Pick the music you want your favorite skaters to skate to in the coming season!

[berrycute]

For Mao: I would love her to try Sibelius Violin Concerto (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OlI0RLQJoU) as her LP, it's softer than the Bells of Moscow that everyone seemed to hate so much but it's still different enough from the Chopin numbers she's done to prevent her from appearing to be artistically stagnating. But realistically, I am willing to bet Mao uses the Franz Liszt Liebestraum music she almost used last season.
For Laura Lepistö: I know she is keeping her LP and getting a new SP, and she is going to Maria McLean for her new SP as well. I know big name choreographers are expensive (Ms Nichol charges 10,000 USD per visit! Is she worth it???), but I would like to see the Finnish FSC maybe splurge a little bit and get her a bigger name choreographer for her new SP, now that she has established herself as the Finnish star of the moment. Maybe TAT? I would love to see Laura break from her more sleek, understated traditions to try something new and TAT-style over the top fabulous, like maybe something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrNEjxtF1Yg&feature=related.
Could you imagine Laura in that dress?

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

I dunno if she's worth it, but Nichol choreographed four of the eight gold programs at the Olympics.

 

[Olympia]

Yeah, this has been a banner year for Lori Nichol, what with Lysacek and Shen/Zhao winning with beautiful programs from her. I think Lepisto would be a good Nichol skater because of her graceful approach. I enjoyed the results of Nichol's choreography for Asada a few years ago for the same reason.

Speaking of Mao, I like the idea of the Sibelius violin concerto as music for her! It has that impassioned quality that Russian music usually has, but Sibelius is a bit more severe and modern than the ultra-Romantic Rachmaninoff (even though they were roughly contemporaries)--though I suppose the violin concerto is his most "lavish" music. I just love Sibelius, and I wish more people found music of his to skate from.

Both Mao and YuNa impress the heck out of me, but when it comes to musicality, I think Mao is further along the path. She has a wonderful quality that one doesn't see very often in skaters, and I think she's capable of even more when it comes to skating to substantial and challenging music.

 

[ronja_so]

It has that impassioned quality that Russian music usually has, but Sibelius is a bit more severe and modern than the ultra-Romantic Rachmaninoff (even though they were roughly contemporaries)

Sibelius is Finland´s most famous composer ever, in fact more than just composer: He is a great part of the Finnish identity. There´s a phrase in Finland about what we are made of: "Sauna, Sisu and Sibelius".

But one thing I don´t understand: why is Sibelius compared to some Russian composers? I admire the Russian composers, but Sibelius definitely has nothing to do with Russia.

 

[rtureck]

Berrycute, Olympia, and Rhonya

I think Sibelius VC is a good choice, depending on the sections of the VC and the choreographer. The first mvt with the violin cadenza is dramatic, second mvt is soft /lyric and last mvt is joyous.

Olympia, ITA your view on Mao as an interpreter of music/ artist on ice. I think some music e.g. top 100 classical music e.g. the Rachmaninoff Paganini theme variation 18, mediation from thais, the swan etc are very forgiving pieces of music. I believe most skaters will do well. I takes a special skater to try unforgiving pieces of music e.g. Song of Black swan, yeah and Bells of Moscow.

 

[Wrlmy]

How about Rite of Spring.

I think you will like the Janacek quartets. Definitely for mature skaters who have emotional depth. (I don't mean the superficial kind of maturity like flirting with a blink of the eye lashes, or a wiggle of the hip)

I don't find Stravinsky particulary skateable. I don't know why Firebird is so popular among skaters. The last skater who did any justice to that piece was Joannie Rochette.
Rite of Spring should require very clever editing.

 

[berrycute]

I don't find Stravinsky particulary skateable. I don't know why Firebird is so popular among skaters. The last skater who did any justice to that piece was Joannie Rochette.
Rite of Spring should require very clever editing.

ITA his music is not the sort that leads itself well to skating (although Firebird is something of an exception, and I enjoyed Yukari and Evan's takes on it this season, much more than JoRo's). Skating is all about flow and continuous movement, and much of that early 20th century music is so staccato and disjointed. Remember, not even Michelle could do much with Bela Bartok, although she did look amazing in that black and white dress.

