Latest news with #classicalmusic
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why is the European Space Agency beaming a waltz at NASA's Voyager 1 probe this weekend?
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. With its sweeping tempo and ethereal melody, Austrian composer Johann Strauss II's "The Blue Danube" waltz has become synonymous with outer space and science fiction ever since it was chosen by Stanley Kubrick for 1968's "2001: A Space Odyssey." Now "The Blue Danube" waltz with its whirling orbital rhythms will truly become the music of the cosmos when the European Space Agency broadcasts the lilting classical piece into deep space in celebration of the agency's 50th anniversary this year, in addition to the bicentennial of Johann Strauss II's birth in 1825. Performed by the Wiener Symphoniker (Vienna Symphony Orchestra), this definitive anthem of space and sci-fi will be transmitted towards NASA's Voyager 1 probe by ESA's 35-meter Deep Space Antenna in Cebreros, Spain. Space fans and music lovers can watch an entire 15-minute livestream on the event's official website and on their YouTube or Instagram Channel regardless of your location, starting at 3:30 p.m. ET (1930 GMT) on Saturday (May 31). Known in its native German as "An der schönen blauen Donau" which translates into "By the Beautiful Blue Danube," the sublime composition's 13,743 notes are being broadcast into the interstellar void on a mission that "is both a tribute to the past and a testament to the future – a Viennese Waltz that will echo through space forever," according to the event's website. Composed by Strauss in 1866 as a consolatory gift to the Viennese people after defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, "The Blue Danube" was conceived from a poem describing the Danube River by Karl Isidor Beck that contained the phrase "beautiful blue Danube." It's one of the most widely recognized pieces of classical music in the world, partly due to its Hollywood history, its associations with space, and being a universally-loved audience favorite in concert halls around the globe. In a pivotal transition scene from director Stanley Kubrick's magnum opus "2001: A Space Odyssey," the film cuts from a twirling bone during the dawn of early humans to an orbiting nuclear weapons platform in the future as the camera follows a needle-nosed Pan Am spaceship drifting towards a gently turning space station. The tune continues on as another shuttle docks at the Clavius moonbase built on the lunar surface. Fans also might recall "The Blue Danube Waltz" being employed in an episode of "The Simpsons" where Homer opens a smuggled bag of potato chips ("Careful, they're ruffled!") inside a space shuttle and proceeds to catch floating chips in his mouth along to the swaying melody of the Strauss melody. RELATED STORIES: — '2001: A Space Odyssey' Turns 50: Why Haven't Humans Been to Jupiter Yet? — Will We Ever Achieve the Vision of '2001: A Space Odyssey'? (Op-Ed) — Voyager 1: Facts about Earth's farthest spacecraft The King of Waltz's iconic musical masterpiece wasn't included in NASA's Voyager space probes' Golden Records launched into space back in 1977, but this Waltz into Space aimed at Voyager 1 will correct that glaring oversight. Currently, Voyager 1 is traveling 15.4 billion miles (24.8 billion kilometers) from Earth, taking this celebratory signal roughly 23 hours and 3 minutes to reach the historic spacecraft.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Vienna to beam Strauss' iconic Blue Danube waltz into space to mark his 200th birthday
To mark Johann Strauss II's 200th birthday, Vienna is sending his iconic waltz The Blue Danube into space - decades after it was left off the Voyager Golden Record. View on euronews
ABC News
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
MSO: An Evening of Fairy Tales
Cruel witches, beautiful princesses and gallant princes abound in this overview of fairy tale favourites. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra offers a curated collection of fairy tale excerpts from Humperdinck, Prokofiev and of course Tchaikovsky, led by young British conductor Alpesh Chauhan. Recorded live in concert at Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne, Narrm/Melbourne, on May 17, 2025 by ABC Classic. Producer Jennifer Mills. Engineer Alex Stinson. Program Engelbert Humperdinck: Prelude from Hansel and Gretel Sergei Prokofiev: Cinderella: At the Ball (Act II highlights) Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Dramatic highlights from Sleeping Beauty Artists Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Alpesh Chauhan (conductor) Find out more Read MSO programs here
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Peter Seiffert, Acclaimed Star of Wagner's Operas, Is Dead at 71
Peter Seiffert, a German tenor admired for his clear, powerful renditions of Wagner, died on April 14 at his home in Schleedorf, Austria, near Salzburg. He was 71. His death was announced by his agent, Hilbert Artists Management, which didn't specify a cause but said that Mr. Seiffert had suffered from a 'severe illness.' Mr. Seiffert was the archetype 'heldentenor,' or heroic tenor in German, one of the rarest and most sought-after types of voices in opera. The leading roles in much of Wagner's work — Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan, Parsifal — demand big tenor voices of exceptional strength and stamina, able to withstand the most extreme vocal demands over hourslong performances. Wagner himself wanted a tenor that was the opposite of what he had been hearing in the Italian opera of his day, which he considered 'unmanly, soft and completely lacking in energy,' he wrote in an essay on the performing of the opera 'Tannhäuser.' Mr. Seiffert had the sort of voice that Wagner sought, in the view of critics: It projected strength. Over the nearly five hours of 'Tannhäuser,' his voice rang out clear and true, from the bottom of his range to the top. The effort was intense. 'You don't become the knight of the High C just for fun and games,' he told the online magazine Backstage Classical in 1996. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Waiting for Gustavo Dudamel, the Philharmonic Is Doing Just Fine
The New York Philharmonic is flying free. Its former music director, Jaap van Zweden, left last summer. Its next, Gustavo Dudamel, is gradually deepening his commitment — including performances of Mahler's Seventh Symphony at David Geffen Hall through Sunday — but doesn't officially start until fall 2026. Those who follow orchestras tend to assume that their quality will dip without a devoted director to oversee things. Partly because of the myth of the indispensable, all-powerful maestro, it can be easy to fear that conductorless periods will be rudderless ones. That certainly hasn't been the case this season at Geffen Hall. The Philharmonic has been sounding great: fresh, vital, engaged, more cohesive. The chilly blare that seemed to frost the hall's acoustics when it reopened in 2022 after a renovation has warmed and softened. The most telling music-making of the year was in a program last month led by the Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer. The final hour of the concert was given over to a rare performance of Bartok's fairy-tale ballet 'The Wooden Prince,' a sprawling, instrument-packed score that swerves from candied to bombastic, from radiant expanses to driving dances. The orchestra rose to the occasion with playing that was nuanced and colorful, and in Mozart's 'Turkish' Violin Concerto, the ensemble matched Lisa Batiashvili's sensual flair. But in a way, I was even more impressed by the opener: Mozart's overture to 'The Magic Flute,' a chestnut of the kind that is often passed over quickly in rehearsal. It glowed. The true test of a great orchestra — what reveals its base line standard — isn't how it does in the big symphonies and premieres that steal the lion's share of attention and applause. It's how the group sounds in little repertory standards, and that 'Magic Flute' overture may have been the most encouraging seven minutes of the season. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
