Sasha's LP music

[Mathman]

To the ones disappointed with her music choice- one quick one. how do you know that the version she used for her EX is the same exact version that she will use for her new LP?

It doesn't matter. There are 10,000 songs that are not Romeo and Juliet, or Swan Lake, to choose from.

Now, post 2002 she's done nothing really original. Moves, music, everything included.

All according to plan, all according to plan, heh, heh.

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I wonder how much of that was actually Kwan's choice. I've been hearing a whole lot of things saying that those songs were her choreographer's choice (I could be wrong though). Now, post 2002 she's done nothing really original. Moves, music, everything included.

Nobody said it was Kwan's choice, a lot of people would doubt they were her choices, but the poster said Kwan had never skated to unknown music except for once, which most people know wasn't the case most of the time from 1995/1996-2000/2001. And of course nobody said Kwan had never done anything overused, etc. Most people will agree that she's been skating to warhorses since 2001/2002, but that had nothing to do with what the poster said.

 

[Mathman]

And BTW, her short program in 1998, was to familiar music -- Rachmaninov's piano concertos 2 and 3. This was the program that Peggy Fleming called the most perfectly choreographed short program of all time.

MM

 

[kyla2]

Great Choice...

I think it is a great choice for her and her exhibition was lovely. I am sure her LP will be quite a few levels up from that so I am not worried about being bored to death with it. The music plays to her strengths and suits her skating style.

 

[R.D.]

According to Tangerine_Dream's post on FSU, it's the same exact piece:

http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?t=27692&page=3

Ah. Thanks. Of course, don't know how much credibility to give the inside reports, but I'll take it at face value. Now, at least I would have hoped she would have chosen another version of the song (if she was going to do it at all). After hearing it in so many exhibitions, and with her doing it again, this is likely to be a real snoozer. My snack break, so to speak. (She kind of already is, but this would make it a routine.)

And I agree with you MM- there are a lot more songs out there that have potential. But I can't help but wonder if doing a song she is familiar with would put her in that competition mood that will finally enable her to overcome those jitters that cause her to make costly errors during her FS (and even SP). Doing the same SP should help her too.

Nobody said it was Kwan's choice, a lot of people would doubt they were her choices, but the poster said Kwan had never skated to unknown music except for once, which most people know wasn't the case most of the time from 1995/1996-2000/2001. And of course nobody said Kwan had never done anything overused, etc. Most people will agree that she's been skating to warhorses since 2001/2002, but that had nothing to do with what the poster said.

My response was not to the poster- I have just been wondering a little of this myself. I suppose it's true.

 

[Mathman]

My response was not to the poster- I have just been wondering a little of this myself. I suppose it's true.

I think you are quite right about this, Red Dog. Lori Nichol was the musical genius behind Michelle's program choices from 1995 to 2001. She has a huge library and was a master at fitting together little bits of music from dfferent sources to create what was really an original composition. Almost all of Michelle's programs from this period had more than one composer worked in. For instance Lyra Angelic has a little ditty from Satie's Gymnopedia #1. She could do this so seamlessly that you couldn't even tell where the cuts were.

I believe that on several occasions she had to sit Michelle down and make her listen to the music over and over until finally Michelle came to like it and to see it's potential. I think the Black Swan was the worst. Michelle fought that music for the whole season and just barely made her peace with it in time for Worlds.

This might have contributed to Michelle parting ways with Lori the next year. Michelle wanted to "take charge of her own skating." Part of that seemed to be, just grabbing Sheherezade or Tosca off the rack and there's your music.

I think this is a mistake on Michelle's part. Not being an expert in music herself, I don't know why she doesn't seek the advice of people who are.

Oh, well. She's still my girl.

Mathman

 

[R.D.]

MM- I think you're definitely onto something. Still though, she performed many of those songs pretty well.

So for some odd reason I seem to think that Cohen gets more flack for choosing songs that have been used before (although there was also some backlash when Kwan chose Tosca). I could be wrong though- it just SEEMS that way. It's just annoying when I keep hearing "She could be the best ever" because if that was true she would be by now. To me, and maybe soon to reality, she'll always be the one who almost got there (1st place at a major comp) but never did. JMO.

 

[orchid]

Sooooooooo, all we have to look "forward" to is a mirad of change of leg positions ?


But, the 'same-ol' will draw attention to the more creative skaters. hwell: hwell: hwell: hwell:

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Oh, yes indeed! It was the masterpiece of rarely heard twentieth century composer William Alwyn, his beloved harp concerto. The music that Lori Nichol said she wants to greet her when she arrives at the pearly gates.Oh, I don't think so at all. Who used Romanza for Guitar and Orchestra by Bacarisse, Orchestral Selections of Azerbaijan composer Fikrat Amirov (Taj Mahal), Rondo Capriccioso, Dream of Desdemona (Massenet), Dante's Prayer (Loreena McKennitt), Red Violin (violinist Joshua Bell), Ariane (Massenet), A day in the Life (Jeff Beck), Song of the Black Swan, or the Miraculus Mandarin?

MM - If you can find photos of MK in all the different Wang dresses for each of those music pieces, you could make a fortune by making Coffee Table Book of Michelle Kwan.

Joe

 

[Eeyora]

I would buy that book JoeSitz.

I agree I don't recall a skater who has used as many original pieces as Michelle once picked.

As for Sasha. It may be a smart choice she does better when reusing music. Maleguena was better the 2nd time around. It will be interesting to see how she reworks the choreography. Afterall it was originally choreographed by TT but she will have to include more jumps.

 

[mzheng]

Well, I liked the Dark Eyes from last season.....Sasha seems is slowly pacing herself this season. Hasn't heard any of her triple/triple yet. Heard a tons of singles and doubles....(just some rumore I heard).

