Christopher Bruce’s ballet, specially-choreographed for television, is set to music by John Lennon and performed by soloists of the Cullberg Ballet. The piece has a biographical theme and includes scenes recalling Lennon with his family, breaking out of his working class background, falling in love and eventually dying at the hands of an assassin. The songs used are Mother, Working Class Hero, Love, Well, Well, Well, Look at Me, Don’t Believe It, My Mummy is Dead and Imagine. A documentary introduction to this programme is also available.
Thomas Quasthoff sings Soul – ‘Tell it like it is’
The German magazine Stern describes Thomas Quasthoff as ‘the man with the most beautiful voice in the world’. Furthermore, his power of interpretation and unerring sense of taste go hand in hand not only when performing Italian arias but also when singing famous American songs. After his performance and recording of ‘Tell it like it is’ at the famous A-Trane jazzclub in Berlin, ‘unbounded cheering’ (Die Welt) by the audience had the effect of singling out certain numbers. With each of their appearances in February 2010, Thomas Quasthoff and his hand-picked instrumentalists (Bruno Müller, guitar, Frank Chastenier, keyboard, Dieter Ilg, bass, Wolfgang Haffner, drums) worked their way deeper into these pieces of jazz and soul. Works by Marvin Gaye, Percy Mayfield, Tony Joe White, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, Ray Charles, Randy Newman, et al.