Sinatra, Muse AND Rachmaninoff?

Tomorrow kicks off The Listening Room – a new concert series presented by EMF and Triad Stage.  I’ve talked about The Listening Room in posts before so I won’t repeat the same information again, but this event is going to be stellar - if you haven’t gotten tickets to Saturday’s performance, then you better get on it!  Well…maybe I’ll overload you with the information just ONE more time….

Laurelyn Dossett with Scott Manring AND Anne and Pete Sibley
UpStage Cabaret at Triad Stage
Saturday, October 23 at 8:00pm
Tickets: $20

…and don’t forget that the Listening Room will feature Eric Robertson of the Boston Boys on October 30th.  Here’s a link to their website so you can learn more about Eric.  If you’re like me and you’d rather your ears do the work, check out their YouTube page instead.  This isn’t my EMF-FF for the day, but it’s a pretty good FF nonetheless (that’s Fun Fact for those of you new to the blog).  Eric was a member of the Beautiful Star band back in 2006, when the play premiered at Triad Stage, alongside Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops.  Now…go buy your ticket!  I’ll be at the show on the 30^th (unfortunately I have to miss the 23^rd do to a previously scheduled wedding) so you’d better be there too!  It’s Halloween Weekend…why wouldn’t you want to be downtown for some good music and a little pointing-and-laughing at crazy costumes?

And now the moment you’ve been waiting for…a little EMF-FF!  This past season, pianist Barry Douglas performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, op. 18 (below).  If you were there, or if you’ve heard the piece before, you might have noticed that it sounded kind of “familiar”.  Listening to Barry Douglas performing on July 10, 2010 was my first introduction to Rachmaninoff’s second concerto, so you can imagine my surprise when I started imagining Celine Dion singing along.  Well, I wouldn’t have been too far off!  In 1975, Eric Carmen composed “All By Myself,” which was inspired by the Adagio Sostenuto (second movement).  If Celine Dion and Eric Carmen aren’t your cup of tea, then no worries – Frank Sinatra and the rock band Muse also have songs which were inspired by this piece!  Sinatra’s songs “I Think of You” and “Ever and Forever” were influenced by the Moderato; “Space Dementia (below),” Butterflies and Hurricanes,” “Megalomania,” and “Ruled by Secrecy” by Muse each contain quotes from the Moderato as well.  Click the links and see for yourself!