Some years ago now, in the year the Queen Mary 2 made its maiden voyage, I made a video about the liner. I called it The QM2 Project.  It covered some of the history of the British Royal Family from Queen Victoria to her daughter-in-law Mary of Teck who became the wife of King George V.  It showed the building in Scotland of the first RMS Queen Mary, named after her.  It then went on to show the history of that ship and where it is now.  Then it began to show the new ship – the RMS Queen Mary 2.   Because of my  deep involvement in this video project for many months, I felt that I must make the effort to get up early this morning at 6.00am, to leave home at 7.00am to drive to Port Melbourne to see the liner arrive.  That’s the only way I’d be able to see the front of the liner.  Unless of course I was in the Channel 7 news helicopter which circled overhead for quite some time.

The featured photo for this post is one I took of the Ch 7  helicopter with my Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 70-200mm f4 L series lens.  The above photo is the heading from the Herald Sun online at about 9.30am.

Well, I did get up at 6am to leave home at 7am to see the QM2 arrive at Port Melbourne, and get some photos of it from the front when it approached Station Pier.   But I miscalculated.  I should have got up at 5am or so to be at Port Melbourne at 7am, to see the liner arrive and turn 180 degrees to dock at Station Pier.  So when I arrived at about 7.45am the liner had already docked.

This is the first view I saw from where I parked.  It’s a Fujifilm X100 shot.  All my other photos in this post were taken with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and 70-200mm f4 L series lens.

I not only got the time to leave home wrong (to see the liner coming in), but I also completely misjudged the amount of traffic at that time of the morning (7.15am).  I expected it to be light, but it was heavy peak hour traffic in the three lanes along the coast highway from Brighton to Port Melbourne.  I was not the only person who wanted to see the Queen Mary 2.

The above is a photo I took of the traffic after I’d parked my car about 10 minutes walk from Station Pier.

While walking along the footpath and foreshore to Station Pier, I came across the following road sign, and filmed a video of it with my Canon 5D Mark II, hand held.  I edited it in Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11, and then added a soundtrack using SonicFire.

The QM2 at Station Pier.

The next two images show seagulls flying past the stern of the QM2.

The following image is not a super zoom shot, but a crop from the original of the image above.

The top deck as seen from the stern.

The following four photos are from the Herald Sun online, this morning, and were taken from a helicopter showing the QM2 as it arrived at Station Pier, bow first.  Then, under its own power with its sideways propellers, and with no assistance from tugs, the QM2 turned around 180 degrees in its own length and then, I gather from the photos, that it reversed into position to dock at the pier.  In one of the photos you can see the wake from the side propellers.   You can see the Melbourne skyline in the background.  In the first photo, on the right you can see Melbourne’s tallest building – Eureka Tower – an apartment block.   To its right there are two dark objects which look like hot air balloons (it’s a good time in the early morning for them).

And here is a view from above, also from the Herald Sun.

Here are some photos I took of the Queen Mary 2 and Spirit of Tasmania while walking back to my car.  The sun had come out and was shining brightly by then.   Once again, these photos were taken with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II.

You can check out the list of CDs and content of the collection at this web page.  You can also preview some of the tracks.   Or you can look up the name of each individual album on Amazon or iTunes and preview it there.

The Decca Sound collection of 50 CDs is great (especially for $14.99 on iTunes), and the RCA Living Stereo collection of 60 CDs excites me (I’ll make a post about this in due course), but the Mercury Living Presence set is the one that excited me the most.

The fact that it arrived on the very day of the 60th anniversary of the death of King George VI and the accession of Queen Elizabeth II seemed like fate.   The video for the Mercury Living Presence Boxed Set starts off with a march written by William Walton for the Coronation of King George VI in 1937 (the year I was born), and was substantially revised for the Queen’s coronation in 1953.

Here is the video advertising the collection:

The march I mentioned above is Crown Imperial.  It has always been a favourite of mine from my teens.

Next is the recording from the Mercury Living Presence Boxed Set (the cover of the CD is the feature image for this post).  Please note that the recording sounds fairly quiet.  That’s because the recording has preserved the full dynamic range of the performance and this has to allow for the climax just before the end when the peak recording level momentarily reaches 0dB (zero dB), above which digital recordings distort.  Nowadays it seems to be accepted practice for recording engineers to “normalize” the volume level of sound tracks so that the overall sound is loud and impressive throughout the track.  This is especially so with popular music, which usually has very little dynamic range – which is what commercial (pop music) radio stations like – as the music is at a fairly constant sound level. The adverts are usually louder.

