To The Moon!

We've posted this clip from the amazing 2006 British television opera Man on the Moon by composer Jonathan Dove on another occasion, but on this 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing it couldn't be more appropriate and thrilling. It's the opening minutes of the piece.



Here's another stunning excerpt, entitled "Blast Off".




I can't find the whole opera anywhere yet (I keep hoping Ovation will play it sometime), but if you are fascinated by this amazing piece, there are four segments of conductor Brad Cohen in rehearsal which will give you a taste of more of this incredible production, available here, here, here and here.

Of course, you might like to tune into Turner Classic Movies today for a whole day of space-related movies, including in prime time at 8pm the documentary For All Mankind about the Apollo missions, featuring the words of the astronauts themselves, and following that, the greatest, smartest and most entertaining movie about space and astronauts ever made, 1983's The Right Stuff, directed by Jonathan Kaufman. (Pictured below, from left, Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid, Scott Paulin, Ed Harris, Charles Frank, Scott Glenn and Lance Henricksen, as the Mercury 7 astronauts.)





Take a few minutes today to reflect on the marvelous achievement from 40 years ago. The Flaming Nose salutes the men and women of NASA, past and present!