally gone “G” string on violin)
Pursued in Barbican! video editing and sound editing: Lorraine Dmitrovic
PURSUED IN BARBICAN! short film assignment for FutureLearn course, “Explore Filmmaking: from script to screen” (hosted by Nik Powell, director of the British National Film and Television School). The course was developed by the National Film and Television School (NFTS), with support from the British Film Institute (BFI), through the Film Academy programme. Standard unedited photos for FutureLearn course Explore Filmmaking assignment “Pursued” used by permission of developer and publisher The English and Media Centre. Technical work by Ice Candy, London.
The Uninvited Guest – by Lorraine Dmitrovic
Assignment for my Explore Filmmaking course (Week 5: Lesson 5.11 – Transitions)
The party scene:
“The Uninvited Guest”
An out-of-focus shot that gradually focusses medium long shot on a lone male sitting on a couch, eyes half-open and bloodshot. People are milling about in groups drinking and laughing
Male, taking a long sip of a tequila martini, then says with a drunken slur: Why tonight?
He looks over to a bunch of girls, tittering. Camera zooms in quickly on his ex-girlfriend of that evening, who points to him and laughs.
Male, camera medium close.
Male: You never loved me, did you?
Camera shifts to girls, who giggle more loudly.
Male slams his martini glass on the table hard enough that the ice cubes jump up out of the glass onto the table and slide off the edge. The male shrugs, looks to the ice cubes now on the floor as does the camera. He kicks them clear across the room toward the still laughing girls. They scatter with the camera on them long shot.
Then camera close-up to the male. There are tears in his eyes.
Male: Just like everything else in my life.
The camera follows the host of the party as he brings the male another drink with ice cubes.
Camera on host.
Host: Word is you and your sheila have broken up. For good this time?
Camera on male. Male takes the offered drink, nods his thanks.
Male: She seems to think so.
Camera on both host and male, in profile.
Host: You’ve got other fish to fry, you know …. See? That girl, just moved into the building last week. No boyfriend.
Male, eyes the girl thoughtfully over the rim of his drink.
Male: You’re sure? She’s pretty enough.
Camera on male. Male searches the room to see if his ex-girlfriend is hanging around.
Camera back to host and male in profile again.
Host: I think she left for the evening, along with her friends. She wasn’t any good for you anyway. Here … I’ll leave another drink for the new girl in case she walks your way.
Male: Thanks, bud. We’ve been tight since grade school, eh?
Host: Got your back always.
Male: Now f*** off so I can …
Host: Got it. But be warned. She lives with her 6 foot-ten brother.
Male, rolls eyes: Now you tell me ….
Host and male fist-bump, and the host goes to small-talk with his other guests.
Male, camera close-up on his face as he looks around the room and zeroes in on the new girl. Quick camera cut to new girl, and back to male. He catches her eye and winks.
Camera now on medium long shot on girl and she looks around to see who he’s winking at. She points to herself, mouthes: Me?
Male, smiling, nods, lifts up the drink the host left for her. He waves her over. The camera watches him watching her walk over to the sofa. He waves his hand for her to be seated.
Close up on face of girl.
Girl: Didn’t you come to the party with a girl? You’re not trying to make anyone jealous, are you?
Medium camera shot on the sofa. The male laughs, spitting out some of his drink.
Male: Yes. And no.
Camera on girl.
Girl: Okayyyy … is this for me?
Girl picks up drink.
Camera on girl and male in profile.
Male: Hope you like – whatever it is.
Girl, sips and smiles: My favourite. Vodka and lemon-lime soda. Cheers.
Girl downs the drink, and the male’s eyes widen.
Male, calls out to his host friend: Hey dude, bring us a whole tray!
The girl shakes her head in the negative: I don’t really drink. We don’t need –
Camera follows action of male. The male places his hand on the girl’s stocking-ed leg. Male: Oh yes we do. Drink ’til dawn and then ….
Camera on girl, then moves quickly back and forth between girl and male. Girl: No. You’ve got it wrong! Please –
Girl moves away from him on the sofa. He leans over, trying to take hold of her leg again.
Girl, almost panicking: You’re drunk! Get away from me!
Camera zooms away into a long shot, sofa with two people behind it seen with only a portion of them from chest to waist. Suddenly, one of them pours large decanters of mixed cocktails over the male and the girl on the sofa.
