Music suggestion
Boy, I was so happy to read this thread and could not resist thinking about it all night.
I fell in love with V/M for their craftmanship and musicality that I used to feel from Gordeeva and Grinkov. I am a big believer in Marina's choreography and can't appreciate enough for their effort to bring the the true essence of Marina's unique vision to life. Not only that I became a lover and supporter of figure skating but also became to understand music better through the interpretations and movements of skaters. Being a musician myself, I believe that good choice of music shows skater's class and style and I cannot express how much I enjoyed being inspired V/M's skating...it is my first post...so please bear with me
1> Light and airy Baroque music along the line of Naomi Lang and Peter Tschernyshev's 2001-2 free dance program where they used J.S.Bach's "Air on a G String" for the expressive section and Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" for the stormy foot work. There are tons of unused music like Bach's Brandenburg Concertos No.4,5,6, and Vivaldi's Violin concertos in this category.
Also, Canada is known for producing world-class Bach-performers like Angela Hewitt and Glenn Gould. Why not look into Angela Hewitt's recording of Bach keyboard concertos as well?
2> Music from the Swedish movie "Elvira Madigan." I say this not because they won their first World's medal in Sweden but because of Mozart. The story line and the visual aspect of this movie made the slow movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C (K 467) shine. The quality of this movement reminds me of the two slow movements of Chopin Piano Concerto No.1 and 2 from Gordeeva and Grinkov's 1998 LP... through this program I became a die-hard figure skating lover.
3> I am also surprised that I haven't seen a memorable skating to the music and story of Stravinsky's "Petruchka." Marina should know the the puppet story from her native country that can highlight especially Scott's passionate and Tessa's subtle side in harmony that would be fascinating to watch.
4> Wagner! What about the tragic love story of the dramatic "Tristan and Isolde"!!!
5> Mythical and ethereal impressionistic French music. I was inspired while listening to the "Isle of Joy" by Claude Debussy. I am not sure if this piano music by itself is enough for high profile figureskating program, however, I thought the idea behind the music was something that I wanted to share with V/M. I liked the fact that it builds up like Ravel's Bolero with an exciting ending as well.
In order to explain my ideas, let me talk a little more about the painting that might have inspired the music. "L'Isle joyuse" is known to be inspired by Antoine Watteau's "Pilgrimage to Cythera" (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Antoine_Watteau_035.jpg). It is a Rococo painting about the pilgrimage of men and women, who are in love, lead by the cupids to the mythical island called Cythera. Far in the scene a boat is waiting to take them to the island that is hidden behind the foggy clouds. The music is about these men and women getting closer and closer to the unknown island of love... and may be finally getting there, I hope
For the actual music choice, I would like to suggest Debussy's Image Book 1 (Reflets Dans L'Eau, Mouvement), "Nocturnes, for female chorus & orchestra, L. 91" and "La Mer", and Maurice Ravel's "Sheherazade." Combination of such music can suit beautifully to V/M's fluidly expressive quality.
7> A combined idea of 3> & 5> can be done through Debussy's Cello Sonata which portrays a story of a Pierrot and the moon. I hear the music along the line of the movie "Cyrano de Bergerac" where Gerard Depardieu played Cyrano. In this movie I loved the scene where Cyrano poured out beautiful poetic lines in the dark woods. The camera captured the trees reaching all the way up to the moon. Someone in the post previously suggested something oriental for them. I am Asian and I grew up with the story of a drunken poet confessing his love to the moon reflected in the water then drowned while trying to reach to the reflection of the moon... Tessa can be Roxanne... the moon...
8> Finally, my personal request! Anything by Nat King Cole. For me, the best quality of V/M is the lovingness in their expression within composure and tasteful style. I was listening to an episode of NPR's Jazz Profile about Nat King Cole one day and was touched by Natalie Cole's comments about her father's romantic singing style... "Keep it simple. He didn't do any acrobatic stuffs with his voice but let the ear of his audience interpret it."... then, for some reason, I realized that this was how I felt about V/M's skating... maybe for an exhibition number?... please
With Love and Best wishes,
jyshin