Britney Spear’s story on page 4

Rihanna in Brazil

Nicole Benedetti

Lily Afshar

POP

cLASSIC

on page 4

pop

Britney Spears without auto-tune? It’s a peek behind the curtain that fans rarely get a glimpse of- and there’s proba-bly a reason for that.Steve JohnsonTribune reporter4:19 p.m. CDT, July 14, 2014

Starring now on a website near you: Britney Spears, raw.We are not talking about "raw" meaning "in the flesh." Any of us who cares to has likely already seen plenty of Ms. Spears' largest bodily organ. And she is showing lots more skin, reports say, during her current Las Vegas musical residency. You don't compete with Miley Cyrus, Beyonce and Rihanna by layering up in gingham and ribbons.What's really raw — and interesting — about Spears is the samizdat recording that's been released of her singing. You read that correctly: an American pop star, circa 2014, actually singing.The audio portion of a YouTube video posted anonymously has her warbling "Alien," the first track from "Britney Jean," the album the fading superstar put out in 2013. What's unique about this record-ing, which spent last week being featured on pretty much any website that wanted a traffic boost, is that Spears gets no vocal help from her usual good friend, the pitch-correction software Auto-Tune.It was surely released "in a spirit of unkindness," as the song's producer, William Orbit, said in a statement on Facebook that also, indirectly, vouches for the recording's authenticity. The vocal track Web gawkers hear, Orbit said, is more "warm-up exercise," a musical place holder, than attempt at a finished track. None of us, he says, should judge what we hear harshly.Still. Even granting that she was merely in the on-deck circle, these are some pretty weak swings.Where you can still find the recording — it seems to have been taken down for copyright violation in most places — you'll hear that her voice is "pitchy" at times, to use a phrase I think I understand after hearing Randy Jackson use it approximately 9,700 times on "American Idol."She's flat-out flat most of the time. When Spears hits the big chorus — what is supposed to be the big chorus — she sounds like a bored Valley Girl on karaoke night who knows she doesn't need to impress vocally. She's got other charms.This all reminds me of one of the great underground artifacts of 1980s pop culture, known to some admirers as "The Tape of Only Linda." Passed around on cassette tape, it purported

to be a soundboard recording of Linda McCartney's microphone as she sang backup, very badly, during a concert performance of "Hey Jude" by her husband, Paul, and his band Wings. Think a per-son surely couldn't screw up the song's "na-na-nas"?Think again. I can't remember how I got hold of the tape, but I know it was one of the treasures of my 20s, right up there with high metabolism and many years ahead of me. I played it for anybody with half an interest, and we all enjoyed this proof, exciting and illicit, that talent wasn't strictly necessary in big-time show business.Call the "Alien" track "The Tape of Only Britney." Listening to it alongside the official "Alien" release provides a fascinating window into modern recording, into the unabashed artificiality that the mass market has come to accept, even expect. This is especially true in the pop realm, where, it seems, no vocal note shall be allowed to sound authentic.Fans of Spears even extol Auto-Tune, or whichever pitch-correction software her producers choose, as the signature of her sound. This would be like me touting spell check as a signature part of my writing. What do you know: Britney Spears and I both have software that keeps us from sounding stupid.But here is Kevin Fallon, writing about the raw track in Daily Beast, lauding Britney on Auto-Tune: "It's how she gets the supersonic, sort-of-extraterrestrial, almost inhuman sound that's so interesting and cool and uniquely hers."Hers, perhaps. But unique? If sounding faintly robotic is unique. If filtering your voice through crushed silicon chips and the bottled tears of Nat King Cole is unique. If doing exactly what Katy Perry and Ke$ha and a big chunk of the rest of the Top 40 do is unique.I have another related artifact: "Miss Fortune," the 2002 LP from the first-rate Americana singer and songwriter Allison Moorer. On it, Moorer had stickers placed that read, "Absolutely no vocal tuning or pitch-correction was used in the making of this record."It was a winning stance, especially for people already growing tired of robosingers. It was not, alas, an influential stance. But Moorer could (and can) hit the notes. These days you get the feeling that a lot of singers who could also sing on key don't bother.Indeed, you wonder if singers who know they'll get the "benefit" of Auto-Tune even try anymore.Does the process work better when it starts with something that's almost there? Or is Britney Spears' official "Alien" an entirely plausible result of the unofficial version that is now out in the world?

