�UroToday.com - In the September, 2008 issue of the Journal of Urology, Dr. Hiroyoshi Suzuki and Japanese collaborators reported that following utmost androgen seal off (MAB) for prostate crab (CaP), the use of alternative nonsteroidal antiandrogens is effective for treating relapsed disease. A total of 232 CaP patients treated with MAB and disease progression made up the study cohort. Upon disease relapse they were treated with an alternative antiandrogen.
For first-line therapy, 39 men received MAB victimisation flutamide and 193 were treated with MAB using bicalutamide. At the time of CaP progression, the first line antiandrogen was stopped and patients assessed for antiandrogens withdrawal syndrome. Second line antiandrogens were then started. Testosterone was confirmed to be in the emasculate level. Standard disease response criteria were used.
All patients achieved castrate levels of testosterone. Mean patient age was 71.5 years and PSA ahead treatment was 1,047ng/ml. Of the 193 men initially tempered with bicalutamide, 143 (74%) achieved a complete reply (CR) and all attained a CR or partial response (RP). Of the 39 flutamide treated patients, 32 (82%) achieved a CR and all attained a CR or PR. The duration of the first line MAB response was 452 days and cause-specific survival was significantly improved in the CR patients compared to the non-CR manpower. Antiandrogen withdrawal response rates were 15.5% for bicalutamide and 12.8% for flutamide. Second line alternative antiandrogen treatment was effective careless of antiandrogens withdrawal syndrome status.
Second line alternative antiandrogen agents resulted in an overall PSA decrease of 50% or greater in 35.8% and a PSA response of 0 to 50% was noted in 25.4%. There was no remainder with esteem to response between bicalutamide and flutamide. Seventy of the 83 good responders had response duration of 202 days. More than half of the patients that had started mo line therapy at a PSA point
Suzuki H, Okihara K, Miyake H, Fujisawa M, Miyoshi S, Matsumoto T, Fujii M, Takihana Y, Usui T, Matsuda T, Ozono S, Kumon H, Ichikawa T, Miki T
J Urol. 2008 Jul 15. Epub in front of print.
doi:10.1016/j.juro.2008.05.045
Reported by UroToday.com Contributing Editor Christopher P. Evans, MD, FACS
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Monday, 18 August 2008
Friday, 8 August 2008
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Artist: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Genre(s):
Pop
Alternative
Indie
Rock
Discography:
Is Is
Year: 2007
Tracks: 5
Show Your Bones
Year: 2006
Tracks: 11
Paredes De Coura
Year: 2006
Tracks: 1
Cheated Hearts (Remix by Peaches)
Year: 2006
Tracks: 3
Tell Me What Rockers To Swallow
Year: 2004
Tracks: 22
Maps CDS
Year: 2003
Tracks: 3
Machine
Year: 2003
Tracks: 3
Fever To Tell
Year: 2003
Tracks: 11
Date With The Night (CDSingle)
Year: 2003
Tracks: 3
Peel Session, 22-Aug-02
Year: 2002
Tracks: 4
Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP
Year: 2001
Tracks: 5
Fates Of Life
Year:
Tracks: 11
Discovered in the wake of the Strokes' popularity and the subsequent service department sway revitalisation meeting, New York's art punk tercet the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are comprised of singer Karen O, guitarist Nicolas Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. O met Chase at Ohio's Oberlin College and met Zinner through friends later she transferred to NYU. Zinner and O formed the ring in 2000; originally, they were a folky duette called Unitard, merely they went galvanising after being divine by Ohio's fabled avant hood scene. After the drummer they recruited initially bowed out, Chase joined the batting order of magnitude.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs wrote a curve of songs at their first rehearsal and presently wounding up supporting the Strokes and the White Stripes, earning a significant hum for their arty til now aphrodisiac accept on service department tinder. In late 2001, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released their self-titled debut EP, which they recorded with Boss Hog's Jerry Teel, on their have Shifty label. Early the next year the stria stepped into the international spot, appearance at South by Southwest, touring the U.S. with Girls Against Boys and Europe with Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, and headlining their have U.K. duty tour. Wichita Recordings distributed the group's EP in the U.K. and Touch and Go reissued it in the States.
