Posted in Classical Music on Blogfinger, tagged Classical music on Blogfinger, Dvorak's music, Joshua Bell violinist on November 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »
This piece, by the Czech composer Antonin Dvorák, was written in 1880 for piano and voice, but it was transcribed for violin and piano in 1914. Joshua Bell is an American violinist who included this song in his album “Romance of the Violin.”
—Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Posted in Classical Music on Blogfinger, New Jersey events and photographs, tagged Princeton Art Museum, Xerxes act one on November 6, 2023| 2 Comments »
Princeton University Art Museum. 2013. By Paul Goldfinger © Xerxes I was King of Persia around 480 BC. He was admitted to Princeton because he ruled an empire, was nice to the Jews, had great SAT’s, an impressive essay, and he played bassoon in the band.
SLOVENIA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA. “Xerxes, Act 1” The selection is Ombra mai fu George Frederic Handel.
Posted in Classical Music on Blogfinger, Music: The Power to Enchant, Ocean Grove history, tagged Bishop Janes Tabernacle in Ocean Grove NJ on April 14, 2023| 3 Comments »
Windows at the top reaches of the Tabernacle. All photos by Paul Goldfinger © Click on all photographs to enlarge them.
By Paul Goldfinger MD, Editor @Blogfinger.net Original 2014…
The Bishop Janes Tabernacle is the oldest permanent structure in Ocean Grove, build in 1877.
It is an airy, open building consisting basically of one room and a center section on top where a sweep of windows allows light to stream in from above and illuminate the seating below–symbolic perhaps, or very practical, or both.
Light and breezes come inside. ©
Ted Bell, Ocean Grove historian and author, showed us the 19th century ventilation system which keeps the place cool. Downstairs there is a ring of large doors and windows. The latter open in a curious way, but there is a purpose to the design. The window aims the warm breezes upward where they can stream through the top row of windows.
Ted Bell shows how the lower level windows open. ©
Outside, the light trickles and flows through the trees to hit the Tabernacle and creates moving patterns on its outside walls and illumination for the prayer books inside.
BACH: Double concerto in D minor for 2 violins and strings. With Yehudi Menuhin, Alberto Lysy, and Camerata Lysy Gstaad.
—- Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Posted in Blogfinger Jazz Corner, Classical Music on Blogfinger, Photograph by Paul Goldfinger, tagged Moonstruck from the Ocean Grove side of Wesley Lake on April 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »
Moonstruck Restaurant in Asbury Park. The view from Ocean Grove. By Paul Goldfinger.
From the movie Moonstruck: “The Finale”. Dick Hyman music director.
Posted in Classical Music on Blogfinger, Music from the movies, Music: The Power to Enchant, Photography by Moe Demby, tagged A tribute to fire fighters, Music from Lorenzo's Oil on October 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »
By Moe Demby, Blogfinger staff. Embedded with the Asbury Park Fire Dept. © Click on photo to enlarge. Undated/
ALTENBURG BOYS CHOIR “Ave Verum K618” by Mozart from the film Lorenzo’s Oil .
Posted in Classical Music on Blogfinger, Ocean Grove Great Auditorium, Ocean Grove Musical Event, tagged 66th annual Ocean Grove Choir Festival, Choir Festival rehearsal in Ocean Grove on June 10, 2020| Leave a Comment »
Choir Festival rehearsal. July 12, 2010. Paul Goldfinger photo ©. Click to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor @Blogfinger.net
This is what a Choir Festival rehearsal looks like–this photograph is from July 2010. The OGCMA Choir Festival is one of the most incredible musical events in America. Don’t miss it.
It will be a challenge to prepare safely, but everything ought to be fine by the new date of August 30, 2020 from 7 pm to 8:30 pm.
This will be the 66th Annual Festival.
Below is a sample of the sort of sound you will hear, although this version is by a choir from Germany.
There are no recent professional recordings of the Ocean Grove Choir with orchestra, but if you know of any, please let us know.
ST THOMAS CHOIR LEIPZIG. “Psalm 42 Op.42” Mendelssohn
Posted in Asbury Connection, Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Blogfinger Presents, Classical Music on Blogfinger, Photograph by Paul Goldfinger, Photography Asbury Park lifestyles, Photography the other side of Asbury Park, tagged Joshua Bell on Blogfinger, Library Park, Teh other side of Asbury on March 5, 2020| 3 Comments »
Grand Avenue at First Avenue Asbury Park across from the library which was built in 1881. Paul Goldfinger photo© Click to enlarge.
Got nine minutes for Joshua Bell and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor, opus 64. II, Andante? It is with Neville Mariner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (London)
Posted in Classical Music on Blogfinger, tagged Live nativity in Ocean Grove on December 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Procession. Ocean Grove. December c. 1999. By Paul Goldfinger © Silver gelatin darkroom print.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
There was a time when this event was held outdoors. It was cold, but brief, and somehow, the reenactment seemed more real as actors and animals walked past the crowds, close enough to see the steam coming out of their mouths and then marching to the creche to pay their respects at the Auditorium Pavilion. You could even reach out and touch the two- humped camel where sometimes the front end moved in a slightly different direction than the back end.
The woman in front, carrying the star, looked like she might have time-travelled from another world, and maybe she did. It seemed as if she would soon vanish in a puff of smoke. Could she be a boardwalk angel?
