Mama (Vitas album)

Mama (Мама, sometimes translated Mother or Mom) is a Russian album by Vitas. It was released in 2003, simultaneously with The Songs of My Mother. Both albums were a tribute to his late mother. Songs from these albums featured heavily in the setlist of Vitas' extensive world tour The Songs of My Mother, performed at hundreds of venues in several countries from 2004-2006.

The opening track, The Star won a Russian People's HIT prize in 2003 and is one of Vitas' most popular songs worldwide. Like Opera No. 2, it is still a staple of Vitas' live performances. Vitas sang the song as a duet with Alexander Kireev for his entry into the Star Factory in 2006.

He performed the song Starry River accompanied by its composer Aleksandra Pakhmutova on piano at a concert in honour of the composer.

He covered the song The Unknown Friend Song (Песня о неизвестном друге, also known as Extraterrestrial Friend) composed in 1985 by Aleksandra Pakhmutova and Rasul Gamzatov (the poem is translated by Yunna Morits) for the song cycle The Earth Globe (Шар земной, 1985–1987). The song is about an unknown friend that realizes that there is an unknown circle of "invisible and unknown" friends and enemies, as well as "lovable planets" (as per the lyrics), in addition to interstellar and general awareness, brotherhood to the next and an existence of an extraplanetary cycle. (The song addresses the topic of science fiction: brotherhood for humanity in the 3rd millennium and beyond.) It is also subsequently re-edited on Vitas' 2006 CD Return Home. There's also the music score of the song (available on the composer's website) to download. In concert, Vitas often dons an alien robot costume while performing this song.

Mama (Il Divo)

«Mama («Mum» in English) is a song created for Il Divo, included in the album Il Divo (2004), written by Quiz & Larossi with music of Savan Kotecha.

Mama was the first big success of reference of Quiz & Larossi.

Music video

"The music video "Mama", filmed in Tropea, Italy, in 2005. Directed by Fatima Andrade.

References

Vanessa

Vanessa may refer to:

Art

People

Fictional characters

Other

Vanessa (opera)

Vanessa is an American opera in three (originally four) acts by Samuel Barber, opus 32, with an original English libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti. It was composed in 1956–1957 and was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City on January 15, 1958 under the baton of Dimitri Mitropoulos in a production designed by Cecil Beaton and directed by Menotti. Barber revised the opera in 1964, reducing the four acts to the three-act version most commonly performed today.

Performance history

For the Met premiere, Sena Jurinac was contracted to sing the title role. However, she cancelled six weeks before the opening night and Eleanor Steber replaced her, making it her own for a long time. In the role of Erika, Vanessa's niece, was Rosalind Elias, then a young mezzo-soprano. Nicolai Gedda sang the lover Anatol, mezzo Regina Resnik sang the Baroness, Vanessa's mother, while bass, Giorgio Tozzi, sang the old doctor.

The premiere "was an unqualified success with the audience and with many of the critics as well although they were somewhat qualified in their judgment. Of the final quintet, however, New York Times critic Howard Taubman said it is '...a full-blown set-piece that packs an emotional charge and that would be a credit to any composer anywhere today.' ". Other reports substantiate this and it won Barber the Pulitzer Prize. In Europe, however, it met with a chillier reception.

Vanessa (Millais painting)

Vanessa (1868) is a painting by John Everett Millais in Sudley House, Liverpool. It is a fancy portrait depicting Jonathan Swift's correspondent Esther Vanhomrigh (1688-1723), who was known by that pseudonym.

Vanessa represents a major departure in Millais's art because he abandons fully for the first time the detailed finish that was still to be seen in Waking and Sleeping, exhibited in the previous year. Influenced by the work of Diego Velázquez and Joshua Reynolds, Millais paints with dramatic, visible brush strokes in vivid colours, creating what has been described as an "almost violently modern" handling of paint.

Esther Vanhomrigh is known as "Swift's Vanessa" because of the fictional name he gave her when he published their correspondence. The portrait is wholly imaginary. No actual image of Esther Vanhomrigh exists. She is holding a letter, presumably written to or from Swift. Her sad expression is related to the fraught nature of the relationship, which was broken up by Swift's relationship to another woman, Esther Johnson whom he called "Stella". Millais also painted a companion piece depicting Stella.