So here is Crown Imperial, from the Mercury Living Presence collection – CD 12. Don’t forget the volume control on the left.

Here’s a video of a performance by BläserPhilharmonie Ostwestfalen-Lippe at its yearly concert in 2011 (20 Feb at Bad Lippspringe, Germany).  Click on the X to get rid of  the advert.

By now you will probably be familiar with the music. It’s now time to present a video of a performance by the Worcestershire Intermediate Orchestra at their Christmas Concert held at Kidderminster Town Hall on 4th December 2011.   This performance is gorgeously out of tune for its entirety, but God bless them for trying; and the audience for their enthusiastic applause.  Agian, click on that X.

And now for another performance of the music:

And finally, this mix of still photos and video (some of which is compressed to 4:3).

It was 60 years ago today that King George VI passed away, and his eldest daughter, the Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II.   She was in Kenya with the Duke of Edinburgh at the time, on the way to Australia.  I was a 14 year old boy just beginning my third year (Intermediate, as it was called then) at high school.  The Queen and the Duke flew home to London and were greeted at the airport by officials, including the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.

The above video is interesting in that when Princess Elizabeth became Queen, she was asked how she wished to be known.  She chose her own name – Elizabeth.  But her father, Price Albert, chose to be known as King George VI, after his father George V.  Some years ago I read that if and when Prince Charles comes to the throne, he might choose to be known as George VII rather than Charles III, because of the unhappy history of the previous Kings named  Charles.

One of the formal ceremonies was to proclaim Princess Elizabeth as the Queen.  The Proclamation at St James Palace in London is shown below.  Another proclamation was held at Windsor.

Something that has never struck me before is that people younger than me might not appreciate this event in the way that I do, because they never lived through it.  I was born in 1937 about 11 months after George VI came to the throne.  I grew up and was educated at a primary school where we had morning assembly and swore allegiance to the King.  Our school book had  formal colour portraits of  King George VI and his consort Queen Elizabeth (who became known as the Queen Mother).   When the King died I was 14 years old and understood the situation.

At the time I used to subscribe to The Illustrated London News – a weekly news magazine – through our local newsagent, and so I saw all the details, news and photos in the ensuing 16 months leading up to the Coronation on 2 June 1953.  I was fascinated by the whole thing.   Forgotten now is that the aristocracy – the dukes, earls, viscounts, barons, baronets and so on – had to order their robes and coronets for the Coronation ceremony.  As you can imagine, not all could afford the best, and some had to hire.

I was fascinated by the whole thing.  This included the planned decorations for London streets and buildings, the annexe built for the entrance to Westminster Cathedral (where 38 coronations have been held, the first recorded one being that of William the Conqueror in 1066), the history, the traditions, the souvenirs, the music, and ultimately the Queen herself.

The 60th anniversary of her Majesty’s accession to the throne go off to a big bang in London today when the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41-gun salute in Hyde Park.  The photo below, from The Times, shows that it’s cold winter in Britain.

Below is the Queen’s official portrait commissioned for the Diamond Jubilee.  Also from The Times.

As I said, I always enjoy watching the Tattoo, but in the show I saw tonight, nothing stood out as a reason to watch the show again, or to buy the DVD when it comes out. Well, that was until I came to the part of the show that you can see in the video below. I loved it. It’s a suite based on music from the movie How To Train Your Dragon. The Tattoo shown on ABC TV was the English narration version. I couldn’t find the English narration version of the suite YouTube, so here is the BBC Alba version – narrated in Gaelic:

In the past year many of my posts have been about classical music, so perhaps it’s time I told you that one of my favourite music ensembles is the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. What prompted me to mention it is that the band is coming to Australiu early this year.

Live Dates

03 Mar 2012 – Perth – Perth Festival
05 Mar 2012 – Melbourne – Melbourne Recital Hall
07 Mar 2012 – Sydney – City Recital Hall – Angel Place
09 Mar 2012 – Adelaide – WOMADelaide

The Penguin Cafe Orchestra website is here.   It has details of where to buy tickets and make bookings.  I don’t think I’ve seen a website like it before, where you can scroll so far to the right, as well as down, from the home position.

I first came across their music a few years ago, after my retirement in November 2002, while waiting in the reception area for my doctor at Southbank Medical Centre (Melbourne).   I was about 10 minutes early that day, so it gave me time to read one of the magazines.  There was music playing, but I took no notice of it.  Well, not for a while.  But it began to grow on me so much that I asked my doctor about it, and he told me it was the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.  I don’t remember now which album it was, but I bought it as soon as I could – the first of many of their albums I’ve bought.

