Spanish views from a small town

I suppose that now we can say that Europe is inching a little bit closer to pre-pandemic times. Apart from the binge-drinking parties, and the announcements of small concerts, and multitudinous celebrations of football victories, we had Eurovision, broadcast live from Rotterdam, yesterday. Eurovision is a song contest held since 1956 by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and associated countries. The original intent had been to unify the continent (or at least the non-Communist part) through song. Eventually, it grew, and now can include countries from all over the continent, and even from Asia, northern Africa, and Australia, which seems to have been invited into the fold. Since that first year, it has been shown continuously, except last year, when the pandemic came by to say hello. While in the beginning it may have had some serious music, it has evolved into a totally kitsch program. So many countries now present an offering, that finals have had to be introduced, to keep the nu...

I have a song that's rolling through my head. It's a  song that talks of how we view money, of hope, and of awaiting the end of all this so we can use that money for the simple things that help make life fun. Of course, it's a jingle, and of course, it's from a commerical for a bank.  The singer, Elena Iturrieta, artistically known as ELE, has just two albums. I've been listening to some of her songs on YouTube, and she's good. She's a singer, songwriter, and pianist, and sings both in English and Spanish. I like it when publicity leads you to discover new things, and to feel curious about something that has nothing to do with what is being publicized. Like the Damm beer commercial last year, highlighting the plight of the Mediterranean Sea. Those commercials don't lead me to buy what is being publicized (the bank in the commercial is just another bank and won't care about your problems), but I admire the creativity employed.  In general, the po...

Now that we're getting old, we're going out to concerts. Last year, we camped out at the Resurrection Fest, and saw Scorpions, in July. Then we drove to A Coruña to see The Pretenders at the Festival do Noroeste, in August. This year, we saw Mark Knopfler in A Coruña, in May, and last Saturday we went to the music festival in Santiago, O Son do Camiño, to see Iggy Pop. We've been to other concerts at the Monte do Gozo, the hill outside Santiago that shares an amphitheatre with a pilgrims' hostel complex. The first was in 1993 to see Bruce Springsteen. The second was to see Bob Dylan in 2004. Back then, the amphitheatre had seats and was more comfortable. Then, at the oversold Bruce Springsteen concert a few years ago, the seats were filled in to sell more tickets and now the seats are simply low ledges difficult for a fifty-year old to sit on in any kind of comfort.  But sitting was done only in between acts. When we arrived, at just after eight in the evening, the ...

We're at the end of September, and fall has already begun. While daytime temperatures are still rising into the 80ºF/27ºC range, nights are chillier, and mornings warm up later. But the evenings are still warm, and this past Sunday evening was no exception. We ended up going for a short walk in Santiago that night, after attending a chamber concert at the Hostal dos Reis Católicos. This is a parador nacional , a historic building converted into a five star hotel. It was ordered built by the Catholic Monarchs in 1499 to offer shelter and medical help (the butcheries known back then as such) to pilgrims arriving at the Cathedral to view the tomb of Saint James the Greater. It was converted into a luxury hotel in the middle of the twentieth century.   The concert was in the Capilla Real , the Royal Chapel, in the center of the courtyards. We did wander a little around the courtyards to find it, though they are off-limits, except under guided supervision, from June to October....

Last night was another of those special nights this summer. A Coruña hosts a music festival during their traditional annual festival, the Festival do Noroeste. They have venues all over the city, including the Riazor beach. On the beach Saturday night, there were four bands scheduled to play, from eight until around one. Three were Spanish; The Soul Breakers, Lola, and Viva Suecia. The last one was British led by an American singer - The Pretenders. There was no way I wasn't going to go. It's a little over an hour away by tollway, and close to two hours by road. We travelled there by road to save on tolls, and arrived close to nine thirty, when the sun was setting over the city. A Coruña isn't a city I visit frequently. While it's the capital of the homonymous province I live in, Vigo, in the province of Pontevedra, is closer. Coruña (It has an article, depending on whether you speak Galician or Castilian, a or la , but many drop it when referring to the city.) has a...