 

[Vash01]

I am a bit disappointed that she is keeping the same SP, but she has done it before. She kept Malaguena for a second year and skated great. May be she is keeping Dark Eyes to focus on the LP. Sasha has always chosen familiar music for her programs, with the exception of Carmen in the 2002 year. Now don't laugh at me. Her cuts of Carmen were very different from what other skaters had used, and I liked that program.

If Romeo & Juliet is same as her exhibition (I am actually quite tired of it), she may have chosen it because of her familiarity with it. I don't know if that's a good sign or bad.

Vash

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

If she's rehashing Exhibition music, I think she should go with a revamped Hernando's Hideaway. That number was absolutely delightful.

For the Zeferelli R&J I think it would be very good if she skates after someone who uses a big noisy piece a la Carmen. If she skates first with it, I think it will get lost in the shuffle. JMO.

Joe

 

[michaelfsfan]

I think you are quite right about this, Red Dog. Lori Nichol was the musical genius behind Michelle's program choices from 1995 to 2001. She has a huge library and was a master at fitting together little bits of music from dfferent sources to create what was really an original composition. Almost all of Michelle's programs from this period had more than one composer worked in. For instance Lyra Angelic has a little ditty from Satie's Gymnopedia #1. She could do this so seamlessly that you couldn't even tell where the cuts were.

Actually, if we're being pedantic here, then it was Erik Satie's Gymnopedie No. 3 that was used in the middle section of her Lyra Angelica LP.

ITA with you about Lori Nichol tho. Part of the reason why Michelle's programs were so beautiful to watch was not only because Lori knew precisely how to choreograph the elements and MITF to suit the flow of the music, but also how she seamlessly blended different pieces of music, often unrelated and from different mediums (ie orchestral pieces v. film scores), for one program, and most people would have thought it was from the same composer. Also, Lori using unfamiliar pieces of music made Michelle's programs stand out even more.

This might have contributed to Michelle parting ways with Lori the next year. Michelle wanted to "take charge of her own skating." Part of that seemed to be, just grabbing Sheherezade or Tosca off the rack and there's your music.

I think this is a mistake on Michelle's part. Not being an expert in music herself, I don't know why she doesn't seek the advice of people who are.

ITA again. Such a shame Michelle and Lori parted ways, I would have loved to see Lori choreograph both Michelle's programs for the Olympic season. Oh well, at least we have "Salome", "Taj Mahal", "Dream of Desdemona" and "Rachmaninoff" to remind us of the sheer brilliance and genius of Ms. Nichol.

 

[chuckm]

Seems as if Sasha doesn't want to challenge herself musically. I absolutely HATE the version of "Dark Eyes" she is using---to me, it sounds like Musak. Same with Rota's "R&J". Each year I think Sasha will finally break free and go wild with her music, and I was so sure the Olympic season would be the one. Now I am certain it will never happen. :no:

I guess the next blow will be that Kwan is using rehashed music, too.

 

[Skate Sandee]

While I'm more than happy to give Nichols a lot of credit (not expecting a 15 - 18 year old Michelle to know little used composers), let's not minimize Michelle's contribution. Lori Nichols may have been the creative genius behind the little or never before used music that Michelle used in the 90s and early 2K, but Michelle was the one skating to them, not Lori. If Michelle wasn't able to interpret the music, no amount of talent on Lori's part would have made those programs memorable.

A song writer could write the most brilliant original song, but if the singer can't execute it, the song is never more than collection of notes and words on a page.

And for the sake of staying on topic, we all just had to know that Sasha was going to be skating to another war horse. I've read from a lot of non-Sasha fans that R&J is the one program she's done that they have loved. So if she can put together a complex program to music that inspires her, than more power to her.

 

[Doggygirl]

To the ones disappointed with her music choice- one quick one. how do you know that the version she used for her EX is the same exact version that she will use for her new LP?

I can only speak for myself, but of course I have no way of knowing. I was trying to find something positive (for me) in this news, so that fact that I liked her R&J Ex was a positive thing to say!! Beyond that, I hope she can find some cuts (are there some we haven't heard 10,000 times?? Surely there must be..) and interesting choreo to somehow make the old warhorse look fresh and new.

I love to watch Sasha skate, so I hope she works it!

I think this is going to be a great season of watching how everyone's training and competitive strategies play out. The one thing that I found interesting in Sasha's last journal entry is that it sounded like she was not yet back to a full training regimine. From the sound of things, I get the impressing that MK and Shiz (and probably others too) might already be in full swing, or close to it. Of course these are all my own speculations based on LIMITED information that may or may not be true. I'm really looking forward to Campbell's!!

DG

 

[luvsasha]

well, I LIKE sasha's music and i think she could skate to anything, used or not. And besides, it's not up to us. It doesn't matter what we think about the music. I'm sooo sick of hearing people complain about skater's music choices. If you want to pick somebody's music, then become a skater yourself! but stop complaining about something you have no control over.

IMO, it doesn't matter if the music is used alot, because all skaters will skate it differently.

 

[Doggygirl]

Well....

well, I LIKE sasha's music and i think she could skate to anything, used or not. And besides, it's not up to us. It doesn't matter what we think about the music. I'm sooo sick of hearing people complain about skater's music choices. If you want to pick somebody's music, then become a skater yourself! but stop complaining about something you have no control over.

IMO, it doesn't matter if the music is used alot, because all skaters will skate it differently.

With all due respect, this is a figure skating discussion board. So what else should we talk about besides opinions about skaters, their programs, their elements, their styles, their music, etc.?

DG

 

[mzheng]

I think both are good choice for her. I'm sure the repeated music will help her consistancy and confidance.