This post is not the first time that I’ve featured the music of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.  My main home page at jthonlinecom has a brief article in the left sidebar about the Elders/Fosters Art Collection and a link to a slideshow.  The first two tracks in the background music of the slideshow are two of my favourite Penguin Cafe compositions.

Here is one of their most famous compositions:

And here is the same music in full, without interruption.  As always, click on the X to remove the advert.  If anyone understands the very end of the video with the dog), please tell me.

The following video is from the Melbourne Recital Centre page advertising the concert on 5 March this year.

http://www.melbournerecital.com.au/whatson/buytix?perfid=3543 

Here is a much clearer video of a different performance of the same music.   Unfortunately the beginning is a bit clipped and the visual in the final 45 seconds is impaired by rolling credits.

Well, I might know that the Penguin Cafe Orchestra is coming to Australia in early March, but I didn’t know that Fleet Foxes (see my post of 1 November 2011) performed in Melbourne last Friday night.  Here’s the review from The Age today:

Palais Theatre, January 6

****

THERE are times when listening to Seattle sextet Fleet Foxes it’s hard to believe founding member and frontman Robin Pecknold is just 25, his bandmates about the same. Together they create music reminiscent of the best harmonies from the ’60s and ’70s, with musicianship that experienced folk/rock bands many years older would dream of creating.

Pecknold and guitarist Skye Skjelset first met in high school and the band was gradually pulled together over several years, resulting so far in a stellar EP and two acclaimed albums, including last year’s Helplessness Blues.

Opening songs The Plains/Bitter Dancer, Mykonos and English House were greeted enthusiastically with Pecknold and those well-honed harmonies starring early. Morgan Henderson switches from upright bass to flute to guitar and fiddle with ease. In between songs, drummer Josh Tillman was the only one to break in with light-hearted observations; Pecknold was a picture of concentration, tuning his guitar, adjusting his amp, always readying himself.

Blue Spotted Tail with just Pecknold on stage was among the highlights before the band returned to complete the near-two-hour performance with Grown Ocean and Helplessness Blues.

I found a video on YouTube that has a longer and more detailed version of the above promotion.  It has extracts from some of the different types of music in the collection.  I suspect that some people who say they don’t have an interest in classical music might find there is far more to enjoy in this collection than they would expect.  You only have to watch TV talent shows such as Idol (now dropped in Australia), X-Factor and Australia’s Got Talent, or any of the overseas versions, to see that audiences who would probably say they don’t like opera, give standing ovations to anyone who sings an operatic aria well.  One of the most popular arias in these TV shows is Nessun Dorma from the opera Turandot by Puccini.  The Decca boxed set has 3 versions of the aria.  One is in the Turandot opera highlights CD (Pavarotti and Sutherland), and the other two are in Carreras Domingo Pavarotti in Concert recorded in Rome on 7 July 1990.  This recording of The Three Tenors is not the same as The 3 Tenors in Concert recorded in 1994 which is spectacular in its own right.

Here is the longer video, in non-HD soft focus, with a more detailed sampling of music in the collection:

The first CD in the boxed set is The Three Cornered Hat by Manuel De Falla, with Ernest Ansermet conducting L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.  Bear in mind that the boxed set is a limited edition, and many of the CDs in the collection may no longer be otherwise available, which makes the set even more desirable.  The first album in the collection is available from iTunes for A$16.99.  You can also buy this album from Amazon .com for prices ranging from $34.99 to $249.99 for a used CD, as can be seen below.

Here is the first track from the above CD, the first in the collection.  There are 14 tracks and only two feature the singer – Teresa Berganza.  The first track is one of them.  Note the quality of the sound if you have good audio card and stereo speaker system as part of your computer.   If you don’t have one a good computer stereo system, you are missing out, and should treat yourself, if you enjoy music, games or video or movies on your computer.   A good system doesn’t have to be built into your computer – they can be connected by Firewire or USB.   An external audio interface and stereo speaker system with sub-woofer will work with your current and future computers.

The Three Cornered Hat – Introduction

(Don’t forget the volume control on the left.)

If you’d like to find out more about the boxed set, I strongly recommend you visit Decca’s own website, which describes The Decca Sound collection as follows:

The Decca Sound – a unique celebration of artistic achievement and technical excellence

Throughout its 80 year history Decca has always remained focused on a single aim — to capture great performances by legendary artists in the highest possible fidelity.

