mint Posted June 17, 2012 Author Share Posted June 17, 2012 [quote user="sweet 17"]I think I know exactly what you mean about "an inner life". I remember an interview I heard with Aung Yang Soo Kyi and she was asked about being under "house arrest". She said that she might have spent the last x number of years in her own home but that her mind and spirit had travelled all over the world.Indeed, one's inner life is there to be enjoyed, whatever one's immediate circumstances.[/quote]Norman, I don't know where to post this and I realise that this isn't about music but I did mention Aung Yang Soo Kyi here (as evidenced by the above post) and I so wanted to tell you that there was a very interesting interview this morning of her by Fergal Keene on the Andrew Marr Show.Difficult to describe the interview but listen out for how clever she is at never incriminating herself, a skill learnt under all those years of house arrest, I would imagine.Also, on the same show a very clear explanation by Papandreo (sorry, it's all Greek to me...yes, dreadful joke) but listen to what he says about the eurozone.I'd post this on a whole new thread but I don't seem able to engage many people on the Forum and I think that this is something that you'd latch on to and possibly give me your own angle on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 A very brave woman whose spirit could not be broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 A fantastically interesting programme. Thank you for the link it is not something I have seen before.After all these years in France I am amazed to see foreign leaders so articulate in English!Some how what they say seems more intelligent when they speak so well.Aung Yang Soo Kyi is clearly one of those remarkably poised women who radiate inner tranquillity, yet one senses a iron spirit. Obviously she has to be measured given that the present situation in her country still hangs by a thread.Papandreo amazed me by saying exactly what I think about Europe. Listen again to the part where he talks of it being a Peace project, and the necessity for greater integration of banking financial and social systems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 How glad I am that you enjoyed the programme, Norman. I had a feeling that you'd want to watch it!I, too, thought what sense Papandreo spoke.As for English, I am beginning to think that almost everyone else speaks it better than the indigenous peoples![:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Innit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Not in my usual vein, but this documentary is a gemhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EnXnFgnkUc&feature=relatedand this articlehttp://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jul/07/woody-guthrie-centenary-protest-songs?INTCMP=SRCH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 Norman, I'm going to be listening to, reading, your clips later.In the meantime, here's a bit of Sarasate for a warm, sunny afternoon:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6ufBxGC_mI&feature=relatedPacha, if you are out there looking in, I think you'd like this as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I walk slightly better than he does.Alas he plays so much better than I could ever imagine [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 A sublime restrained interpretation of one of my favourite quartet movements on period instrumentshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jqe-Ab_WPvo&feature=BFa&list=PLC50796A569A2F4FE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 Thank you, that is indeed very beautiful.Broadly speaking, I can't quite make up my mind whether I do prefer period instruments even though the sound is obviously more "authentic". I think more modern instruments can often bring out more colours and more subtleties.I enjoy some pieces and I enjoyed this piece very much but, for a whole concert, I do prefer more "modern" instruments.In the meantime, I have been highly entertained by Barenboim and his Beethoven interpretations at the proms; not so keen on the Boulez. Barenboim was on the Andrew Marr Show this morning and I just had to watch even though it wasn't for many minutes and Marr was not the person to interview a great musician like Barenboim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 And here's an article that made me smile and frown and feel hope and despair and agree and disagree with the contents all at the same time!http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/apr/25/daniel-barenboim-boulez-beethoven-proms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 I think that particular quartet manage the emotional nuances which can easily be missed in some 'period' performances very well, with the added bonus of a clarity of tone, but I agree that sometimes lesser performances can be a bit dry.I too am enjoying the Barenboim orchestra, but I wish he would wear a tie [:)]PS thanks for the article...I am not convinced about Boulez though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Norman, because I know you have been enjoying Barenboim at the proms, I am making sure that you also watch the programme straight afterwards that was broadcast last night. It was called "Barenboim on Beethoven". It featured many of the players, as well as Barenboim pere et fils, talking about the music, what it says to them, how they feel playing it, etc.There were one or two remarks made (not by the orchestral players or Barnboim himself) about Beethoven's life that I didn't agree with and thought they weren't quite factually correct or substantiated but that contituted the tiniest niggles. And I only questioned because I have read so much about Beethoven as he was a bit of an obsession of mine in my youth and, of course, I thought I knew best![:D]As for that last movement last night, I was moved beyond measure.Id, if you are reading this (and I noticed that you commented on another thread) I can only say that it was a pity you didn't stay on to listen to the last movement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Thanks for that, watched it last night. Beethoven has always been the composer of the time I have most problems with. A good friend of mine once said that he must have been very difficult to live with, and that isnt