When I was a teenager in Boston, from time to time there would be classical music specials on channel 2, PBS. The ones that caught my eye and ear were the operas. Retransmissions from The Met in New York would bring me The Magic Flute, or Don Giovanni, or Aïda, or Madame Butterfly. Those are the ones I remember most, though there were probably others, as well. I would marvel at the music and the voices, and wish I could someday sit in a concert hall to listen to them. A couple of weeks ago, flipping through a website on upcoming events in Santiago, I came upon an event in the monastery of San Martín Pinario, the seminary in Santiago that holds cultural events. Madame Butterfly was to be shown on August 8th at nine o'clock, with tickets that began at ten euros. Exclamation points flipped up in my head. This was my chance to listen in situ to those marvelous voices! I convinced my husband, and bought the tickets.  It was pure luck I found it, really. Cultural offerings such as t...

Music. It's supposed to soothe the beast. It punctuates special moments in our lives, both sad and elated. It can even help bring back the person from the locked shell Alzheimer's converts our bodies into. As far as I know, humans are the only species that creates specific melodies to be repeated over and over. Yesterday I read a blog post by fellow blogger, Angela Stratta (capuccinoandbrioche.blogspot.com). She talks about the music in her life, from her childhood on up. She remembers songs from her childhood through to her grandchildren's childhoods. She's lucky. I don't really remember music from my childhood. I was very much locked into the Spanish cocoon my parents had created in our home, and my parents didn't know songs, or at least, none to sing to me. And, rather than the pop music everyone else was listening to in Boston at that time, I remember listening to Ana Kiro, Xoan Rubio, Las Grecas, Fórmula V, Peret, ABBA, or Camilo Sesto. This was thanks to...

I saw in the paper yesterday that the disco LP45 in Ordes has closed. The owners are converting the locale into a television set. Another one has bitten the dust and the memories of youth. Shortly after I arrived here, I would go out Saturday nights with a cousin and a friend or two. Some Saturday evenings in summer we would drive north, to Ordes. My cousin at that time had a boyfriend in that town, where she studied at a vocational school during the winter.  The disco was large, with a central dance floor, and bars on the first floor and the second. There was also a nice darkened seating area on the second floor. They had good music. But, back then, at the beginning of the 90's, most discos had good music. Those were days to dance. Most places had a mix of all the most popular songs. Queen, R.E.M., Tears for Fears, Alejandro Sanz, Mecano, OBK, U2, and so many others. Electronic music was beginning then but hadn't yet taken over, and you could even sing along with the lyrics ...

From the month of March to the month of October, with a few scattered dates in the winter months, every parish and town celebrates their patron saint. The first notice of the celebration as you drive through the area is lights hanging over the road, generally spelling out "Boas Festas" (Happy Festival). If the celebration is going on in a more secluded area, there will be lights shaped like an arrow, showing visitors to a lane that will wind among fields and farmhouses to the open area where people gather in the evening. Because a festival is not a festival without music.  Once upon a time, the feast day was celebrated by going to a special Mass, and then dancing to the bagpipes in the afternoon. By the time sunset came darkening the world, the last song would be played, the last dance would be danced, and people would retire to their homes, to rest before the work the next day would bring. Things have changed. Mass is still celebrated, but not all attend. There may be bagp...

Turntables and vinyl records are back in style. Now people appreciate every little fudge made during recording that makes a record unique. The problem is they're coming back with current-day prices. I bought my husband a basic turntable for Christmas so he can hear some of the records he has been treasuring ever since casettes became universal. Along the way we have also bought old records at vintage sales. Mostly for their value as something from our childhood at first. Later, waiting to buy a turntable.  It's strange how music listening has come around to its origins. The casette once made the LP old and useless. You could take the music you wanted anywhere, and record whatever you heard on the radio, creating your own music list. Then the CD came around. One of the arguments in favor of recording on CD's was that the sound would be pure. The music would be perfect, as intended by the artists. But, in the end, we're all human, artists included. We like to hear the r...