Category:July 28, 2010

Today on Wikinews : A plane crash in the Pakistani capital Karachi kills 152; bull fighting banned in Catalonia; hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean is considering standing for president of Haiti and, on this day in history, The Red Priest dies a pauper in Vienna.

Today is Wednesday, July 28, 2010. I'm Dan Harlow and this is Wikinews.

An Airblue-owned passenger plane, originating from Karachi, Pakistan, crashed on approach to Islamabad International Airport in the Pakistani capital earlier today. There were a total of 146 passenger, including three foreigners and 6 crew members on board.

Initial reports were unclear as to the death toll, with some indicating that everyone on board, including crew, had died, and others saying at least five survivors had been taken to the hospital. Later reports, however, confirmed that all aboard had died.

Officials blame the crash on heavy fog and bad weather. Airblue spokesman Raheel Ahmed said that "[a]pparently the cause of the crash is bad weather, but we leave that to the investigators. We are now preoccupied with rescue work and striving to take care of the relatives of the passengers who were on board."

Rescuers were reportedly finding it difficult to reach the area of the crash, which is on a hill inaccessible by roads. An Islamabad city official, Aamir Ali Ahmed, said that "[i]t's a very difficult operation because of the rain. Most of the bodies are charred. We're sending body-bags via helicopters."

Witnesses said that the plane had been flying low over Islamabad before crashing; a local TV reporter, Anjum Rahman, said that "I wondered why the plane wasn't flying higher as it was flying towards the hill. Then within three or four minutes I heard a loud explosion."

This crash is the deadliest crash involving a Pakistani passenger jet since 1992, when 167 people on board an Airbus A300 were killed as it crashed into a hillside on its approach to the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu.

Weather conditions are also playing havoc in Russia as

hot weather and peat fires near Moscow have created the worst smog in the city in almost a decade, with pollution levels around ten times higher than is considered safe.

At least 43 peat fires have erupted in rural regions to the east and south of the city, and temperatures only 0.1 degrees Celsius less than the record high of 34.7 degrees, set Monday, have led to a thick cloud of smog settling over the city.

According to pulmonologist Alexander Chuchalin, breathing the smog is equivalent "to the effect of two packs of cigarettes smoked within three or four hours."

Scientists predict that several hundred people may die as a result of the smog; Vladimir Kuznetsov of the Independent Center for Environmental Policy said that "[t]here will be sad news for some people with severe allergies, heart conditions, asthma, other breathing conditions and the like."

Numerous buildings in Moscow, particularly those dating from the era of the Soviet Union, lack air-conditioning, which makes it particularly difficult to combat the smog.

Temperatures are predicted to begin cooling by the weekend, and smog is expected to begin dissipating by the end of this week, although traces could remain for a few weeks.

• Music credit "A Billion Years Of Green" by Mseq (feat. Leza2unes)

The parliament of Catalonia, an autonomous region of Spain, today voted to outlaw bullfighting – an iconic sport in much of the country. The vote was held after animal rights activists, led by Spanish animal rights group Prou! (Spanish for "Enough!"), who claim the practice is "barbaric", collected 180,000 signatures to a petition.

Bullfighting has been outlawed in the Canary Islands since 1991. In other areas, such as Portugal and southern France, the bulls, which are specially bred for fighting, are not killed in the ring.

The ban, which passed with a 68–55 majority and nine abstentions, will come into force in Catalonia in January 2012, making the region the first place in mainland Spain to outlaw the practice. Supporters of the practice claim that it is an art form which forms an important part of the Spanish culture, and fear that the ban could be the first of many in Spain. They also say that many jobs would be lost as a result of the ban, with estimates that it could cost €300 million in lost revenue.

Both the main parties in the Catalan parliament took the unusual step of allowing their members a free vote in the debate, which saw high emotions on both sides. The debate was officially over the animal welfare concerns; however, many believe that the underlying issue of Catalan nationalism played a significant part in the outcome. Some expressed the opinion that Catalonia, which, while officially part of Spain, has its own language and flag, was attempting to distinguish itself from the rest of Spain by outlawing one of its most famous traditions.

Politics and popular culture are also converging in Haiti where,

following months of rumors, musician and hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean today confirmed that he is considering standing for the presidency of Haiti in the country's November elections. A statement from his family and verified by his spokeswoman said that the 37-year-old had not yet announced his intention to run, but that media would be informed "if and when a decision is made".

Jean, whose full name is Nel Ust Wycliffe Jean, is seen as popular among young Haitians. With current President René Préval unable to stand for re-election, so far no one has emerged as a clear successor. Despite growing up in the United States and becoming an award-winning hip-hop artist, Jean was born near Port-au-Prince. He has already been appointed as a roving ambassador for his birth country and is the founder of the Yéle Haiti Foundation. He was at the forefront of fund-raising efforts following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in January, but his charity faced allegations of financial irregularities.

Rumours that he would stand for president had been circulating for months, but, until today's statement, had been flatly denied.

"Wyclef's commitment to his homeland and its youth is boundless", said the statement from the Jean family, continuing, "and he will remain its greatest supporter regardless of whether he is part of the government moving forward."