While we're talking about choreographers, the one who's work I am getting more and more into is Marina Zoueva, I loved her Giselle for Yukari and obviously the work she's done with Tessa and Scott (every FD they've done has been my favorite of the season, I think, going back to Valse Triste, another Sibelius piece I would love to see some new skaters use!).

 

[Olympia]

I'd certainly have to agree with you about the majority of early twentieth-century composers, Berrycute. There's some good music among Respighi's works, though. (I'm cheating a bit: he's much more melodic and sweeping.) I wonder whether someone could cut "The Fountains of Rome" for a program; it's very dynamic.

Something I've thought of as having possibilities is "La Calinda" by Delius. (It's also known as part of the Florida Suite--can't remember its title from that work.) It's melodic and dance-y and has several variations in tempo. I can imagine YuNa skating to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6-UGlNyjn0

 

[berrycute]

I'd certainly have to agree with you about the majority of early twentieth-century composers, Berrycute. There's some good music among Respighi's works, though. (I'm cheating a bit: he's much more melodic and sweeping.) I wonder whether someone could cut "The Fountains of Rome" for a program; it's very dynamic.

Something I've thought of as having possibilities is "La Calinda" by Delius. (It's also known as part of the Florida Suite--can't remember its title from that work.) It's melodic and dance-y and has several variations in tempo. I can imagine YuNa skating to this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6-UGlNyjn0

Interesting! Incidentally, Mao has actually used Respighi before, La Boutique Fantastique in 2004-5. I haven't heard of The Fountains of Rome though, do you mean The Pines of Rome? That's one of his best works IMO...

 

[blackedwhite]

Yuna
- symphony #9 "From the New World" (mov. 2 and 4 in particular) by Dvorak (powerful piece with glorious moments that hasn't been overplayed as of now; in fact i have never seen a skater skating to this)
- phantasy quintet prelude, lento ma non troppo by Vaughn Williams (it's very much like her senior debut program "the lark ascending" which is also by the same composer)

Mao
- the swan by Saint-Saens (it would suit Mao well with her balletic background)
-esquisses op. 63 la vision by Charles-Valentin Alkan (soft and sophisticated yet not without its gravity, much like her chopin number for her 2006-2007 season but with a hint of maturity)

Virtue/Moir
- "we both reached for the gun" from Chicago soundtrack
- adagio of spartacus and phrygia by Aram Khachaturian (if anyone can pull off this piece it's v/m!)
- paradise city by Guns N' Roses (it would be a nice transitional departure; in lieu of their saccharine albeit breathtaking programs)

Davis/White
- bohemian rhapsody by Queen
- across the universe by the Beatles
- rite of spring by Stravinsky (powerful, powerful stuff)

honorary mentions; skateable for all of the aforementioned skaters
- sing sing sing by Benny Goodman
- gymnopedie no. 1 by Erik Satie
- pini di roma by Ottorino Respighi
- tender by Blur
- firebird by Stravinsky

 

[janetfan]

Interesting! Incidentally, Mao has actually used Respighi before, La Boutique Fantastique in 2004-5. I haven't heard of The Fountains of Rome though, do you mean The Pines of Rome? That's one of his best works IMO...

"Pines of Rome" and Fountains of Rome" are separate works by Respighi.

Pines: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TRRMs2u62E


Fountains: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RD9a8EfzNs


"La Boutique Fantasque" or "The Magic Toy Shop" was a ballet conceived by Léonide Massine who wrote the libretto and did the choreography. Respighi wrote the music based on piano pieces by Rossini.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3mlFGHNo8w

 

[ayayukiituka]

Olympia, ITA your view on Mao as an interpreter of music/ artist on ice. I think some music e.g. top 100 classical music e.g. the Rachmaninoff Paganini theme variation 18, mediation from thais, the swan etc are very forgiving pieces of music. I believe most skaters will do well. I takes a special skater to try unforgiving pieces of music e.g. Song of Black swan, yeah and Bells of Moscow.

I can imagine many skaters will skate to that kind of music lovely, but I say Mao suite famous music well.
See how she expressed Nocturne Op 9-2 and Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor

Mirai would be nice on coquettish piece, Miki be unique one and Yuna be stronger one etc.

Oh can't wait next season~~!!

