The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
- Rockers perform at fundraiser for Boston bomb victims
- Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj leaving 'American Idol'
- Sphere of Hope
| Rockers perform at fundraiser for Boston bomb victims Posted: 30 May 2013 09:41 PM PDT BOSTON (Reuters) - A succession of all-star bands from Aerosmith to Jimmy Buffett rocked a packed house at Boston's TD Garden on Thursday night in a mostly raucous fundraiser for the victims of last month's marathon bombing. Tickets priced between US$35 and US$285 sold out fast at the 17,500-seat venue, with net proceeds to be donated to The One Fund, a reserve established by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick that has received more than US$31 million in donations to compensate victims of the April 15 bombing. Three people were killed and 264 injured, many losing their legs, by homemade pressure-cooker bombs that exploded at the finish line of the world-renowned Boston Marathon. The concert kicked off with a Jimi Hendrix-style distortion guitar version of the U.S. national anthem by rock band Boston that drew cheering fans out of their seats before lead singer Tommy DeCarlo told the crowd: "Tonight, we are all Boston." Another Massachusetts band, Extreme, transformed the energy with a sing-along version of More Than Words - an acoustic love song - before the home state J. Geils Band unleashed a torrent of fast-paced blues as lead man Peter Wolf strutted the stage in black leather and shades. "We came up here to help out Boston, but also because these are some great bands," said Shelly Watson, who drove up from Rhode Island with her husband to see the show, which also included comedians and a short speech by Victoria McGrath, a young girl who was injured in the bombing. Other acts included country star Jason Aldean, who despite not being from Massachusetts admitted to being a fan of the Boston Red Sox baseball team; New Kids on the Block; James Taylor; and Aerosmith, which made a round-the-world detour from Singapore to make the show. Donnie Wahlberg (pic) from New Kids on the Block won the decibel award when he took the microphone and yelled the word Boston repeatedly, drawing enthusiastic shrieks from the audience. "You deserve the credit," he said. "Anyone can celebrate in times of glory ... but when something unspeakable happens, that's not just when cities come together but it is when families come together. We are not just one of the greatest cities on earth, we are one of the greatest families on this planet." Concert organizers have declined to say yet how much money the concert will raise for The One Fund, but have said bands and venue employees were working for free. Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer who specializes in mediation, was tapped by Menino and Patrick to run The One Fund. Feinberg has warned victims to lower their expectations of how much money the fund would be able to pay individual beneficiaries. Boston bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, an ethnic Chechen with roots in Russia's volatile northern Caucasus, was captured in a dramatic police manhunt days after the bombing. He was criminally charged and is being held in jail. His brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was also identified by the FBI as a suspect but he was killed in a gunfight with police. U.S. security officials have said they believe the brothers had Islamic militant sympathies. |
| Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj leaving 'American Idol' Posted: 30 May 2013 08:59 PM PDT LOS ANGELES: Pop singer Mariah Carey and rapper Nicki Minaj will leave "American Idol" after just one season as judges on the singing contest show, following on the heels of longtime judge Randy Jackson who left amid a TV ratings slump. "Thank you American Idol for a life changing experience! Wouldn't trade it for the world! Time to focus on the Music!!!" Minaj said on her Twitter page on Wednesday. Carey's departure was also announced on Twitter by her public relations firm PMK BNC, which said the singer "says goodbye 2 idol" as she prepared to embark on a world tour. Carey, 43, joined the judging panel with Minaj, country singer Keith Urban and Jackson, a music producer, for the show's 12th season. Carey reportedly earned $18 million while Minaj's salary was reported to be $12 million and Urban's was at $8 million for the season. Carey and Minaj, 30, grabbed headlines throughout the season for their on-camera arguments and off-camera feuding, with Carey saying in January that she had hired extra security following threats reportedly made against her by Minaj. Despite the added star power of Carey, Minaj and Urban, the show's ratings slumped to the lowest in 12 seasons, with the May 16 season finale of "Idol" drawing 14.2 million to see vocal powerhouse Candice Glover win the competition. Fox released statements following the announcements of both judges. "Mariah Carey is a true global icon - one of the most accomplished artists on the planet - and we feel extremely fortunate that she was able to bring her wisdom and experience to the 'American Idol' contestants this season," Fox said. "Nicki Minaj is a superstar who brought a level of honesty and passion to 'American Idol'" and who had a tremendous positive impact on so many contestants this season. Given her extremely busy career, we understand and respect her decision and wish her the best," the network added after Minaj's announcement. Jackson announced this month he would not return to the show next season. It was unclear whether Urban would. Pop singer and actress Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler left "Idol" in 2012 after two seasons and used their increased visibility from the show to relaunch their music careers. Fox, which is owned by News Corp (Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy and Christopher Wilson and Paul Simao) |
