Tag Archives: music

Events

Paula Seling in concert, Medias

Paula Seling, a very well-known Romanian pop star, gave a Christmas concert yesterday evening, December 14, at Sala Traube, a venue in Medias, Romania. We were in attendance, and I recorded most of the songs she sang on my cameraphone. You can watch the video below.

Paula is my wife’s favorite singer. Ligia has followed her progress from the start of her solo career, and has always told me that Paula is the most talented singer in Romania. After tonight’s performance, I agree.

The concert began with a few Christmas carols, after which Paula launched into a great mix of new and old music, including a few songs from her newest album, “Believe“, which came out earlier this year. The show was great. Paula’s performance was consistent, and she established a wonderful rapport with the audience. She got a standing ovation at the end, and she sang a beautiful song for an encore — I’ll let you watch it for yourselves in the videos.

Watch the videos on YouTube in five parts (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5)

If you’d like more information about Paula Seling, then her website is definitely the place to go. She has both English and Romanian versions of her site, each loaded with tons of goodies. In a move I found unusual but very welcome, she has posted her entire discography online, and each song is recorded in both English and Romanian. In other words, you can listen to samples from each of her songs in both languages. That must have taken a significant, sustained long-term effort, and I applaud her for that.

Paula also deserves applause for being so gracious and welcoming after the show. My wife wanted to meet her and give her one of her quilling pieces, as a way of saying thank you for her wonderful music. Adrian Matei facilitated the meeting, and we are very grateful to him for doing so. Paula agreed, and was thrilled when she saw what Ligia had prepared for her. I took this photo of the two of them together as we said our goodbyes and wished her the best for the future.

Ligia and Paula Seling, on December 14, 2009, Sala Traube, Medias, Romania.
Ligia and Paula Seling, on December 14, 2009, Sala Traube, Medias, Romania.
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Events

Acapella at Margarethenkirche, Medias

Acapella, a Romanian choral group, gave a Christmas concert at Margarethenkirche (St. Margaret’s Church) in Medias, Romania, on December 12, 2009. They were accompanied on the organ by Remus Henning, an organist of international renown.

I recorded most of the songs on my cameraphone and embedded the video below.

You can also watch this video on YouTube in three parts (part 1, part 2, part 3).

The songs/carol selections were as follows:

  • Ave Maria
  • Vestea Nasterii
  • O, Ce Veste Minunata
  • Stille Nacht
  • Joy to the World
  • Steaua Sus Rasare
  • Noi in Seara de Craciun
  • Mos Craciun
  • Panis Angelicus
  • Trei Crai de la Rasarit
  • Sus Boieri
  • O, Tannenbaum
  • Hark the Herald Angels Sing
  • Cantec Bavarez
  • Colo-n Susu
  • Deck the Halls
  • O, Du Froliche
  • Adeste Fideles

Other concerts I attended at St. Margaret’s church this year were:

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The Toy Train
Video Log

The toy train

Updated 11/02/2018: This video now has over 25,000,000 views. Thank you!

My wife gave me this great little train set as a Christmas present a couple of years ago. I thought it’d be fun to film it in action one day, and when I edited the video, I looked for the right kind of music for some time. The end result was worth it though, and it sets the mood for the upcoming holiday season. Enjoy!

You can watch the video here or on YouTube. The soundtrack for the video is called “Choo Choo Train” by Daffy Dave.

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Thoughts

New album from Chris Isaak

2002 GQ Men of The Year Awards - Show

I saw a new video from Chris Isaak this morning, for a song entitled “We Let Her Down”. The album is called “Mr. Lucky” and was released this year. You can listen to clips from all of the songs on his album at Recordnet or at Amazon.

“We Let Her Down” by Chris Isaak

Chris Isaak was/is one of my favorite singers, though I forgot about him these past few years. Back in college, in the mid 90s, I loved his songs. That whole melancholy jive of his resonated with my less than successful romantic life back then…

I visited Chris’ website afterward, where I watched videos for some my favorite songs, such as “Wicked Games”, “Blue Spanish Sky”, “Think of Tomorrow” and “Dark Moon” (the list goes on, but not all of the songs were made into videos).

“Wicked Games” by Chris Isaak

“Blue Spanish Sky” by Chris Isaak

“Think of Tomorrow” by Chris Isaak

“Dark Moon” by Chris Isaak

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Events

Brasov Opera Orchestra concert at Sighisoara

We attended a wonderful concert last night, given by the Brasov Opera Orchestra in Sighisoara (Schassburg), at Casa de Cultura Mihai Eminescu, an old venue at the foot of the Sighisoara Castle. Sighisoara is a medieval city in the province of Transilvania, Romania.

There were two soloists: Cristian Braica, a wonderful Romanian contrabassist now based in Frankfurt, and Felicia Filip, a famous Romanian soprano of international renown. As the Opera Director aptly put it, the concert was an early Christmas celebration. The pieces were fantastic — classical hits imbued with solid rhythm, practiced to perfection. We were strongly impressed with the quality of the performance. In my opinion, this is a world class orchestra.

I recorded highlights of the 1 ½ hour concert with my N95 and uploaded the edited video clips (in two parts) to my SmugMug video log. They’re also available on YouTube in twoparts, and on blip.tv. Enjoy.

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