Michael Shifter of think tank Inter-American Dialogue said that the race was "wide open" but that Jean would be "a long-shot". Acknowledging Jean's popularity, he pointed out that the musician was "unaccustomed to the rough and tumble of Haitian politics."

It is unclear whether Jean would be constitutionally able to become President. The constitution of Haiti lays out six conditions for candidates and whilst Jean is thought to meet most of these criteria, The Guardian reports that the singer is "understood to have US citizenship", and that this would make him ineligible. This was denied by Jean's uncle Raymond Joseph, who is also Haitian Ambassador to the United States.

"He is not a US citizen and has never been," Joseph told the Christian Science Monitor. The ambassador claimed that Jean had always remained a Haitian citizen.

Even then, it is unclear whether Jean will qualify under the residence clause, having spent much of his life in the United States. Ambassador Joseph admitted that this would be up to the Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council to decide.

• Audio credit Vivaldi Spring mvt 1 Allegro - John Harrison

While it may be hard to believe now, the piece of music you are listening to had, for over 100 years, been largely ignored. Yet such was the fate of composer, priest, and famous virtuoso violinist Antonio Lucio Vivaldi.

Born in Venice on March 4, 1678, he was immediately baptized, possibly due to an earthquake that shook the city that same day and in the trauma of the quake, Vivaldi's mother, Camilla Calicchio, may have dedicated him to the priesthood either out of fear or due to his poor health.

And his health was problematic. His symptoms, "tightness of the chest", has been interpreted as a form of asthma, but this did not prevent him from learning to play the violin, composing or taking part in musical activities, although it did stop him from playing wind instruments.

His father, Giovanni Battista, a barber before becoming a professional violinist, taught Antonio to play the violin, and then toured Venice playing the violin with his young son.

In 1693, at the age of 15, he began studying to become a priest and was ordained in 1703, aged 25. He was soon nicknamed il Prete Rosso, "The Red Priest", because of his red hair, a family trait. However, not long after his ordination, in 1704, he was given a reprieve from celebrating the Holy Mass because of his ill health. Vivaldi only said mass as a priest a few times and though he appears to have withdrawn from priestly duties, he remained a priest.

In September 1703 at the age of 25, Vivaldi, who was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist, became the master of violin at one of the four, state run orphanages called the Devout Hospital of Mercy in Venice and over the next thirty years he composed most of his major works while working there.

Shortly after Vivaldi's appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad yet his relationship with the board of directors of the orphanage was often strained. Each year the board had to take a vote on whether to keep a teacher and the votes on Vivaldi was seldom unanimous. In 1709 the vote went 7 to 6 against him and he was dismissed. However, after a year as a freelance musician, he was recalled by the orphanage with a unanimous vote in 1711; clearly during his year's absence the board realized the importance of his role. He then became responsible for all of the musical activity of the institution and was promoted to maestro di' concerti (music director) in 1716.

• Audio credit Vivaldi Summer mvt 1 Allegro non molto - John Harrison

In early 18th century Venice, opera was the most popular musical entertainment and this proved profitable, if contentious, for Vivaldi as there were several theaters competing for the public's attention. In 1715, he planned to put on an opera titled Arsilda Queen of Ponto but the state censor blocked the performance because the main character, Arsilda, falls in love with another woman, Lisea, who is pretending to be a man. However, Vivaldi got the censor to accept the opera the following year, and it was a resounding success.

His progressive operatic style also caused him some trouble with more conservative musicians, like Benedetto Marcello, a magistrate and amateur musician who wrote a pamphlet denouncing him and his operas. The pamphlet, The fashionable theatre, attacks Vivaldi though without mentioning him directly.

Though only around 50 operas are known to exist, Vivaldi makes mention of him writing 94 and though he certainly composed many operas in his time, he never reached the prominence of other great composers, as evidenced by his inability to keep a production running for any period of time in any major opera house.

Then, around 1718, Vivaldi was offered a new prestigious position as Maestro di Cappella to the court of Prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt who was governor of Mantua. While he continued to write operas during this period, one of which he performed before the new Pope Benedict XIII, it was during this time that he wrote the Four Seasons, the famous four violin concertos depicting scenes appropriate for each season and probably inspired by the countryside around Mantua.

The concertos were a revolution in musical conception: in them Vivaldi represented flowing creeks, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, children ice-skating, and warming winter fires. Each concerto is associated with a sonnet, possibly also by Vivaldi, describing the scenes depicted in the music. They were published as the first four concertos in a collection of twelve in Amsterdam by Le Cène in 1725.

It was also during his time in Mantua when Vivaldi became acquainted with the aspiring young singer Anna Tessieri Giro who was to become his student, protégée, and favorite prima donna. Anna, along with her older half-sister Paolina, became part of Vivaldi's entourage and regularly accompanied him on his many travels. There was speculation about the nature of Vivaldi's and Giro's relationship, but no evidence exists to indicate there was anything beyond a friendship and professional collaboration between the two and he adamantly denied any romantic relationship in a letter to his patron dated November 16, 1737.