In between tours, the group worn-out 2002 putting the coating touches on its uncut debut and playing American dates with Sleater-Kinney, Liars, and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Late that year, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released the Machine EP to tide fans over before their number one uncut. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs stirred to Interscope for their debut album, 2003's Fever to Tell. Boasting a cleaner sound and more eclectic songwriting than their EPs, the album continued their critical spat and besides won them a fair amount of commercial achiever: the gorgeous lay "Maps" became a attain in 2004 and pushed Febrility to Tell to gold status that year. Karen O besides moved to Los Angeles in 2004, making the Yeah Yeah Yeahs a bicoastal band.
The group took some time to pursue single projects in 2005. O loaned her vocals to "Hello Tomorrow," a collaboration with manufacturer Squeak E. Clean that provided the soundtrack to a Nike horseshoe commercial directed by Spike Jonze, spell Zinner recorded with the side project Head Wound City and besides had a book of photographs, I Hope You Are All Happy Now, published. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs reconvened in the studio that year to record their second album with Clean as producer; jokingly, Clean aforementioned that the album was most O's big cat and would be called Coconut tree Beware, merely the album's substantial form of address, Show Your Bones, was revealed presently subsequently. Released in spring 2006, the album was the band's most mature, polished work in time, and reached number 11 on the record album charts. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs worn-out the rest of the year touring in supporting of the album, and returned in summer 2007 with the Is Is EP, a collection of new recorded versions of songs written in 'tween the band's deuce albums.
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
The Apprentice - Apprentice Winner Lee Mcqueens Cv Lies Are Common Trend
Lee McQueen, the winner of the 2008 series of The Apprentice, is not the only Brit to exaggerate his CV, new research has found.
The recruitment sales manager claimed to have completed two years at Thames Valley University until he confessed in the BBC1 show's interview stage that he dropped out after four months.
But McQueen's lack of a degree was no barrier to his success and on Wednesday night a record audience watched him defeat the challenge of Claire Young, Alex Wotherspoon and Helene Speight to become the fourth person to become Sir Alan Sugar's apprentice.
However, McQueen's desire to exaggerate his own academic achievements is common practice, according to new research from education foundation Edge.
Almost three quarters (72 per cent) of parents surveyed said they suspected other parents stretched the truth about their son or daughter's academic prowess while one in ten admitted to doing it themselves.
And nearly half of (44 per cent) parents revealed they felt they were under a lot of pressure to compare their child's academic achievements with those of their peers.
But McQueen's victory proves a degree is not the only path to success, said Andy Powell, chief executive of Edge.
"Lee has challenged the bizarre belief in this country that you must have a degree to be successful in business," he explained.
"It's very disappointing that he felt he needed to lie about his qualifications in order to succeed but as our figures show the public also seems to think that a university education is obligatory.
"Lee has proved that there are a number of paths to success. I hope that others will accept that they do not necessarily need a degree to get ahead."
16/06/2008 00:01:00
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Monday, 23 June 2008
R. Kelly: I'm Not Taking the Stand
R. Kelly has spoken up for the first�and probably last�time in his child-pornography trial.
The embattled R&B star announced to the judge today that he would decline...
Sunday, 15 June 2008
Living End Make Noise With New Album!
The Living End have been one of Australia's best loved bands for years, and next month they unleash their brand new studio album 'White Noise'!
take40.com went to an exclusive laneway gig to see the guys play some of the new songs live... and they sounded amazing!
Previewing new songs like 'Make The Call', 'Raise The Alarm' and 'Moment In The Sun' - The Living End were in top form, and definitely excited us about the release of 'White Noise'!
Closing the set with a cover of AC/DC's 'Jailbreak' (with Jon Toogood from Shihad on guitar), the concert most certainly ended on a truly rockin' high note.
'White Noise' is set to be released on July 19th, and if the laneway gig was anything to go by, it is certanly going to rock!
