Le chemins de l'amour

Poulenc's mesmerizing Le Chemins de l'Amour, piano version.



Les chemins qui vont à la mer
Ont gardé de notre passage
Des fleurs, des feuilles et l'écho sous leurs arbres
De nos deux rires clairs.

Hélas, des jours de bonheur,
Radieuses joies envolées,
Je vais sans retrouver traces dans mon coeur.

Chemins de mon amour,
Je vous cherche toujours.
Chemins perdus vous n'êtes plus
Et vos échos sont sourds.
Chemins du désespoir,
Chemins du souvenir,
Chemins du premier jour,
Divins chemins d'amour.

Si je dois l'oublier un jour,
La vie effaçant toute chose,
Je veux dans mon coeur qu'un souvenir
Repose plus fort que l'autre amour.

Le souvenir du chemin,
Où tremblante et toute éperdue,
Un jour j'ai senti sur moi brûler tes mains

Chemins de mon amour,
Je vous cherche toujours.
Chemins perdus,
Vous n'êtes plus
Et vos échos sont sourds.
Chemins du désespoir,
Chemins du souvenir
Chemins du premier jour,
Divins chemins d'amour.

Ride of the Valkyries

The magnificent and overwhelming Act III opening, the famous Ride of the Valkyries, from Richard Wagner's "Die Walküre", the second part of his Ring des Nibelungen trilogy.

This is a 1976 Bayreuth production conducted by Pierre Boulez.

Excuse

The QC RTC judge who inhibited himself from hearing the case against Ampatuan Jr for the sake of his family's safety gets a lot of flak for not taking on what is considered to be a "risk of the trade," that is, as a judge people do expect him to eat death threats for breakfast. So when he dispenses his decision in his other cases, is it out of true and objective appreciation of the facts of the case, or out of fear, his critics ask.

Let's not go overboard. He wasn't, isn't and will not be the last judge to inhibit on a case of this magnitude. Remember, none of the Cotabato RTC judges were available to try the case when it clearly falls under their jurisdiction. To begin with, they weren't too keen on taking on the case for fear of their lives, really. After all, it is not everyday that you get to try true evil, -in its most vicious form- personified.

So it doesn't necessarily follow that this response from him is enough reason for us to cast aspersion on his integrity or doubt his capacity as a judge. This is an extraordinary case, which may soon be in the running for the Crime of the Century. Trying somebody who kills 57 people without compunction isn't exactly SOP even for experienced judges. This was supposed to be his finest case should he rise to the occassion, his moment. But he's not interested in becoming a hero of some sort. All he wants is for him and his family to sleep soundly at night.

Derivative

(I get a lot of Japanese spam comments for this 1st Nov09 entry so I'm re-posting this with a slightly different title)

While watching Project Runway Philippines Season Two (2), I noticed that the judges like to agree with and refrain from contradicting each other. Whoever gets to say first usually has the upper-hand, while the rest simply fall in line. Clearly, Rajo Laurel calls the shots, Apples Aberin and that female host never once had a different opinion with Rajo. They would not dare.

Fashion is supposed to be highly subjective, and it should be shaped by different, even opposing opinions and perspectives. To his credit, Rajo can give a credible opinion because he's the only one familiar with the craft of dress-making while the others simply rely on their supposedly heightened sense of high fashion, kasi nga models daw sila dati. Aberin and that lady host couldn't sew even if their lives depended on it, so they make gaya-gaya statements without appearing clueless --they recycle Rajo's comments and project themselves as if they know what they're talking about. Tragic, really.

Il se fait tard (Faust)

The beautiful Love Duet from Gounod's Faust: "...Il se fait tard..." This is the same scene shown in Martin Scorsese's faithful movie adaption of a favorite novel of mine, Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence. Performed splendidly by real-life couple Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu.

Illegal

I do have my misgivings about the Martial Law declared over at Maguindanao. I am quite aware that the extreme lawlessness in that province can probably be best addressed by Martial Law since civilian rule has already been compromised by feudal landlords who believe the province is theirs by birthright.

Unfortunately, the Constitution clearly does not support the imposition of Martial Law in Maguindanao, even if the President's allies will stand by her side and support the declaration. Martial Law can only be imposed only on very specific grounds- when there is an existing rebellion or invasion- and it cannot be invoked as a preemptive course of action against a rebellion "in the offing." Nor does the discovery of a huge arsenal of guns and ammunition in properties owned by the Ampatuans constitute an existing uprising. The framers of the 1987 Constitution were quite particular about this, so as to avoid abuse of discretion.

We can always argue that the Maguindanao Martial Law has proven to be quite effective in crippling the Ampatuan's infrastructure of violence since this has emboldened witnesses to come forward and testify against the perpetrators, and the suspension of the habeas corpus allowed for the warrantless arrests of the Ampatuans before they could act on destroying or hiding evidence linked to the massacre of 57 civilians and journalists.

But then again, the Constitution does not allow it. Martial Law cannot be justified on the grounds of public safety. In a rebellion, the objective must be to overthrow the government. The Ampatuans were and are not rebelling. Why should they, when they were the government?

Faust: Final Scene

One of the most beautiful operas ever composed for the lyric stage, Charles Gounod's Faust. The final scene and trio shows the decisive battle for Marguerite's soul when Mephistopheles (the Devil) is about to take her and Faust away to eternal damnation. Marguerite has one fighting chance at redemption, and she takes it. Beautiful!

Rap Meets Classical

Georges Bizet must be turning in his grave. This is exactly the type of video that incites people to hurl mud at each other, if they haven't slit each other's throats yet.

A hiphop-meets-classical rendition by two Frenchmen of the Toreador aria from Georges Bizet's Carmen. A good reason to invade France!