ᴡᴀɢɴᴇʀ & ʜᴇᴀᴠʏ ᴍᴇᴛᴀʟ

Yesss.

😅

[...] visiting the Vatican again; entering the Sistine Chapel R. says: "This is like my theater, one feels it is no place for jokes."

(Cosima’s diary - 21 November 1876)

My top musical find of the year is Imperial Triumphant - a band that doesn’t just blow my mind, it pulls me away from my own expectations. I can’t quite explain why I’m drawn to them, but I’m completely hooked.

#metalsky

It's the birthday of Paul Hindemith (b. 1895), and it's Sunday, so time for an opera in the nunnery.

Aroused Susanna strips off the covering from Christ’s torso. She is terrified when a huge spider falls on her head from the crucifix and, horrified by her deed, begs the nuns to wall her up (bury her alive).

Fritz Busch, a champion of Hindemith, refused to conduct the premiere on moral grounds.

YouTube video by suprememaison Paul Hindemith: SANCTA SUSANNA

Sancta Susanna (1922), an one-act opera by Paul Hindemith.

The opera examines the relationship between celibacy and lust in Christianity, depicting the descent of a nunnery into sexual frenzy.

Extraordinarily atmospheric, concentrated and highly imaginative.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=NFWL...

Jesus fuck and I thought it was bad when when they used AI to "finish" my 10th symphony.

Imprints of Man: Death Metal for piano ​ Imprints of Man  is a release that re‑imagines the dense, dissonant world of Imperial Triumphant’s death‑metal oeuvre through the intimate lens of solo piano. Conceived by bassist,...

IMPRINTS OF MAN bridges the gap between the ferocity of death metal and the introspection of a solo piano.

Death Metal for piano for those with a taste for jazz, Liszt, Scriabin and Debussy.

www.wagner-heavymetal.com/blog/imprint...

YouTube video by Louis F. Cuffari Imprints of Man: Reimagining the Music of Imperial Triumphant

How much piano is there hidden in a black/death metal song?

A reimagination on piano of the music of New York extreme metal trio Imperial Triumphant by that band's bass player Steve Blanco. Fascinating stuff.

#metalsky #pianosky #jazzsky

youtu.be/H5so_3mf5P0?...

Frankenstein 2025 (Guillermo Del Toro)

"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me Man, did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me?"

(from: John Milton’s Paradise Lost, these lines appear on the title page of FRANKENSTEIN)

(Art: Bernie Wrightson)

I almost feel badly for not liking GDT's movies more than I do, probably b/c of his respect for practical make-up &, well, he seems nice. 😄 But I am looking forward to watching the Criterion Nightmare Alley release -- I recall enjoying it in the theater. I may wait on Frankenstein for a bit.

I discovered Imperial Triumph this year (better late to the party than never) and am a massive fan since. This album makes me curious. Merkurius Gilded on piano has a total differrent atmosphere. A bit of a late-night bar vibe with some obstinate undercurrents.

Parsifal, Herheim, Bayreuther Festspiele

From Max Ernst’s Une Semaine de bonté ou les sept éléments capitaux (A Week of Kindness or the Seven Deadly Elements), published 1934

From Max Ernst’s Une Semaine de bonté ou les sept éléments capitaux (A Week of Kindness or the Seven Deadly Elements), published 1934

And some beautiful and provocative visuals (the link to the history of Bayreuth and its connection to the Nazis). With a taste for surrealism that made me think of Max Ernst.

YouTube video by Bayreuth Vinylman Parsifal - (Bayreuth 2012)- Erste Aufzug

Good to see that the Bayreuther Parsifal from Stefan Herheim is still on YT. A production that is engaging & inventive, with splendid theatrical dynamics. (There's a lot going on in this Parsifal.)

Act 1
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKKp...

Act 2
youtu.be/KYSa1jSpNC4?...

Act 3
youtu.be/jsRzlAXYV1w?...

I like Pan's Labyrinth, but like many of his other films, I find this Frankenstein more of a sympathetic effort than a good film (I had similar thoughts about Robert Eggers' Nosferatu). It feels more like an instant meal than a multi-course dinner.

From Cosima's diaries "On Christmas Day, my 31st birthday, this notebook was to have started; I could not get it in Lucerne. And so the first day of the year will also contain the beginning of my reports to you, my...

Bad night, bad weather, and no news of the money.

(Cosima's diary, 13 November 1872)

www.wagner-heavymetal.com/classical-pi...

For Frankenstein, the true story (which is not the real story either, of course), I much more prefer this made-for-television film from 1973, starring James Mason, Michael Sarrazin, David McCallum, and Jane Seymour 🖤

What also didn't help was that the cast (with the exception of Jacob Elordi, who is a fantastic monster) didn't really flesh out the characters. Oscar Isaac, Christoph Waltz (with his usual mannered acting) and the actress with the perfect name, Mia Goth, left me completely cold.

I didn't like the altered storylines in which Victor and the monster are portrayed as a one-dimensional villain and an innocent character, respectively. The ambiguity and elusiveness, necessary for real drama, are sorely missed. The creature as some kind of super hero also didn't appeal to me.

To that creature, being born, Its birthday is a day to mourn – Giacomo Leopardi Quote by Leopardi (1798-1837), who lived in the same time as Mary Shelley (1797-1851). Quote is unrelated to the movie or Shelley's story but kind of fits the subject.

Time for Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein:

Despite his ambition, this Frankenstein looks more like a tv-show than a film in which, as is so often, the action is the least interesting part. But I loved the fact that, like the book, the film allows the monster to elaborate extensively on his fate.

It's Wednesday, another day of Wotan:

Richard Wagner directs Franz Betz in the role of Wotan (in Das Rheingold for the premiere of the Ring in Bayreuth in 1876)

With Louis Jourdan (have it somewhere on a DVD)

Sorry, that was a trailer of another Dracula movie (Ha!)

YouTube video by Trailer World Official Trailer BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA (1974, Jack Palance)

Never saw the Argento Dracula. Is it good?

That's for sure

Yes, it has some fine actors and acting, Trevor 'Shoestring' and I like Donald Pleasance in 1970s horror (Halloween!). Olivier is remarkable stiff but it kind of fits.

As far as the love angle goes, it keeps me away form Luc Besson's latest offering.

And it's the only Dracula adaption (as far as I know) in which Van Helsing really speaks Dutch when speaking in his mother tongue (in the book he curses in German 😈)