Melodrama

Two minor new bites before the post begins...

1.  I gave a 2 hour professional development lecture in CATALAN!!! Woot on ME!

2.  The Architect seems to be developing a sixth sense about how long he can leave me stewing before news of the next stages reaches me.  Phoned just before I started writing the e-mail....clever man!

Ok, off we go,

I am not a big fan of that whole Celine Dion/Chere big-voice/bid-drama style of music.

Some of my neighbours are.  Indeed a lot of the Catalans and Spanish are overall.

*yech*

My personal theory is that it comes from the flamenco tradition.  All that wailing and emoting gets you used to melodrama.

We were in a bar yesterday and a video came on, and it was a - what do you call it, not a duet, but, well.....let's call it a fusion.  It was a flamenco singer and a black American gospel group singing together.

While the idea of flamenco/gospel takes a moment to get used to, there is common ground there where they can work.  The biggest difference for me is the fundamental pessimism and agony of flamenco vs. the basically upbeat nature of much of the gospel repetoire.  I am going to get roasted for that statement, because like most generalisations there is a lot in it that is not accurate, but gospel music seems to me anyway, to aim at being uplifting, while flamenco is wailing about the horrid.

It did work though.  I wish I had gotten the group's name so I could link to it on youtube for you.  It was pretty fantastic, in an odd way.

I do wish the kid downstairs would switch off the Cher though.