Check out the title track on your radio now, and stay tuned to take40.com as we'll be chatting to the Living End boys this week!
See Also
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
No Twins Yet For Angelina Jolie
Reports that Angelina Jolie has given birth to her twins are premature, her representative stated on Friday (May 30), after stories circulated that the new additions to her family had arrived.
"Angelina has not given birth," her rep explained to People. "She is fine, enjoying her home and her family in France."
While attending the recent Cannes Film Festival, Jolie announced she was expecting twins after her 'Kung Fu Panda' co-star, Jack Black, accidentally let the news slip during an interview on the U.S. 'Today' show.
NEXT: The Daily Trailer: Sex and the City
Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Saturday, 31 May 2008
Madonna orders Timberlake to drop pants
Justin Timberlake has revealed that pop queen Madonna ordered him to drop his trousers so that she could give him a B-12 injection.
Speaking at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, where Madonna was honoured, the 27-year-old star said: "She proceeds to pull a Ziploc bag of B-12 syringes out [of her purse] and says, 'Drop 'em'."
"I don't know what you say to that, so I immediately dropped my pants," Timberlake said, referring to the incident as "one of the greatest days" of his life.
When Madonna later took to the stage, she said: "Everything he said is basically true, but I didn't say 'drop 'em,' I said, 'pull your pants down'. I like to be accurate because you know I am a control freak."
Check out all the pictures from the ceremony in our gallery here.
Speaking at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, where Madonna was honoured, the 27-year-old star said: "She proceeds to pull a Ziploc bag of B-12 syringes out [of her purse] and says, 'Drop 'em'."
"I don't know what you say to that, so I immediately dropped my pants," Timberlake said, referring to the incident as "one of the greatest days" of his life.
When Madonna later took to the stage, she said: "Everything he said is basically true, but I didn't say 'drop 'em,' I said, 'pull your pants down'. I like to be accurate because you know I am a control freak."
Check out all the pictures from the ceremony in our gallery here.
Friday, 30 May 2008
Co-star gave Pitt marriage insight
Actor and comedian Omid Djalili, who met Brad Pitt on the set of 'Spy Game' in 2000, claims that he gave the actor marriage advice after he married Jennifer Aniston.
The comic star revealed to the Daily Express newspaper: "I did a scene with Brad in the back of a taxi and it was only a few days after he had married Jennifer. I chatted to him for hours giving him advice about the three stages of marriage."
He continued: "Stage one is perfection - blind love. Stage two is the difficult stage because you start to despise everything about her. If you can deal with the baggage you can possibly get to stage three - a harmonious marriage."
Pitt and Aniston were married in July 2000 in Malibu and Djalili told the newspaper: "After six weeks Brad came up to me and said, 'I'm definitely in stage two Omid!'"
Rumours of marital problems surfaced in 2004 as Pitt filmed 'Mr and Mrs Smith' alongside Angelina Jolie.
Aniston, 39, filed for divorce in March 2005. A month later, Pitt, 44, was seen with Jolie in Kenya. Earlier this week it was claimed the couple are planning to marry in an intimate ceremony this summer.
The comic star revealed to the Daily Express newspaper: "I did a scene with Brad in the back of a taxi and it was only a few days after he had married Jennifer. I chatted to him for hours giving him advice about the three stages of marriage."
He continued: "Stage one is perfection - blind love. Stage two is the difficult stage because you start to despise everything about her. If you can deal with the baggage you can possibly get to stage three - a harmonious marriage."
Pitt and Aniston were married in July 2000 in Malibu and Djalili told the newspaper: "After six weeks Brad came up to me and said, 'I'm definitely in stage two Omid!'"
Rumours of marital problems surfaced in 2004 as Pitt filmed 'Mr and Mrs Smith' alongside Angelina Jolie.
Aniston, 39, filed for divorce in March 2005. A month later, Pitt, 44, was seen with Jolie in Kenya. Earlier this week it was claimed the couple are planning to marry in an intimate ceremony this summer.
