Two daughters, two songs, two languages, one proud papa

Cecilia Gigliotti's performance of "Per la gloria d'adorarvi" from Griselda at the Tri-M Music Honors Society Induction Ceremony at New Britain High School (5/31/12):

and

Celeste Gigliotti's solo in "Cantar" at the Hartford Middle Magnet/Trinity College Academy's choral concert (5/21/12).  [Note actual song doesn't atart until the 1:20 mark.  Apologies for the poor paternal cinematography.]:



In honor of Hanukkah...

...and in the spirit of Judaeo-Christian ecumenism, I give you "Angelo Rosenbaum," a great seasonal love story!

Of music, birthdays, and sadnesses

At his birthday party in May, the now-six-year-old's guests all received cds with a playlist of his favorite songs from the year. Here's his dad's blog about it. (We still have a few cassettes sitting around with playlists of a different kind: for car trips and hospital visits when my older daughter was undergoing regular treatments in NYC during her first three years of life. Music: it's a good thing for so many reasons.)

As usual, this birthday cd is an odd mix for such a young man, but rarely does he go wrong!

I'm currently fascinated by "Tire Swing" by Kimya Dawson (yeah, yeah, I know, who?), the chorus of which is an excellent round that should be taught to elementary school students country wide.

The chorus reads:

Joey never a met a bike that he didn't want to ride
and I never met a Toby that I didn't like
Scotty liked all the books I recommended
even if he didn't I wouldn't be offended.

What fascinates me is the way the round on the studio version plays out --with the final line sounding more and more like "even if he didn't die..."

Now, this could be simply poor enunciation by Ms. Dawson (and how many current singers do not enunciate poorly?), but I'd prefer to think it's more intentional (and touching) than that.