According to legend, back in the bad old days of the 10th C,
Bishop Hatto (actually Archbishop of Mainz), decided to deal with excess mouths during a famine by burning said people alive. In retribution, he was eaten alive by a horde of angry mice, supposedly in the
Mausturm near Bingen. The story ended up in
Baring-Gould's Curious Myths of the Middle Ages (
print wiki) and has been widely celebrated in
poetry, much of it awful. It probably was an influence on Lovecraft's story "The Rats in the Walls."
[more inside]
posted by GenjiandProust
on Feb 27, 2010 -
9 comments
When the
Mongols invaded Russia in the 13th century,
legend has it that when they reached the northern city of
Kitezh, the citizens, rather than defending themselves, "engaged in fervent praying, asking god for their redemption. On seeing this, the Mongols rushed to the attack, but then stopped. Suddenly, they saw countless fountains of water bursting from under the ground all around them. The attackers fell back and watched the town submerge into the lake." Ever since,
Kitezh has provided Russians "a platform for imagining what their culture might have been like, had it not been stamped by authoritarian rule." And it gave Rimsky-Korsakov the
plot of his opera the
Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh. [More inside.]
posted by languagehat
on Apr 19, 2006 -
22 comments
For all the hoo-ha about Callas first bringing real acting to the operatic stage, one has only to view the footage of Risë Stevens legendary 1952 “Carmen” to see what kind of Method she brought to the Met. Stevens was the definitive gypsy wanton, and her performance has it all— fire, ice, and that impossible balance between elegance and sluttiness. Her technique is superb—licking her fingers before extinguishing the candles in what will be her death chamber, then flicking off the wax; flinging her unwanted lover’s ring at him, spitting out a contemptuous “Tiens!”.
The Metropolitan Opera Guild honors the
Bronx-born singer, now 92. More inside.
posted by matteo
on Feb 9, 2006 -
9 comments
San Carlo of the Symphony. Il Maestro
Carlo Maria Giulini, orchestra conductor who passed away Tuesday at 91 "had an almost uncanny ability to transform the sound of an orchestra, any orchestra, into a dark and intense glow, which became his trademark over the years". "We have lost one of the greatest musicians of our time," says
Esa-Pekka Salonen (.pdf), music director of the LA Philharmonic. Giulini has been called "the last humanist", a gentle man beloved by his orchestras, so humble in his approach to music that, always feeling the necessity to "fathom" each new work, it wasn't until the 1960s that he finally felt ready to conduct Bach, or the symphonies of Mozart and Beethoven. This from a man who, at the beginning of his career (as a viola player) had played under Richard Strauss. "I had the great privilege to be a member of an orchestra," Giulini said in 1982. "
I still belong to the body of the orchestra. When I hear the phrase, 'The orchestra is an instrument,' I get mad. It's a group of human beings who play instruments." More inside.
posted by matteo
on Jun 16, 2005 -
11 comments
"Who is this Loretta Lynn chick, anyway?". Jack White, in a skintight,
red cowboy suit, seemed a little nervous when he came out to introduce his opening act. So nervous, in fact, that the White Stripes frontman offered a cautionary preface of sorts to the massive huddle of young fans at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York. "Now I want you all to be very nice to my next guest. I think
she's the greatest female singer-songwriter of the 20th century,". The crowd looked around at each other, visibly puzzled.
In White,
Loretta Lynn has found her
Rick Rubin. Finally. Much like the producer who
revitalized the
late Johnny
Cash's career with
spare, homespun recordings, White has raised the notion of
Loretta Lynn as a hip, renegade country artist. The transformation is of the same magnitude as
Emmylou Harris's ethereal work with Daniel Lanois in the mid-'90s.
more inside
posted by matteo
on Apr 27, 2004 -
33 comments
Did UFO's originate in Ancient India? According to Indian legend, the kingdom of Rama existed at the same time as the lost kingdom of
Atlantis. Both kingdoms developed airships that could fly not only between countries, but also into outerspace. The Indian ships, called
Vimanas, are described in many ancient manuscripts, and perhaps most spectacularly in the
Mahabarata, in which some believe there is a description of an
ancient nuclear war. Is it possible that such technology could have been
lost in antiquity, or kept in the posession of some "secret society"? Fascinating stuff...
posted by greengrl
on Jul 3, 2003 -
28 comments
The Camelot Project A wonderful collection of Arthurian images, e-texts, and bibliographies, comprising everything from the
Alliterative Morte Arthure to the eccentric Robert Stephen Hawker's "The Quest for the Sangraal." See also
this extensive two-part list of on-line Arthurian resources, courtesy of Kathleen L. Nichols (Pittsburg State University).
posted by thomas j wise
on Apr 20, 2003 -
2 comments
The Mystery Pit of Oak Island. In 1795, two boys found a treasure map on Oak Island, on the coast of Nova Scotia; two hundred years, tens of millions of dollars and six lives later, the island is nearly obliterated with holes and excavations, and no one is any richer... The story of Oak Island makes a fine allegory for pursuing phantom riches at the expense of all else, in addition to just making a damn fine story.
posted by jonson
on Jan 9, 2003 -
27 comments
Robert Jr. Lockwood is alive , well and still playing and recording.
He learned guitar from Robert Johnson when the latter was hanging with Robert Jr’s mom—hence the Jr—and cut his first 78 in 1941. Yet he’s just
2nd generation. From the first,
Henry Townsend is still alive and
playing, but at 91, doesn't travel that much anymore. Then there is
David "Honeyboy" Edwards —and
he knew Robert Johnson as well--and Tommy McClennan and Robert Petway, too, which is way more impressive to me. He still plays and records, too, in very recent times in the
company of Lockwood and Townsend. And in the third generation, you have
Johnny Otis , still alive and kicking, complete with
virtual mall.
Ike Turner was Howlin’ Wolf’s A&R and piano player when the Wolf cut his first sides for Sam Phillips’ company before Sun, RPM. A helluva a piano player coughAudionotfarfromherecough—apart from the
sordid details of his
personal life,
Ike Turner is, as the aforementioned, a giant in the history of that nearly dead style—the Blues. Alive, playing and recording. Hell, writing, autobiographies, too—
Edwards and
Turner, at least. (and whew, Turner’s is, well,
explicit…) If this were Japan, these guys would be registered as cultural treasures. So why’s everybody wasting their money on some overproduced, overhyped mere johnnyonenote journeyman (if not hack) like R.L. Burnside?
Not an obituary, by any means, but a heads up and props to the surviving masters—and you may have a chance to see the real thing someday soon. But note that, all in all, offer ends... sometime.
posted by y2karl
on Apr 5, 2002 -
21 comments