We probably won’t know. In Vegas, according to those who have seen the show, Spears lip-syncs her way through her hits.But we do have this new “Alien,” the one that sounds, at least, human.sajohnson@tribune.comTwitter @StevenKJohnson

Rihanna in Brazil

Rihanna celebrates Germany's World Cup win against Argentina by

flashing her BRA•Rihanna travels to Brazil to watch 2014 World Cup final in Rio de Janeiro

•Celebrates Germany's win against Argentina by lifting up her top

•The Barbados-born pop singer posts picture alongside Brazil leg-end Pele

•Rihanna has been providing regular 2014 World Cup updates on TwitterBy DAVID KENTDailymail.co.uk

There's nothing better than your country winning the World Cup, but Barbadian singer Rihanna seemed more than happy after Ger-many beat Argentina.The pop princess took several snaps at the Maracana on Sunday night, celebrating the 1-0 win after extra-time.The World Cup fanatic posted a picture lifting up her shirt to reveal her bra in the stands.

Rihanna celebrates Germany's World Cup win against Argentina

by flashing her BRA

Rihanna took a photo with

M.KLOSE and holding the cuo.

Classic

www.classicfm.com

Conductor Lorin Maazel dies at 84By Tim Edwards, 13th July 2014

Lorin Maazel, a conductor who held directorships of New York Philhar-monic, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera, has died at his home in Castleton, Virginia, aged 84.

Maazel had been rehearsing for the annual month-long Castleton music festival, which is currently being held at his farm, when he was taken ill with pneumonia. He died of complications.The very last concerts Maazel ever conducted were in March this year with Philharmonia Orchestra – Classic FM’s Orchestra on Tour – in Basingstoke, Leicester and London. David Whelton, managing director of the Philharmonia, told Classic FM that Maazel was "unbelievably generous, incredibly funny and a fount of anec-dotes".Maazel was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine in France in 1930 to Jewish American parents. His father worked as a singing teacher, his mother founded the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, and his grandfather, Isaac, was a violinist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.Maazel was a child prodigy, making his podium debut at the age of eight and shortly afterwards touring Amer-ica, conducting many of the country's major orchestras.In 1960 he became the first American to conduct at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in Germany. The venue is fa-mous for being solely dedicated to the performances of operas by Richard Wagner.He became the Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1965 to 1971 and the Berlin Radio Sympho-ny Orchestra from 1965 to 1975.Maazel succeeded George Szell as music director with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1972. It was during his ten-ure here that the first stereo recording of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess using an all-black cast was made.The 1980s proved to be a particularly busy period for Maazel, who produced acclaimed recordings with many of the world's finest orchestras. This performance (below ) of Brahms' Symphony No. 4 was performed with the Bayerische Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra in 1995.In 2002, Maazel succeeded Kurt Masur as music director at the New York Philharmonic, and the Munich Phil-harmonic from 2011.Maazel was famed as a consummate professional. Whelton says he was "the musicians' musician". Remem-bering a series of auditions for assistant conductors at the Philharmonia that Maazel sat in on, Whelton said: "After six hours of auditions, members of the orchestra turned to me and said they’d never heard such wisdom from any conductor... his comments, observations and advice to these young conductors was pure gold dust."Maazel is survived by his wife Dietlinde Turban Maazel, and their two sons and daughter. Maazel had and three daughters and a son from previous marriages.What are your memories of Lorin Maazel? Tell us in the comments section below.

Nicola Benedetti: Losing the fight for music education is 'ut-terly depressing'By Mel Spencer, 11th July 2014

By Mel Spencer, 11th July 2014

The violinist tells Classic FM that creativity helps you face the world - and schools are some-times losing the battle to teach it to young peopleStar violinist Nicola Benedetti has hit out at the state of music education, explain-ing how a well-rounded creative upbring-ing benefits young people in more ways than just being able to appreciateclassical music.Speaking to Classic FM, she said: “I’m still at an age and a stage where I want to be unrealistically optimistic about what is possible. Sometimes it is utterly de-pressing that there are so many people that put their all into insuring creativity remains within schools and sometimes we just lose the battle.”

Nicola Benedetti: Homecoming - album review“Creativity is not something that stays within the arts,” she added. “Creativity is about being able to problem solve, it’s being able to face the world in your own individual way; to embrace that and to do it with confidence.“If you have greater and more substantive quality creative experiences when you’re younger, you’re far more likely to be able to face the challenges of life in your own way, in a confident way.”Despite being a keen advocate for music education in schools, the violinist spoke out about the sheer amount of music in the world - and revealed exactly what she listens to in her free time.

Guitar

Guitar

Lily Afhar’sMASTER

Class

Lily Afshar is in Iran right now

the teacher of two universities in USA is in Iran.the Persian guitarist teaching in Iran’s city such as Kermanshah,Tabriz,Tehran,etc.Lily Afshar has played Classic-Persian songs such as Jaan-e-Maryam,Lalai,Leila Leila,Gol-e-Gan-dome,Dareneh Jaan,etc.

so if you’re in Iran, don’t miss the chance.

some say LILY AFSHAR is the best classic guitarist.

Lily Afshar’s Albums

NicolaBenedetti’s

Albums