“The Decca Sound” is a deluxe limited edition of 50 CDs of legendary classical recordings in some of the best sound quality ever committed to disc. The inspired collaborations of great artists, gifted producers and dedicated engineers have resulted in a treasure trove of award-winning and critically acclaimed recordings. This special edition brings together a truly representative selection of these legendary performances for the first time.

Click here for the Decca website and relevant page.  The page lists all the 50 CDs and the tracks on them. In most cases you can click on the arrow to hear an extract from each track.  In all cases you can click on the name of the track to get details about the track – the music, the performers, when and where it was recorded and by whom, and when it was first released.

One of my delights in exploring the collection was to find that CD #48 is a CD I’ve previewed many times on iTunes, but have been unable to find anywhere to buy as a CD.  It’s the highlight of an opera by Puccini, not often performed or recorded.  I have the full opera on order from Presto Classical.  La Fanciulla del West – an opera by Puccini set in the gold rush days of California.

Here is the final aria of the opera.  I include it because I think the singing and music is sublime, but also because it reminds me of some other Puccini operas, such as Tosca and Turandot, and in parts even the final scene of Aida by Verdi.  What do you think?  The English name of the opera is Girl of the Golden West.

Here below is track 7 in the highlights of La Fanciulla del West from the boxed set – Quello che tacete.   This opera by Puccini was commissioned by, and first performed at, the Metropolitan Opera in New York on 10 December 1910 with Enrico Caruso singing.  Listen very carefully and you might pick up hints of part of a song you may have heard before in a famous musical and movie made of it.  When the countdown timer reaches the 30 seconds to go mark, the phrase in question becomes clear.  Do you recognise the musical with a similar phrase?   If so, please make a comment.  Or make a comment if you recognise the phrase but can’t put your finger on where you’ve heard it before.  I think it’s a sublime phrase.

The Decca Soundboxed set is available online from Amazon and Presto Classical, and is currently available at many of the good record stores, such as Discurio and Readings in Melbourne.  I imagine the same would apply in other cities.  The current price in Australia is about A$139.  The Amazon.com price is US$123.17 plus shipping.  The Presto Classical price is currently A$159.50 plus A$4.15 postage.   When I bought my set back in October the price at Presto was A$131.76 plus $4.15 postage.  All of these prices are a bargain for a set of 50 high quality CDs which Presto Classical describes as:

A limited-edition 50-CD set of legendary recordings celebrating the world-renowned DECCA sound.

Classic-status pioneering stereo recordings from the past 55 years and starring a galaxy of internationally-acclaimed artistic talent.

Each CD is presented in a sleeve with original cover art.

Where an original release may have been of short duration due to limitations of the LP a bonus work featuring the same artists has been added.

A 200-page booklet documents the development of stereo recording as it developed in the 1950s through to modern digital recordings; there is an article on Decca artists and repertory with particular reference to the artists featured in the set.

Full recording information on each disc is included and there are numerous photographs.

If the idea of a 50 CD boxed set of classics seems too overwhelming, you could try The Decca Sound highlights set which sells for about A$25.  It’s great value.  For the price of one CD you get 5 CDs.  You can audition it in iTunes, but don’t buy the set for the iTunes price of A$53.99.  You can buy it from Readings or other record shops or Amazon or Presto for about $25.  This set is a good introduction to the full boxed set.  Even if you eventually buy the 50 CD boxed set, the highlights set would still be useful as an introduction to many of the CDs and music in the full set which you might otherwise never get around to playing.  It’s a worthy compilation in its own right.

Update:  1 February 2012

Almost two weeks ago I noticed that iTunes sells the The Decca Sound (50 CDs) as well as the Highlights set of 5 CDs.  The price of the Highlights set remains at A$53.99 for the 5 CDs.  Based on that price, one might expect that the iTunes price for the whole collection of 50 CDs could be A$539.90 – but it’s not.  It’s A$14.99 for the whole collection.  Mind you, the 50 CD collection is treated as one album, and as a result the tracks are not in the order of the individual CDs and are sometimes scattered and even if the tracks for an album are together, they might not be in order.  Still, you can’t argue with A$14.99 for 817 tracks, and the search facilities and sorting by columns features in iTunes are a help.

By the way, the price might be small, but the collection isn’t.  It’s about 7.1 GB according to my iTunes folder before and after downloading the “album.”