 

[Mathman]

Olympia, ITA your view on Mao as an interpreter of music/ artist on ice. I think some music e.g. top 100 classical music e.g. the Rachmaninoff Paganini theme variation 18, mediation from thais, the swan etc are very forgiving pieces of music. I believe most skaters will do well. It takes a special skater to try unforgiving pieces of music e.g. Song of Black swan, yeah and Bells of Moscow.

I have wondered if Tarasova's Bells of Moscow program that she choreographed for Mao Asada was basically the same program that she had intended for Michelle Kwan in 2006 (changes being made to accommodate a triple Axel or two. )

I also wonder, in retrospect, wheter Michelle had a more profound feeling for musical nuance than anyone else, or if she just had such splendid skating skills that she could preform anything Lori Nichol composed for her. After she left Nichol, Michelle, too, went for "top 100"-type music (Tosca, Bolero, etc.)

 

[janetfan]

I have wondered if Tarasova's Bells of Moscow program that she choreographed for Mao Asada was basically the same program that she had intended for Michelle Kwan in 2006 (changes being made to accommodate a triple Axel or two. )

I also wonder, in retrospect, wheter Michelle had a more profound feeling for musical nuance than anyone else, or if she just had such splendid skating skills that she could preform anything Lori Nichol composed for her. After she left Nichol, Michelle, too, went for "top 100"-type music (Tosca, Bolero, etc.)

I don't think Tat would necessarily use the same choreo for Mao that she planned for Michelle.
For one, the rules had been tweaked quite a bit since the '05-'06 season. I think Mao and Michelle have some differences in their abilities/styles as well.

What could certainly be true is that the music arrangement/orchestration for "Bells' had already been done and Tat had planned to use it for Michelle.
I read the version Mao skated to was commissioned by Tat and was specifically created to be used for a skating program.

I have no idea when Tat had this version of "Bells" created. Part of me thinks it was created for Yags because as soon as I saw Mao skating to it I thought - this version would be great for Yags.

In the music biz it is common to create an arrangement or composition for a specific purpose/client and then to re-use it or parts of it (as often as possible depending on the terms of use). This is referred to as recycling and it is as old as Bach.

ETA: It is possible Tat created the version of "Bells" for Michelle along with the choreo and charged her for it. She could have recycled both the music and choreo and charged Mao for both.

I doubt it - but it is possible Tat pulled off a "twofer" getting paid twice for both the orchestration of Bells along with the choreo. Most likely Tat had a vision of how to skate to Bells and adjusted it for Mao.
And she may very well have commissioned the version of Bells Mao skated to specifically for Mao.

 

[Olympia]

I have wondered if Tarasova's Bells of Moscow program that she choreographed for Mao Asada was basically the same program that she had intended for Michelle Kwan in 2006 (changes being made to accommodate a triple Axel or two. )

I also wonder, in retrospect, wheter Michelle had a more profound feeling for musical nuance than anyone else, or if she just had such splendid skating skills that she could preform anything Lori Nichol composed for her. After she left Nichol, Michelle, too, went for "top 100"-type music (Tosca, Bolero, etc.)

Yes, Michelle did go for more "warhorse" music after Lori. That's one reason it seems to me that the Kwan-Nichol (and Carroll, of course) collaboration was such an ideal meeting of the minds. When they came together, they were each more than the sum of their parts. Nichol wasn't the "good ingredient," however, which becomes clear when one observes her choreography skated by lesser "musicians" such as Timothy Goebel and Kimmie Meissner. Though impressive, her work with these skaters didn't measure up to what she was able to do when Michelle skated her choreography. So I think Michelle had some "profound feeling for musical nuance," as you eloquently put it, over and above her undeniably splendid skating skills. Part of Kwan's excellence was also due to wonderful acting skills--she entered into the character of a piece. This is true also of Mao, as well as others such as Shen/Zhao and Sale/Pelletier. I don't know whom I'm quoting, but someone on this site once said that skaters like this make the music sound as though it had never been played before.

And thanks, Janetfan, for posting links to both The Pines of Rome and The Fountains of Rome. Both are lovely--in fact, Pines was used for a wonderful segment of Fantasia 2000, the sequel to the original Disney music animation. But Fountains is to my ear far more dynamic and more exhilarating; one can almost imagine taking flight near the end of it.

 

[Tinymavy15]

I would have loved to see Michelle skate to Mao's "Bells." That would have been amazing.