Pete Wentz - Wentz Slams Mtv Bosses
Newlywed PETE WENTZ has taken time out of celebrating his nuptials to launch a scathing attack on music network MTV.
The Fall Out Boy bassist is "frustrated" by bosses at the channel because of the small amount of airtime actually dedicated to playing music.
The 28-year-old has even started a poll on his online blog, asking fans, "What's the number one thing you hate about MTV?"
And Wentz says, "I could only assume that you would be completely frustrated with the same things I am with MTV. It is a network called music television that does not play music videos. And when they do play videos, it is in 30 second clips on (show) TRL or underneath the credits of whatever reality show.
"The truth is whole videos should be played. Bands should play live. Premieres should be a big deal like they used to be, not just a snippet of a video. Artists should be able to let their imaginations go and know that people will be able to see what they have crafted. Artists should talk about their videos. we should and can make the music video important again."
See Also
Amy Winehouse shows at Ivor awards
LONDON -- The buzz ahead of Thursday's Ivor Novello Awards ceremony in central London mostly centered on whether Amy Winehouse would show. Well, she did in the end, but not until 10 minutes after her father had graced the stage to collect her one and only trophy.
Winehouse was one of many glittering stars who attended the ceremony, affectionately known as the "Ivors," joining the likes of David Gilmour, Robert Plant, Mika and Phil Collins.
The five-time Grammy-winning singer was nominated three times ahead of the gala, converting a win in the best song musically and lyrically category for "Love Is a Losing Game", published by EMI Music Publishing.
Her father, Mitch, collected the award on her behalf, saying, "Amy couldn't get here. She's getting better, and she sends all her love." He went on to thank a list of contributors behind her award, singling out her manager, noting "Raye (Cosbert), he should be awarded ... is there an equivalent of a Victoria Cross in the music business?"
The singer and Cosbert arrived through a back door during the presentation of the following award, while her father was still backstage being photographed.
One of the biggest honors handed out during the lunchtime gala was the lifetime achievement accolade, received this year by Pink Floyd guitarist and frontman David Gilmour. "Let's hope in 20 or 30 years, Amy Winehouse will get one of these long service gongs, "he told the audience. "(My career) feels like a long, long time," Gilmour told Billboard after wining the prize. "It's very nice to get this award."
Led Zeppelin great Robert Plant was called upon to present the international achievement award to veteran artist Phil Collins, who famously filled in behind the drums when the rock giants played Live Aid in 1985. "Phil is perhaps. over the past 40 years, one of the top five drummers (Britain has) had," he remarked.
Collins, who endures a tough time with the British press, showed his humour hadn't deserted him. "We always get together for a kiss on the lips every 10 years," he said of Plant, before tipping a hat to a well-received Cadbury's chocolate TV campaign, which features a gorilla playing along to Collins' 1981 hit "In the Air Tonight."
"I can't get away without thanking the gorilla," he told the audience, after thanking his band Genesis, his team, and his manager. "It can't have gone unnoticed that he is far more talented and better-looking than me. And I'm going to give him the Genesis job."
The Ivors album award went to Radiohead's "In Rainbows," published in the U.K. by Warner/Chappell Music Publishing. The members of the British alternative rock act were unable to attend because they were having "a reunion with their children, who they haven't seen for months," commented the gala's host, Paul Gambaccini.
Mika grabbed the songwriter of the year trophy. Gabrielle took the award for the outstanding song collection, Soul II Soul founder Jazzy B won the new Ivors inspiration category, and Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, the core duo in British 1970s-80s hitmakers Squeeze, received the PRS outstanding contribution to British music award.
The PRS most performed work honor went to Take That's "Shine," published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing/EMI Music Publishing/Universal Music Publishing/V2 Music Publishing.
The 53rd annual ceremony was presented at the Grosvenor House Hotel by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, in association with the Performing Right Society.
The 15 awards, which celebrate the achievements of the best British composers and musicians from the previous year, are judged either by a panel of BACS members or on sales and broadcast performance.