JOHN CAFFERTY AND THE BEAVER BROWN BAND. From the film Eddie and the Cruisers
Posted in Classical Music on Blogfinger, Ocean Grove Musical Event, tagged Organ symphony in Ocean Grove by Saint Saens on July 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »
SAINT-SAËNS Symphony #3 “The Organ Symphony”—a sample of this great work by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim:
Posted in Blogfinger Music Department, Blogfinger Presents, Classical Music on Blogfinger, Ocean Grove events, Ocean Grove Musical Event, Photograph by Paul Goldfinger, Photography: Jersey Shore Gallery, Photography: Ocean Grove Gallery, Video clips we like, tagged Ronald Naldi in Ocean Grove NJ, Ronald Naldi recital on July 27, 2015| 3 Comments »
Ronald Naldi performing in the Youth Temple, Ocean Grove, NJ. 7/26/15. Paul Goldfinger photo © Click to enlarge.
The concert, which was to start at 3:30 pm on Sunday, was a much anticipated recital for serious music lovers in the Grove. Ronald Naldi, who has been tenor-in-residence for 42 years in Ocean Grove, was going to present one hour of musical magic to a full house.
He would appear alone on the elevated stage of the Youth Temple, except for his young piano accompanist Sean Gough.
At 3:30 pm, soprano Monica Ziglar walked on the stage and tapped the microphone with her finger tips. Nothing happened. She tapped it a few more times, smiled a bit, and then gave up. Next the audio man came out and tapped on the microphone a few times, but nothing happened. Finally, with the audience squirming a bit, desperate times call for desperate measures, so out came Maestro Jason Tramm who tapped on the microphone, but even he could not make it happen.
Jason Tramm taps on the mike as Ronald Naldi enters stage left. Blogfinger.net ©
Finally Ronald Naldi came on stage, glancing over at Tramm and then he shrugged; after all, his magnificent tenor voice doesn’t require a microphone. I heard him sing the Star Spangled Banner in the Great Auditorium without a mike. Tony Bennett walked out after that and he wondered aloud how he could follow Ronald Naldi.
So the recital began. If anyone in the audience was expecting Verdi, or Puccini or even Sigmund Romberg, that wasn’t going to happen. Instead, Ronald Naldi treated us to a program of short songs, each of which told a story, and, except for Rachmaninoff, none were by composers that most of us would recognize.
It didn’t matter. Ron (I guess Grovers can call him that; after all, this is a guy who lives in a tent) could have sung Al Jolson in blackface and received roaring shouts and applause.
His stories in song were about the coming of spring, love is blind, beautiful women, happiness, lost love, and lilacs. In one song, two young women go to fetch water, but someone is watching them from behind a tree. Ron liked this song—his facial expression broke into a smile. I thought, “He’s been there, or something like that.”
He stands straight like the great tenor which he is, projecting his voice as he was trained to do. But, his lavender jacket, white pants and bright tie told a story about how happy he felt performing on a warm summer day in the Grove.
Of course, Ron’s voice was magnificent. He sang, “Spring; your kisses melted the ice, now bring me love.” He enjoyed that—singing in Italian, but he made sure that we had a translation so we could know why he was having such a good time.
Sean Gough played some Cole Porter for us while Ron rested, and I knew in 10 seconds that Sean is a marvelous jazz pianist. But as an accompanist, he has radar and passion, and you can see why Ron likes to work with him.
At the end of the hour, Ron had a surprise for us. He gathered a song from another corner of the musical world and treated this audience to a 1962 popular tune by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh called “When in Rome I Do What the Roman’s Do.” Ron seemed to enjoy this departure from his usual repertoire as he smiled while singing, with I think, a twinkle in his eye, ” ‘Cept now and then in Rome, I get that old yen in Rome, and naturally when in Rome, I do what the Romans do.” Maybe some of you who have experienced a “yen” in Rome know why Ron picked this song.
Ronald Naldi, a treasure in OG and across famous concert halls around the world, did his thing: providing musical magic for his audience, and everyone in the room was grateful.
A VIDEO SCRAPBOOK OF RON NALDI PERFORMING IN THE GROVE:
Posted in Classical Music on Blogfinger, Music from the movies, Music: The Power to Enchant, Photography by Paul Goldfinger, Photography: Jersey Shore Gallery, Photography: Ocean Grove Gallery, Photos from the Great Auditorium, tagged Great Auditorium photograph, Summer Stars Classical Series in Ocean Grove on May 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »
June, 2011. By Paul Goldfinger ©
BUDAPEST STRINGS: “Sinfonia” from Handel’s Salomon, Act III. (featured in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral)
Editor’s Note: Don’t forget the Summer Stars Classical Series: Thursdays in July at 7:30 pm in the Great Auditorium beginning on July 2 with the Imperial Brass, featuring special guest Ocean Grove’s Phil Smith (If you love brass music, this concert is not to be missed.)
The Summer Stars Classical series is wonderful and a great bargain at $16.00 for a single ticket or $75.00 for the series of 5 (plus fees.) It’s even cheaper than getting grass stains on your shorts while sitting on the lawn at Tanglewood. —-PG
Posted in Blogfinger Presents, Classical Music on Blogfinger, Music from the movies, tagged Double concerto by Bach on Blogfinge on September 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Lenox, Mass. By Paul Goldfinger. © Amazing fret technique, bow control and sternocleidomastoid. This violinist (name unknown) is from the Tanglewood Music School, playing at the Brook Farm Inn; a breakfast will be her reward .
YEHUDI MENUHIN (sitting next to her) and some other musicians:
Posted in Classical Music on Blogfinger, Jersey Shore gallery, tagged Autumn at Deal Lake, Jersey shore gallery at Blogfinger, Vivaldi "The Four Seasons." on November 5, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Deal Lake. Ocean Township. November 5, 2013. By Paul Goldfinger © click left
THE BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA . Seiji Ozawa (conductor) and Joseph Silverstein (violin) with “Autumn—1. Allegro.” From The Four Seasons ( No, not the “Big Girls Don’t Cry” group.) This one is by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1791)