• Audio credit Vivaldi Autumn mvt 2 Adagio molto - John Harrison

During the height of his career, Vivaldi received commissions from European nobility and royalty. In 1728, Vivaldi met Emperor Charles VI who admired the music of the Red Priest so much that he is said to have spoken more with the composer during their one meeting than he spoke to his ministers in over two years. Charles even granted Vivaldi the title of knight, a gold medal and an invitation to Vienna.

However, like many composers of the time, the final years of Vivaldi's life found him in financial difficulties. His compositions were no longer held in such high esteem as they once were in Venice as changing musical tastes quickly made them outmoded. In response, Vivaldi chose to sell off sizable numbers of his manuscripts at paltry prices to finance his migration to Vienna. The reasons for Vivaldi's departure from Venice are unclear, but it seems likely that, after the success of his meeting with Emperor Charles VI, he wished to take up the position of a composer in the imperial court.

Shortly after Vivaldi's arrival in Vienna, en route to which he may have stopped in Graz to see Anna Giro, Charles VI died, a stroke of bad luck that left the composer without royal protection or a steady source of income. Not long after the emperor died, on the night between July 27 and 28, 1741, while staying in a house owned by the widow of a Viennese saddlemaker, Vivaldi died of an "internal infection". On July 28 he was buried in a simple grave at the Hospital Burial Ground in Vienna.

Interestingly, Vivaldi's funeral took place at St. Stephen's Cathedral, where one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the classical period and the "Father of the Symphony and String Quartet", a young Joseph Haydn, was then a choir boy.

Only three portraits of Vivaldi are known to survive: an engraving, an ink sketch and an oil painting, the later giving us possibly the most accurate picture for it shows Vivaldi's red hair under his blond wig.

• Audio credit Vivaldi Winter mvt 1 Allegro non molto - John Harrison

Vivaldi's music was innovative. He brightened the formal and rhythmic structure of the concerto, in which he looked for harmonic contrasts and innovative melodies and themes and many of his compositions are flamboyantly, almost playfully, exuberant.

Johann Sebastian Bach was deeply influenced by Vivaldi's concertos and arias and Bach transcribed six of Vivaldi's concerti but after the Baroque period, Vivaldi's published concerti went relatively unknown, and largely ignored, including The Four Seasons. Though his body of work includes over 500 instrumental concertos, sacred choral works and at least 50 operas, it would not be until the early 20th century that his work would be rediscovered.

In fact, it was an act of forgery which shed light onto the forgotten works of the composer when Fritz Kreisler composed a Vivaldi-styled concerto and tried to pass it off as an original Vivaldi work. This impelled the French scholar Marc Pincherle to begin an academic study of Vivaldi's oeuvre. Many Vivaldi manuscripts were rediscovered, and were acquired by the National University of Turin Library with generous sponsorship of Turinese businessmen Roberto Foa and Filippo Giordano.

In 1926, in a monastery in Piedmont, researchers discovered 14 folios of Vivaldi's work, previously thought lost during the Napoleonic wars. Though some volumes in the numbered set were missing, they turned up in the collections of the descendants of the Grand Duke Durazzo who had acquired the monastery complex in the 18th century. The volumes contained 300 concertos, 19 operas and over 100 vocal-instrumental works.

• Audio credit Vivaldi Spring mvt 3 Allegro - John Harrison

The resurrection of Vivaldi's unpublished works in the 20th century is mostly due to the efforts of Alfredo Casella, who in 1939 organised the historic Vivaldi Week, in which the rediscovered Gloria and l'Olimpiade were first revived. Since World War II, Vivaldi's compositions have enjoyed wide success. In 1947, the Venetian businessman Antonio Fanna founded the Italian Institute of Antonio Vivaldi having the purpose of promoting Vivaldi's music and publishing new editions of his works. Unlike many of his contemporaries, whose music is rarely heard outside an academic or special-interest context, Vivaldi is popular among modern audiences.

Rediscoveries of works by Vivaldi are from as recent as 2006 when the lost 1730 opera Argippo was found by conductor and harpsichordist Ondrej Macek and Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot has said of Vivaldi's Nisi Dominus, which was rediscovered in 2005, to be "arguably the best nonoperatic work from Vivaldi's pen to come to light since... the 1920s"

The first recording of The Four Seasons is a matter of some dispute. There is a recording of one made by the violinist Alfredo Campoli taken from a French radio broadcast from early in 1939 and the first proper electrical recording was made in 1942 by Bernardino Molinari, and though his adaptation is somewhat different from what we have come expect from modern performances it is clearly recognizable.

Subsequent recordings of The Four Seasons, of which more than 300 exist, have sold tens of millions of copies, making Vivaldi one of the most popular and well known of the great composers. If he were alive today, he would be a very wealthy man from the royalties alone, though one might also like to imagine a modern Vivaldi still teaching at an orphanage in Italy, instructing the youth and inspiring them with some of the most beautiful music that has ever been written.

And those are the top headlines for Wednesday, July 28, 2010

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