Songwriting master Diane Warren claimed the special international award during the lunchtime gala. Collins returned to the stage to present Warren with her trophy. "She's a remarkable woman, and she's very shy, which is strange for an American," he joked.
During her acceptance speech, Warren quipped, "Thankfully, this is one of the last awards. You're probably all drunk, and I'm not." Warren could have rectified the situation as Sony ATV publishing hosted a special reception for the songwriter directly after the awards ceremony.
Winehouse was one of many glittering stars who attended the ceremony, affectionately known as the "Ivors," joining the likes of David Gilmour, Robert Plant, Mika and Phil Collins.
The five-time Grammy-winning singer was nominated three times ahead of the gala, converting a win in the best song musically and lyrically category for "Love Is a Losing Game", published by EMI Music Publishing.
Her father, Mitch, collected the award on her behalf, saying, "Amy couldn't get here. She's getting better, and she sends all her love." He went on to thank a list of contributors behind her award, singling out her manager, noting "Raye (Cosbert), he should be awarded ... is there an equivalent of a Victoria Cross in the music business?"
The singer and Cosbert arrived through a back door during the presentation of the following award, while her father was still backstage being photographed.
One of the biggest honors handed out during the lunchtime gala was the lifetime achievement accolade, received this year by Pink Floyd guitarist and frontman David Gilmour. "Let's hope in 20 or 30 years, Amy Winehouse will get one of these long service gongs, "he told the audience. "(My career) feels like a long, long time," Gilmour told Billboard after wining the prize. "It's very nice to get this award."
Led Zeppelin great Robert Plant was called upon to present the international achievement award to veteran artist Phil Collins, who famously filled in behind the drums when the rock giants played Live Aid in 1985. "Phil is perhaps. over the past 40 years, one of the top five drummers (Britain has) had," he remarked.
Collins, who endures a tough time with the British press, showed his humour hadn't deserted him. "We always get together for a kiss on the lips every 10 years," he said of Plant, before tipping a hat to a well-received Cadbury's chocolate TV campaign, which features a gorilla playing along to Collins' 1981 hit "In the Air Tonight."
"I can't get away without thanking the gorilla," he told the audience, after thanking his band Genesis, his team, and his manager. "It can't have gone unnoticed that he is far more talented and better-looking than me. And I'm going to give him the Genesis job."
The Ivors album award went to Radiohead's "In Rainbows," published in the U.K. by Warner/Chappell Music Publishing. The members of the British alternative rock act were unable to attend because they were having "a reunion with their children, who they haven't seen for months," commented the gala's host, Paul Gambaccini.
Mika grabbed the songwriter of the year trophy. Gabrielle took the award for the outstanding song collection, Soul II Soul founder Jazzy B won the new Ivors inspiration category, and Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, the core duo in British 1970s-80s hitmakers Squeeze, received the PRS outstanding contribution to British music award.
The PRS most performed work honor went to Take That's "Shine," published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing/EMI Music Publishing/Universal Music Publishing/V2 Music Publishing.
The 53rd annual ceremony was presented at the Grosvenor House Hotel by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, in association with the Performing Right Society.
The 15 awards, which celebrate the achievements of the best British composers and musicians from the previous year, are judged either by a panel of BACS members or on sales and broadcast performance.
Songwriting master Diane Warren claimed the special international award during the lunchtime gala. Collins returned to the stage to present Warren with her trophy. "She's a remarkable woman, and she's very shy, which is strange for an American," he joked.
During her acceptance speech, Warren quipped, "Thankfully, this is one of the last awards. You're probably all drunk, and I'm not." Warren could have rectified the situation as Sony ATV publishing hosted a special reception for the songwriter directly after the awards ceremony.
Disney - The Things They Say 8413
"A lot of DISNEY stuff and classical. She likes GOOD CHARLOTTE. And she likes her granddad (LIONEL RICHIE)'s music. She likes old stuff. She's a CURE fan ... She likes THE CURE - she kicks her legs." JOEL MADDEN on his daughter HARLOW's taste in music.
