Its that time of the year again

image credit quinn.anya

It's summer, a time to relax and share with you, some of the delights from my digital cornucopia.  Firstly some Music.

David Byrne has a 'radio station',  featuring themed playlists he changes monthly, past episodes have covered  Afro Cuban, Psychedelia and even  Catchy Tunes.  This August he targets opera with an honest and direct approach;

"Here's an area I know very little about: Classic Opera. I am familiar with some of the well-known tunes — incredibly moving, over-the-top tunes many of us have heard without knowing their sources — so that's pretty much what I've assembled here. They may not be the definitive performances, or in some cases they may be, but they're all pretty grand. In many cases these are old recordings, so the quality of the recording will vary, but the emotion is more or less consistently pedal-to-the-metal."

This echoes my sentiments exactly, never being  as knowledgeable as I, (thought), I should be on the finer points of opera.  I am now playing this fantastic music as loud as I can get away with,   enjoying it in the manner intended;

"...the Italians and French excelled at incorporating elements of regional music into their productions. I believe I hear elements of Neapolitan song in Verdi. They were the popular music of the day and the audiences were rowdy and noisy — you could eat, drink and probably fornicate in the theaters at that time. Farmers and fishermen sang these tunes in fields and bars — and so can we."

Spot on, David.