| Posted: 30 May 2013 06:19 PM PDT British violinist Daniel Hope clearly loves music that is challenging but at the same time, is not afraid of being ear-pleasing. TWO years ago, something quite unexpected happened to British violinist Daniel Hope. He was on his way to catch a train in Glasgow, Scotland, when he received a phone call. "Is this Daniel Hope?" asked the caller. Yes, Hope replied, a little annoyed because he was rushing with all his luggage to board the train. "Who is this?" Hope asked, not as politely as he normally would. The caller replied: "We're looking to make an investment. We want to buy an instrument and we want to know if you would be interested to choose the instrument." In that instant, Hope was so shocked, he dropped his bags, and could only watch as the train started leaving without him. "It was one of those things that you read in books or see in movies," said Hope, during our interview at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas where he performed with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra last weekend. "I was able to try all the instruments I could find. Then I found this one." It is the Guarneri del Gesu violin, made in 1742 and once owned by Polish violinist Karol Lipinski, a gorgeous instrument with an even more gorgeous sound – strong, solid yet malleable in Hope's able hands. There were, however, two conditions for the deal – the generous German family who effected the purchase shall remain anonymous and the price of the instrument, unmentioned. Hope clearly loves his instrument as he handled it delicately like a newborn baby when he took it out for our photoshoot. In his performance of Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto, Hope stretched the instrument's range, reaching seemingly impossible high registers, especially in the second movement's cadenza which is an improvised solo. Any higher and there wouldn't have been enough string for his finger. This mystery family/priceless violin episode in Hope's music career is just one of a few other incidents as intriguing as the music of the spheres. At only four, he started on the violin and told his parents it was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Of course, he had his teenage crisis of confidence. "I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, or if I was good enough," he said. "But that initial feeling of wanting to be a musician has never left me." He is now one of the most sought-after soloists and a recording artiste with Deutsche Grammaphon. He was one of the first classical artistes to have a website. "People laughed at me then," he said. But within only half a year, he had received performing offers enough to pay for the website (back then there was no such free service as a "Facebook page"). And then there is the coincidence of his return to performing with the MPO exactly five years to the day he last performed with the orchestra. What did he play that year? It was also Britten's Violin Concerto. His current album, Spheres, approaches a concept as mysterious as one of the composers on the album, the Estonian maestro Arvo Part, whom incidentally Hope had worked with on several occasions in the past. The selection is as eclectic as it gets. There are old and established compositions as well as those specially commissioned for the album, and also a film score. Bach sits comfortably alongside contemporary composers such as Philip Glass, Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter, Gabriel Prokofiev and Alex Baranowski. It's a departure from his usual output. It's a restless and intriguing mix, especially with Part's Fratres, which was originally recorded with only violin and piano by Gidon Kremer and Keith Jarrett for Part's seminal Tabula Rasa album. Hope's version includes an orchestra. He told of the time he recorded Part's tintinnabuli masterpiece, Spiegel Im Spiegel. He then sent the first edit of the recording to Part, who duly "tore it to pieces". "This time I decided not to send (Fratres) to him," laughed Hope, who has only great reverence for the maestro. "I just hope that he likes it." His next, already completed, album, due out in the second half of next year, will feature the big orchestral sounds of old Hollywood with music by the composers who fled Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, with special guests such as Sting and German singer Max Raabe. Here's another strange story. While Hope was mulling over the project, lying on his bed one day in Moscow, his iPod happened to play Sting's The Secret Marriage from the ... Nothing Like The Sun album. His ears perked up. He checked the album's credits and found that the melody was adapted from a composition by Hanns Eisler, one of the composers exiled in the 1930s who escaped to Hollywood. Perfect. An email was sent to Sting to request a guest appearance, and a prompt reply came in the affirmative. Related Stories: |
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