See Also
George Hall on why The Merry Widow remains much-loved and endlessly revived
A century ago the world went Merry Widow mad. Decades before today's marketing of musicals on an industrial scale, Franz Lehár's 1905 Viennese operetta about the rekindling of romance between former lovers separated by money had legendary runs in Vienna, Berlin, London, Paris, New York and just about every centre where a theatre was to be hired. On one Saturday in Buenos Aires in 1907 it played in five theatres in as many languages. In its first 60 years, The Merry Widow garnered half a million performances, while Hollywood revamped it in glamorous cinematic treatments. The classic version, directed by Ernst Lubitsch in 1934 with Jeanette Macdonald and Maurice Chevalier singing lyrics by Lorenz Hart, is far superior to the 1952 Technicolor remake with Lana Turner and Fernando Lamas. All make significant alterations to the original plot and cut a good deal of the score. Ingmar Bergman, who directed it on stage, wanted to film it again in the 1970s, but he and his intended star, Barbra Streisand, couldn't agree on the screenplay.
In its original form, The Merry Widow stands at the pinnacle of the silver age of Viennese operetta. The genre itself was created in Paris where, in 1855, composer Jacques Offenbach established a tiny theatre, the Bouffes-Parisiens, offering small, witty musical pieces with spoken dialogue, eventually graduating to larger venues with full-length shows, such as Orpheus in the Underworld (1858) and La Vie Parisienne (1866), that were chic, satirical and sometimes scandalous. His success led the Austrian waltz king Johann Strauss II to try his hand at something similar; dance rhythms permeate his wry look at the low morals of high society in Die Fledermaus (1874), though he would later inject more romantic elements and local colour into the impoverished-aristocrat-meets-Gypsy-girl story of The Gypsy Baron (1885). Meanwhile, in London, Offenbach's example was not lost on WS Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, whose sequence of works provided the foundation of another distinctive tradition.Lehár took over where Strauss left off, his first operettas coming shortly after the older composer's death in 1899. By now operetta's satirical and scandalous elements had dropped away, leaving a concentration on romance, pure and simple - a vein Lehár continued to mine into the 1930s in a sequence of works, some of which are surprisingly serious, even tragic. But he never found a text as good as the one provided for him by Victor Léon and Leo Stein for The Merry Widow, itself borrowed from a play by Henri Meilhac, one of Offenbach's collaborators.Lehár died in 1948, and operetta, as a living form, did not long survive him. The focus of the popular musical theatre moved to the burgeoning American musical, whose vital scores began to sweep the globe in exactly the way The Merry Widow had done 50 years before. These days, outside the specialist operetta theatres on the continent, Lehár's masterpiece has migrated to the opera house, where its unusually sophisticated score fits nicely. All of the UK's major companies have presented it, and now John Copley is staging a new version for English National Opera, with Amanda Roocroft and John Graham-Hall as the sparring Hanna Glawari and Count Danilo.The two former lovers meet many years after he broke off their relationship. Hanna is now a rich widow, and the minor Pontevedrin diplomat Danilo has been ordered to woo her once again to stop her fortune falling into foreign hands - a potential disaster for his tiny country. Too proud to be thought a fortune hunter, he is as reluctant as she is, and the two circle each other warily - almost literally, as much of their relationship is charted on the dance floor - until their mutual attraction becomes irresistible.In a genre that has a long history but relatively few permanent successes, what is it that has kept The Merry Widow fresh and alive after more than a century? For Copley, it's "because it has such a fantastic score. But the main thing is the relationship between Hanna and Danilo. She's a simple girl, a farmer's daughter, who's married a billionaire and become super-rich. But all this money puts them both in a difficult position."The score has its own special character. Written in the dying days of the Hapsburg Empire, The Merry Widow is a product of the cultural diversity of central and eastern Europe. The overall location may be belle époque Paris, but the first act is set in the legation of the fictional country of Pontevedro (a thinly disguised Montenegro), and the second in Hanna's palatial Parisian home, where the national costumes and folk music of her homeland are fully on display.Lehár spent his childhood in