as trite as it sounds. He is a a sort of constant head-banger[:D]Yet there are moments of unalloyed joy...I like intimate more than grandiose so the big moments of the 9th or the Missa solemnis aren't quite my cup of tea.Yet I spent hours on the piano sonatas, and chamber music especially for violin and piano.I think it is interesting that you couldn't imagine Beethoven played on a recorder in the way the same piece of Bach can be played on violin, keyboard or wind instrument.And talking of Bach, this seems to me ideal forces for one of my favourite cantatas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqqFQGV-H54&feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 5, 2012 Author Share Posted August 5, 2012 Thank you so very much for the clip: such purity and beauty in the music.I love your friend's remark about Beethoven, sums him up quite well, I think!Here is what I have just read about Beethoven"Beethoven is the exemplar of a composer whose works simultaneously break into new territory and fix it in a way that seems unsurpassable." In other words, you could try and imitate it but you'd be on to a hiding for nothing! That was from my "bible" for this summer, the BBC Proms Guide![:D]I wanted to remind you also that you should still have time to catch Bach's B Minor Mass on your iplayer....at least I hope I am not too late. Fabulous choir and one of my favourtie counter tenors.Have not visited the Forum for several days...too many local distractions, not least the Baroque Festival that I have so looked forward to and the programme of twice-weekly guided walks, not to mention the Olympics on TV.Hope you are keeping well and that you are catching all the live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 that you are interested in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Keep coming in...you are a civilizing influence.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNpi8AfuXf8&list=PL413C6114DAB74B2A&index=30&feature=plpp_videoand this performance with the Introit not often heardhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFnbvWHW22Q&list=PL413C6114DAB74B2A&index=13&feature=plpp_video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I have sent a pm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 Norman, I am having supreme difficulty trying to include a couple of clips for you in my PM. What with computer over-heating, phone calls, calls from OH, barking from the dog, "coucous" from the French neighbours wanting me to go walking, me laid up with mal aux pieds so that I can't even put on any shoes, I forgot to mention Parish Alvars whom I heard about for the very first time last Friday.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPudt7erOjU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 And this is not without charm, don't you think?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ92i188gXc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 I had never heard of the harp concerto. Thanks a lot [:)]If you are considering vintage performances and singers I came across this 1935 perormance of Cosi Fan Tuttè which completely belied my belief that prewar performances of Mozart were heavy and too rich with heavy vibrato, although the voices do have the sweetness of bel canto Get beyond the very brisk overture (I imagine that the pace had something to do with the need to fit it on a 78 disc, although it also shows an extraordinary virtuosity on the part of the orchestra) and listen to Heddle Nash and John Brownlee in a a lively and sparkling Glyndbourne performance under Fritz Busch.Even the piano in the recitative is like the forte piano which has come back into fashion recently...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5d9Dp1q5KUThere is also a Don Giovanni from 1936, but I like that lesshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc2cnc5uCiE&feature=relmfuThe Don Ottavio is magnificent however, and if you don't have time to listen to the other clips I urge you just to hear this onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GibbPaRa1S4Dalla sua pace la mia dipende;Quel che a lei piace vita mi rende,Quel che le incresce morte mi dà.S'ella sospira, sospiro anch'io;È mia quell'ira, quel pianto è mio;E non ho bene, s'ella non l'ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 [quote user="NormanH"]IThe Don Ottavio is magnificent however, and if you don't have time to listen to the other clips I urge you just to hear this onehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GibbPaRa1S4Dalla sua pace la mia dipende;Quel che a lei piace vita mi rende,Quel che le incresce morte mi dà.S'ella sospira, sospiro anch'io;È mia quell'ira, quel pianto è mio;E non ho bene, s'ella non l'ha.[/quote]En fin, I am back with you.The computer objects to the heat and keeps shutting down thus making life even more difficult. However, I have now found a basement room where it's considerably cooler and I have it on a metal table that feels coolish, well less hot.I agree, this is definitely one of the most enjoyable recorded versions that I have heard. And it's nice to have the words...[:D]I have a new Anne Sofie von Otter CD. I will have a look at the details and post them in a little while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 I looked them up for you A different sort of serieshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=F_or6TAHGKc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Norman, apologies for not having returned here. I have been combating the heat and it seems to have taken up a lot of my time. I am not adapting at all well to the canicule but I don't wish to distract you with my woes.Just want to say that I hope you are enjoying the proms nightly on French radio direct from London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 To cool you downhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZUeQFcIEd4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Ooh, Lully, lovely [:D]I have some of his ballet music somewhere...probably a tape rather than a CD, have had it so long.Just so that we don't forget that orb in the sky, here is something that conjures up all that period:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMvpvDjFvHA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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