Handel masterpiece slapped with 'explicit' label

[joeybee12]

http://www.salon.com/ent/wire/2003/09/19/explicit/index.html
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Partial article below--Oh, won't somebody please think about the children????

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- George Frideric Handel has at least one thing in common with Eminem and other modern artists: his music was slapped with an ``explicit'' warning at Apple Computer Inc.'s online iTunes Music Store.

The baroque composer's 1742 masterpiece, "The Messiah," was marked with the red warning that indicates the content might not be appropriate for young children or others with sensitive tastes. It's on a recording by the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by John Alldis.

The warning, which appeared when the album's tracks were made available Tuesday but disappeared late Tuesday, was most likely a technical mix-up, though "The Messiah" does touch on love, violence and death -- in a more profound way than, say, most music produced 260 years later.

"Obviously, there's been some sort of error," said Lara Vacante, an Apple spokeswoman. She said technicians were looking into why it was mislabeled. Other juicy classics, like Giacomo Puccini's murder-and-suicide opera "Tosca," don't carry the advisory

[Nottingham]

1. GET OUT! UnFreakin Believable

The guy who gave us the Messiah

[joeybee12]

3. Hey, if Ass-croft can cover up the statue of Justice, then

anything's possible!

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. I always thought there was something suspicious ...

... about the line
'all we like sheep'

[Art_from_Ark]

4. Blame the Book of Isaiah for that line

Chapter 53, verse 6:
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[BiggJawn]

5. Oh, this is rich...like when they accused Bach...

of having a certain rhythm in his toccatas that would give teen girls this uncontrolable urge to divest themselves of their panties...

I think the same bunch that was burning rock records about 15 years back were behind it...The "Peters Brothers"... does that ring a bell? (but not too "suggestively"!)

[Khephra]

19. I keep on pointing to the slippery slope that comes with

trying to rate or censor modern material to "save the young". People don't know their history. It's not just people like Manson or Eminem that get the shaft. Once those in power start getting a taste for censoring or rating (which is usually an early step to banning), they don't just stop with pop culture. They move onto the classics and after that they start re-writting history to be more palatable to those in power.

But some people always says, "It's to protect the kids!"

Yeah, protect them from thinking for themselves, and the good and bad that comes with it.

[Emboldened Chimp]

6. Oh, yes, because American children can understand German

Idiots.

You can a live stream here, if you want:

http://www.classicalarchives.com/handel.html

I'm listening to it now for the first time. It's beautiful.

[booksenkatz]

8. Thanks for this

link, I'm listening to it as well, it's incredible!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. Handel was born and raised in Germany but...

he spent most of his adult life in England, and Messiah was originally written to match the English version of the Bible. Actually, most of his vocal works are in either English or Italian.

[alfredo]

7. Too funny!

If you want some fun, look what got past the censors for decades.

Listen closely to the closing lines of Janis Joplin's "Move Over."
She says, "And you expect me to fuck like a goddamn mule."

[joeybee12]

9. How DOES a mule fuck?

I can't picture it--in fact, I don't want to picture it!

[sham]

10. CENSORSHIP!!!!!!!!!!!

People, please. It was some sort of technical error. I know the world is crazy and we're all paranoid, but this is ridiculous.

[demdave]

12. Be warned...WAY too many people are just here for the rant

They seldom if ever read to post, let alone the entire article. I have been flamed over misleading headlines, that you are required to post verbatim, when the story was clear in the first sentence of the post.


Remember the mantra....it is (insert one or more...Bush, Ashcroft, Cheney or Rove)'s fault.....and forget about the subject matter.

[joeybee12]

18. Yeah, it was a mistake, but it shows how error-prone labeling is!

It's a funny story--I posted this yesterday and now it's back! Hooray!

[damnraddem]

11. They gave Handel the wrong handle?

Could there be a messier controversy about Messiah?

Come to think of it, don't they play it with organs?

[Bozita]

13. Yes, they mishandled Handel's handle.

groan

[Bake]

14. But did they handel his organ?

Groan, again.

Bake

[davidinalameda]

16. how about Madam Butterfly

that's pretty harmful to the listening public as well

[pippin]

17. Salome!

Richard Strauss' Salome:

Sex! Striptease! Beheading! Incest!

"Most opera divas tend to wear a body stocking or similar device to protect their modesty when performing the role of Salome. Not so Ms Ewing! She stands completely naked at the end of her scintilating performance of the Dance of the Seven Veils, a dance I have viewed a number of times with great pleasure."

http://dvd.lowpriced.net/B00005RIXS.html :bounce:

[TomNickell]

20. The whole thing is $30!

A lot of tracks, but the most expensive album I've seen on the Apple store.

You can get the Hallelujah chorus for 99 cents. I did that.

Hallelujah!