various towns where his father was stationed as a military bandmaster. His main formal musical education was at the Prague Conservatory, after which he began his own career as an itinerant military musician, which ended in 1902 after his attempts to break through as a composer in Vienna began to reap rewards.Lehár's years as a military bandmaster gave him an intimate knowledge of the capabilities of woodwind and brass, which he deployed to great effect. The Merry Widow's frequent woodwind solos are deliciously written, the brass used with subtlety, never bombast. But it's perhaps the string writing that is the chief orchestral glory of the piece, divided into multiple parts and taking the violins soaring up to the heights, as in Brahms or even Janácek's music. Unlike many of his operetta colleagues, Lehár had a complete technical armoury. As with Hollywood film scores or Broadway musicals, it was standard practice for Viennese operetta composers to hand their songs over to a professional orchestrator. Arnold Schoenberg earned his living for a decade in this way. But Lehár orchestrated every bar of his works with loving expertise.He also expanded the genre's emotional range, most tellingly in the big duet for the traditional second couple, usually consigned to lightweight sweet nothings. Lehár's second-act duet for Camille and Valencienne contains instead a heady erotic charge, its delicately perfumed orchestral writing and swooning harmonies making it the operetta equivalent to the Tristan love duet. It's easy to hear what a close ear Lehár kept on his major contemporaries such as Debussy, Richard Strauss and Puccini - the last of whom relished his operettas.But above all, it's the central relationship - between the wealthy Hanna and the unwilling diplomat and general wastrel Danilo- that holds a lasting fascination. Neither are in the first flush of youth, and their renewed courtship contains a hint of genuine bitterness in its suspicion and game-playing. "It's raillery", says Copley, "like Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. Though you know they're going to get together, it's ambiguous until the last 10 minutes."The famous waltz in which they finally reunite is perfectly integrated into the Viennese operetta scheme, a belated and poignant mutual acceptance in three-four time, to a melody that drips with nostalgia, regret, even loss. It's a fitting climax to the most sophisticated of all Viennese operettas.· The Merry Widow is in rep at the London Coliseum until May 30. Box office: 0870 145 0200
In its original form, The Merry Widow stands at the pinnacle of the silver age of Viennese operetta. The genre itself was created in Paris where, in 1855, composer Jacques Offenbach established a tiny theatre, the Bouffes-Parisiens, offering small, witty musical pieces with spoken dialogue, eventually graduating to larger venues with full-length shows, such as Orpheus in the Underworld (1858) and La Vie Parisienne (1866), that were chic, satirical and sometimes scandalous. His success led the Austrian waltz king Johann Strauss II to try his hand at something similar; dance rhythms permeate his wry look at the low morals of high society in Die Fledermaus (1874), though he would later inject more romantic elements and local colour into the impoverished-aristocrat-meets-Gypsy-girl story of The Gypsy Baron (1885). Meanwhile, in London, Offenbach's example was not lost on WS Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, whose sequence of works provided the foundation of another distinctive tradition.Lehár took over where Strauss left off, his first operettas coming shortly after the older composer's death in 1899. By now operetta's satirical and scandalous elements had dropped away, leaving a concentration on romance, pure and simple - a vein Lehár continued to mine into the 1930s in a sequence of works, some of which are surprisingly serious, even tragic. But he never found a text as good as the one provided for him by Victor Léon and Leo Stein for The Merry Widow, itself borrowed from a play by Henri Meilhac, one of Offenbach's collaborators.Lehár died in 1948, and operetta, as a living form, did not long survive him. The focus of the popular musical theatre moved to the burgeoning American musical, whose vital scores began to sweep the globe in exactly the way The Merry Widow had done 50 years before. These days, outside the specialist operetta theatres on the continent, Lehár's masterpiece has migrated to the opera house, where its unusually sophisticated score fits nicely. All of the UK's major companies have presented it, and now John Copley is staging a new version for English National Opera, with Amanda Roocroft and John Graham-Hall as the sparring Hanna Glawari and Count Danilo.The two former lovers