Vatican's Top 10: Jacko to Beatles

VATICAN CITY – Call it the Vatican's 10 commandments for good listening.

The Holy See's newspaper Saturday published its picks for pop rock paradise, ranging from Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" to Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" and the Beatles' "Revolver."

What L'Osservatore Romano calls a semiserious guide on the road to good music will take you to "Graceland" — Paul Simon's album made the cut. And it does get into the "Supernatural" by Carlos Santana.

The newspaper calls them classics to pack for a desert island. The other picks are David Crosby's "If I Could Only Remember My Name;" "Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac, Donald Fagen's "Nightfly," the U2's "Achtung Baby," and "(What's The Story) Morning Glory" by the Oasis.

Noted German pianist to perform in Cebu

The Goethe-Institut Manila and the Arts Council of Cebu with the support of Marco Polo Plaza Hotel, the preferred home of the visiting artist while in Cebu, present Professor Rolf-Dieter Arens, German pianist and teacher on Friday, February 19, 2010, 8 pm at the Marcelo B. Fernan Press Center Theater in Lahug, Cebu.

Professor Arens, Chairperson of the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition and President of The Liszt School of Music Weimar, Germany will enthrall music enthusiasts with a challenging yet pleasurable programme of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Liszt classics.

Born in 1945 in Zinnwald, Germany, Rolf-Dieter Arens studied from 1963 to 1968 piano with Professor Heinz Volger and chamber music with Professor Ludwig Schuster at the Leipzig Academy of Music. After a two-year assistantship he completed a master course with Paul Badura-Skoda in Vienna. From 1970 to 1986, he was appointed professor of piano at the Academy of Music Franz Liszt Weimar. Since that time he has given numerous master classes in Germany, Sweden and South Korea and has worked as a juror in international competitions in Bolzano, Budapest, Dublin, Santander, Utrecht, Vienna and Bangkok. He has performed in solo concerts with many conductors including Masur, Blomstedt, Marriner and Janowski.

Since 2000 he is the chairman of the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, Weimar and Artistic Director of the Liszt-Festival. In 2001 he was elected president of the Academy of Music Franz Liszt Weimar and is chairman of the Franz Liszt Foundation since 2007.

For further information please contact Arts Council of Cebu Foundation, Inc.2/F Krizia Bldg., Gonzales Compound, Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City tel. no. 233-0452 or email: [email protected].