 

[Mathman]

Nichol wasn't the "good ingredient," however, which becomes clear when one observes her choreography skated by lesser "musicians" such as Timothy Goebel and Kimmie Meissner. Though impressive, her work with these skaters didn't measure up to what she was able to do when Michelle skated her choreography.

Some phrase about a silk purse pops into my mind. Lori worked an absolute miracle with Tim Goebel. Goebel's former coach and choreographer Carol Heiss love: did a wonderful job with Tim on the tech side, but it wasn't until after Tim came to Lori that she was able to get his presentation skills up to ... adequate?

So I think Michelle had some "profound feeling for musical nuance," as you eloquently put it, over and above her undeniably splendid skating skills. Part of Kwan's excellence was also due to wonderful acting skills--she entered into the character of a piece. This is true also of Mao, as well as others such as Shen/Zhao and Sale/Pelletier.

I think Lori's programs for Sale and Pelletier were right up there with Michelle's. The Come Rain or Come Shine SP paired with Tristan and Isolde was some of the greatest choreo of all time.

About using the 100 greatest classics, Lori tried that with Fumie Suguri. She started off with Bach's Toccata and Fugue and Mozart's Eine Kliene Natchmusik and went down the list from there.

Pines was used for a wonderful segment of Fantasia 2000, the sequel to the original Disney music animation.

Greatest cartoon of all time (the original). The sequel? -- you can never go home again.

Second greatest cartoon of all time: the Warner Brothers' catoorn about the singing frog. Now that I think of it, that had a lot of good skating muisc, too.

http://noolmusic.com/youtube_videos/michigan_j_frog.php

 

[janetfan]

Here is a gloriously beautiful and moving piece of music.
I came across this video which gives some interesting background and found it was inspired by one of the 19th centuries greatest pianists - Clara Schumann.

Here is Brahms 3rd Symphony, 3rd movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju7jb1rkyK0&feature=related

I thought of Jeremy or maybe Alissa skating to this because they can create such beautiful moments on the ice.

I am not sure if any skater could really do justice to this music.

To Olympia - if you see this hope you enjoy it.

 

[Olympia]

Here is a gloriously beautiful and moving piece of music.
I came across this video which gives some interesting background and found it was inspired by one of the 19th centuries greatest pianists - Clara Schumann.

Here is Brahms 3rd Symphony, 3rd movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju7jb1rkyK0&feature=related

I thought of Jeremy or maybe Alissa skating to this because they can create such beautiful moments on the ice.

I am not sure if any skater could really do justice to this music.

To Olympia - if you see this hope you enjoy it.

How wonderful! Brahms is one of my favorite composers. (Trivia: his birthday was just a few days ago. He shares May 7 with Tchaikovsky, I believe.) The Third Symphony is sublime, and I love the idea of someone skating to this movement. Brahms is so rich: he orchestrates with a very dense texture, so he always makes instruments sound like twice their number. Some of his chamber music would also make for great skating.

His life story is also pretty grand. Though he outwardly lived the life of a grumpy bachelor, he had a liaison with Clara Schumann for most of his adult life. I'm so glad you described her as one of the greatest pianists of her time, rather than merely as Robert Schumann's widow. She was an artistic giant of her day. I like the thought of her as Brahms's muse. Thanks for linking me to that video, which I hadn't come across.

Later....I just watched the video. It's wonderful, with great photos of Brahms (who was very fine-looking as a young man), Clara Schumann, and Robert Schumann. The third movement is a great sound track for the photos. Now I'm thinking of the second and fourth movements for skaters as well. Plus the third movement of the Piano Quintet in f minor...Let's start a trend!

 

[Tinymavy15]

Here is a gloriously beautiful and moving piece of music.
I came across this video which gives some interesting background and found it was inspired by one of the 19th centuries greatest pianists - Clara Schumann.

Here is Brahms 3rd Symphony, 3rd movement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ju7jb1rkyK0&feature=related

I thought of Jeremy or maybe Alissa skating to this because they can create such beautiful moments on the ice.

I am not sure if any skater could really do justice to this music.

To Olympia - if you see this hope you enjoy it.

indeed, it is beautiful and very complex. Like Mahler in that way. Virtue and Moir could do wonders with this, but I want to have them do something less similiar to Mahler for next season. Maybe Aliona and Robin?