meet many years after he broke off their relationship. Hanna is now a rich widow, and the minor Pontevedrin diplomat Danilo has been ordered to woo her once again to stop her fortune falling into foreign hands - a potential disaster for his tiny country. Too proud to be thought a fortune hunter, he is as reluctant as she is, and the two circle each other warily - almost literally, as much of their relationship is charted on the dance floor - until their mutual attraction becomes irresistible.In a genre that has a long history but relatively few permanent successes, what is it that has kept The Merry Widow fresh and alive after more than a century? For Copley, it's "because it has such a fantastic score. But the main thing is the relationship between Hanna and Danilo. She's a simple girl, a farmer's daughter, who's married a billionaire and become super-rich. But all this money puts them both in a difficult position."The score has its own special character. Written in the dying days of the Hapsburg Empire, The Merry Widow is a product of the cultural diversity of central and eastern Europe. The overall location may be belle époque Paris, but the first act is set in the legation of the fictional country of Pontevedro (a thinly disguised Montenegro), and the second in Hanna's palatial Parisian home, where the national costumes and folk music of her homeland are fully on display.Lehár spent his childhood in various towns where his father was stationed as a military bandmaster. His main formal musical education was at the Prague Conservatory, after which he began his own career as an itinerant military musician, which ended in 1902 after his attempts to break through as a composer in Vienna began to reap rewards.Lehár's years as a military bandmaster gave him an intimate knowledge of the capabilities of woodwind and brass, which he deployed to great effect. The Merry Widow's frequent woodwind solos are deliciously written, the brass used with subtlety, never bombast. But it's perhaps the string writing that is the chief orchestral glory of the piece, divided into multiple parts and taking the violins soaring up to the heights, as in Brahms or even Janácek's music. Unlike many of his operetta colleagues, Lehár had a complete technical armoury. As with Hollywood film scores or Broadway musicals, it was standard practice for Viennese operetta composers to hand their songs over to a professional orchestrator. Arnold Schoenberg earned his living for a decade in this way. But Lehár orchestrated every bar of his works with loving expertise.He also expanded the genre's emotional range, most tellingly in the big duet for the traditional second couple, usually consigned to lightweight sweet nothings. Lehár's second-act duet for Camille and Valencienne contains instead a heady erotic charge, its delicately perfumed orchestral writing and swooning harmonies making it the operetta equivalent to the Tristan love duet. It's easy to hear what a close ear Lehár kept on his major contemporaries such as Debussy, Richard Strauss and Puccini - the last of whom relished his operettas.But above all, it's the central relationship - between the wealthy Hanna and the unwilling diplomat and general wastrel Danilo- that holds a lasting fascination. Neither are in the first flush of youth, and their renewed courtship contains a hint of genuine bitterness in its suspicion and game-playing. "It's raillery", says Copley, "like Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. Though you know they're going to get together, it's ambiguous until the last 10 minutes."The famous waltz in which they finally reunite is perfectly integrated into the Viennese operetta scheme, a belated and poignant mutual acceptance in three-four time, to a melody that drips with nostalgia, regret, even loss. It's a fitting climax to the most sophisticated of all Viennese operettas.· The Merry Widow is in rep at the London Coliseum until May 30. Box office: 0870 145 0200
Directors' Fortnight road leads to 'Eldorado'
Belgian road movie takes two prizes
CANNES -- Festival de Cannes sidebar Directors' Fortnight ended its 10-day 40th edition with a trip to "Eldorado" as Bouli Lanners' Belgian road movie took both the Europa Cinemas Label award for best European film and the sixth "Regards Jeunes" prize.
Written and directed by Lanners, the dark comedy sold by Films Distribution stars Lanners alongside Fabrice Adde and Philippe Nahon. The prize ceremony here Friday night added more Belgian flavor when Franco-Belgian co-production Claire Simon's "Les Bureaux de Dieu" went home with the SACD prize for Best French-language feature film.
Independent cinema programmers prize the "Prix de la CICAE" went to Juraj Lehotsky's "Blind Loves."
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