Male, looking up, camera close-up on his horrified face: Sophie! What are you … Why did you …?
Camera close-up on girl. The girl gasps.
Camera follows two large male hands grasp the male by the shoulders and lift him forcibly up from the sofa.
Camera to girl.
Girl: Tim! Don’t! I’m sorry, my brother ….
Camera to male.
Male: My ex! Sophie!
Camera swings up to view his ex looming.
Sophie: You got that right –
Camera front on male and Sophie, angled.
Male: No, you’ve got it wrong! We made up – remember?
Sophie laughs.
Sophie: That was 2 weeks ago, then I met this girl’s brother. You and I are off again. His sister is underage, untouchable, so you’ve got everything wrong.
Camera on girl’s brother.
Girl’s brother: Should we call the police on him? Serving booze to a minor with intention –
Camera on male.
Male: Go ‘way with you – is this a set up?
Medium shot on Sophie and girl’s brother. Sophie and the brother laugh.
Girl’s brother: No, just a nice send-off.
Camera on the brother as he takes the girl’s hand and takes her from the couch. She’s escorted away by Sophie.
Camera medium close-up to male.
Male, resigned: This is going to hurt, isn’t it?
Male looks around for his buddy. No sign of him.
Camera on girl’s brother.
Girl’s brother: A hard lesson to learn. You should quit drinking. Then maybe you’ll stop picking up girls already taken or off limits.
Camera on male.
Male: Sophie told you about my bad habit?
Camera on the male and girl’s brother. The girl’s brother, a foot taller than the male, wraps his fingers into the male’s collar, lifts him from the sofa. He’s about to give the male a punch in the face when a hand grips his bicep. The brother pauses.
Camera cuts quickly to host as he starts talking.
Host: Take it out to the hall. No blood on the furniture. It’s not paid for yet.
Camera slightly shaky following as the brother begins to push the male through the room toward the front door. An anonymous guest opens the door for them. As they pass through the door into the hall, all the guests in various states of drunkenness in the room raise their glasses.
Camera pans the crowd of guests. The guests, simultaneously: CHEERS!
Sound of the door slamming, and party noises slowly resume.
The Uninvited Guest
Copyright © July 18, 2018: Lorraine Dmitrovic-Giampieri
“Maybe I Shouldn’t Live Alone” by Lorraine Dmitrovic
Assignment for my Explore Filmmaking course (Week 5: Lesson 5.3)
“Maybe I Shouldn’t Live Alone.”
The camera follows closely as a little old lady shuffles into the kitchen in worn slippers and housecoat, yawning, sets her table for breakfast and then turns on the kettle for coffee. She goes to the fridge, takes out a carton of eggs and wax-paper wrapped homestyle bacon. She reaches for the milk and finds barely enough for half a glassful in the carton. She pours the almost empty carton down the sink after looking at the best-before date. Close-up on the date. She grabs her change purse from the counter, and walks out the side door to go to the corner convenience store, still in her housecoat and slippers.
Cut to her (medium shot) entering the milk store. A jarring bell announces her. She waves without saying good morning to the clerk and walks toward the back of the store.
Cut to her close-up studying a cooler stocked with dairy and juice cartons. She squints, quickly searches her pocket for glasses and comes up empty. She squints more closely at the glass door, then opens the door of the cooler, grabbing a litre size carton.
Cut to her medium close-up paying at the cash register at the front of the store, and leaving with the carton in a bag.
Medium close-up cut to her kitchen counter. She leaves the bag and quick cuts to making scrambled eggs and bacon, spooning coffee into a single size filter, the kettle starts whistling. She pours water into the filter, it steeps into a large ceramic cup.
Cut to breakfast close-up ready on the plate. Coffee is ready and she goes to the sideboard, opens the bag and pulls out the carton. She squints, camera very close, quickly grabs her glasses off the counter and her eyes widen.
“Mango juice!!??” she yells. Close-up on her face. She looks to the coffee and shrugs, and pours the juice into the coffee. “Hmmmmmm, it needs a little more sugar,” she says medium close-up – as she picks up the pepper and begins to shake it into her cup!!
Copyright © July 2018: Lorraine Dmitrovic-Giampieri
Lorraine Dmitrovic: The Surreality of it All.... Film, books, the arts 