wagner-werk-verzeichnis neunzig

Premiering on this day at the Königliches Hoftheatre in München in 1865, the opera in three acts by Richard Wagner, later classified with the above designation, Tristan und Isolde was a retelling of the twelfth century chivalric romance the adulterous affair between and Cornish knight and princess, a narrative that predates and prefigures the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. Considered by many as the highest expression of the art form during opera’s late stage that opens up the classical to the modern interpretations, it marks a significant point of departure from traditional tonal progression and musical (sonata-allegro form) structure, especially illustrated in the range of harmony, polyphony and the so called Tristan chord ,which resolves to another dissonant chord and occurrences of resolve deferred throughout. Because of the anticipated demands of staging and the requirements for the sets, Wagner first approached Brazilian Emperor Pedro II about having Rio de Janeiro as its debut venue. When this did not pan out, the production company then turned to Strasbourg, Karlsruhe and Paris, though public memory was still fresh of a failed staging of Tannhäuser there, before starting rehearsals in Vienna. The premiere performance was changed again after a considerable amount already invested, earning the production the reputation of being unperformable even before its first run.

w.a.n.d.

Since organisers at the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts put together the first events in 2013, World Art Nouveau Day has grown into an annual, international observance to celebrate the style and influence of the movement and its affiliate, Secessionist periods. The date was chosen to honour the anniversary of the death of two major architects of art nouveau, Antoni Gaudí (*1852 - †1926) and the tragically lesser-known Ödön Lechner (*1845 - †1914), prolific Hungarian artist behind among many other iconic buildings the sponsoring museum compound.

alugalug

This short musical arrangement, a collaboration by the artist The Kiffness first building on the strange mleping vocalisation of a cat and then six other musicians from around the world contributing their own tonal layers transformed that initial sound into something viral and epic—making us think of the cumulative, repetitive one-movement orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel, Boléro. This talented crew I imagine could even set Aluglug to the tune and timing of the 1928 classical composition.

pups unlimited

Having recently learned about one individual’s ahead of its time efforts to create an all puppy cable channel for relaxing active viewing or comforting background noise that unfortunately never had its day though has been later realised a hundred-times over with a sorts of niche sites and moments of indulgence, we could appreciate arriving at this one venue via Pasa Bon! that fulfils the original vision. The platform allows one to cycle through the looping footage of dozens of dogs and puppies behaving in characteristically cute and charming ways. Below was the proposed station identification jingle for the sadly never established Puppy Channel.

mallorn

Via Dark Roasted Blend, we are directed to the extensive archives of the J.R.R. Tolkien Society and their periodic journal—the above titled in reference to the mellyrn trees of Númenor that grow to immense sizes—whose issues include peer-reviewed scholarship, editorial, art work and academic essays on the legendarium of Middle Earth and related topics. Some of the manual typesetting and formatting, illuminated scripts really, of the earlier instalments, like this coda to an argument about the physics of Gimli’s armaments and fighting style with the contributor having developed his own Fëanorian glyphs to render their by-line, are especially worth a read through.

ponte pênsil

Located in the geographic park and preserve in the town of Arouca outside the Porto capital district and definitely not for the acrophobic new span crossing the Pavia river valley boosts the world’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge. The marvel of engineering is over five hundred metres long between peak and pylon with the roaring watercourse one-hundred and fifty metres below and offers outstanding vistas—though far from the only attraction to see in the nature park. More from Plain Magazine contributor Toby Orton at the link above.

plastikbesteck

Informed by the announcement of the EU parliament that from next month on, single-use plastic eating utensils, swizzle sticks, drinking straws, etc. will be banned, a design duo from Germany has exhibited as part of the London Design Biennale an installation called “Spoon Archaeology” of two decades of collected, curated strata—all part of a theme for a pavilion on ecological awareness and sustainability by putting problematic disposables on display as artefacts of the past that they should be consigned to. More from Dezeen at the link above.

hippodamian plan

Via the always excellent Maps Mania, we are referred to a mapping project that twins cities based on similarities and correspondences found in the layout of their streets and boulevards. Medium to larger populated areas from all over the world can be found—Wiesbaden’s road network (see previously) sharing some features with Luxembourg, Singapore, Lviv, Haifa and Bologna. I wonder if visitors exchanging towns would have a better sense of orientation and be able to intuit their way around. As far I can tell, none of these arterially similar cities are also Sister Cities (Städtepartnerschaft, Jumelage). As opposed to a more organic ordering of streets, the title refers to the grid arrangement we fancy as a very modern and tidy imposition, for the eponymous city-planner of ancient Greek Miletus.