Sunday 1 January 2017

A terrible beauty is born

Hacksaw Ridge opens UK wide Jan 27.

In a 12 hour period Desmond Doss saved 75 men single-handedly in the WWII Battle of Okinawa, conditions of hell.

to be continued... Perhaps...


photo courtesy: Tree Service of Nashville


The Poplar
A tall slim poplar That dances in
A hidden corner
Of the old garden,
What is it in you
Makes communion
With this wind of autumn, The clouds, the sun?
You must be lonely Amidst round trees
With their matron-figures And stubborn knees,
Casting hard glances Of keen despite
On the lone girl that dances Silvery white.
But you are dearer
To sky and earth
Than lime-trees, plane-trees Of meaner birth.
Your sweet shy beauty Dearer to us
Than tree-folk, worthy, Censorious.

Ivor Gurney


I saw things in Iraq that didn’t line up with my idea of being a soldier.

The truth is always stranger than the fiction....

.....A Boy From Texas

                                                              Ample make this bed.
                                              Make this bed with awe;

                                        Sibelius: Symphony No.5-Finale


Allegro molto not vivace or presto? Feels like a brisk Finnish canter to me…but what do I know about Finland;) (The speed of a canter varies between 16 and 27 kilometres per hour). Bernstein's much later version with the Wiener Philharmoniker still has vestiges of that fire but is non piu molto.  I can't imagine Bernstein heard Karajan's 1960 Philharmonia Orch recording. There are similarities. The final pages both totally !! Both different. Both Brit orchestras. Where would he find time! I remember hearing a Mahler 9 on radio and wondering who the 'f'! is this! Utter awe. I should know! I mean I should know! But I didnt'/couldn't. It was Bernstein. In point of fact, Bernstein's Sibelius London tempi were almost the same as Eugene Ormandy back in 1954. Is Philadelphia like London?;) But again-the arc will always be different. Or are the animals always: just ever so slightly different. This is becoming so much more fun than reviewing for, say, The Gramophone. G forbiddy: time on one's hands....I can say what I want;) You know what that is like Bernadette! Wish I had a green lizard and could be allowed to blow my its horn Lola☺ Andrew SHUT UP:! 

Now Horenstein is interesting (Northern Brit orch- how Sir Simon Rattle started...though Birmingham...rather THE Birmingham) And Rozhdestvensky makes it a fascinating mix of Sibelius meets Shostakovich meets Tchaikovsky. (I worked with Rozhdestvensky-like u do/did;) Sounds like a Malcolm McDowell tape for ...what is that TV series...?
Can’t find a Furtwängler Sibelius 5th. But there’s the Violin Concerto from 1943. Legend has it that Furtwängler once stormed out of a Toscanini concert, cursing the Maestro as a mere "time-beater." Interestingly, the recently deceased Sir Colin Davis and the Boston Symphony are very similar in tempi to Bernstein's. Davis (or Sibelius;) even manages a profound hint of Scarpia’s death in Tosca. Davis was so generous with his time at the Royal Academy of Music.

[Kulenkampff  tangent: Robert Schumann's Violin Concerto in D minor almost never saw the light of day. In 1937 Georg Kulenkampff gave the premiere of the rediscovered work. It was written in 1853 for  Joseph Joachim who never performed it. After Schumann’s ‘health problems’ and death in a sanatorium in Endenich, Joachim never let go of the manuscript. Why we shall never know. Clara listened and the Violin Concerto was neglected from the Complete Works edition. Joachim stated in his will that the work never be played until 100 years after his death (1956). But a 1933 séance in London attended by Joachim's two violinist grand-nieces channeled a message to release the work to the world.] Unbelievable!

And Brit Barbirolli /Halle oft makes one long for Texas with that Copland-esque brass. ! (Nothing without the wind, though) More American than Lenny B. All depends how you direct the blow...(musical term..) 
Go figure;)  
Tchaikovsky in Texas: sounds like a great idea for a 30min ep classical music TV show by a monolith company that sells books to folk who no longer read books.  ;)

...what does – Misterioso – Un pochettino largamente – Largamente assai – Un pochettino stretto really mean? Can ANY ONE SAY...Could you ever know what happened in that family?!! Whether it be human/animal/mineral/vegetable: how could you know? 

I guess Frank Sinatra was the most over-rated singer in musical history! Some Came Running. More Came Running. (btw- there isn't a Sinatra painting First Lady Nancy Reagan in your 'attic' that you could bequeath to my BrilliantAdventures ART Collection:).....Guess it is a little late to ask. There is a line one must never cross without descending into the abyss: to totally be a Dante. Andante moltisimo.;) ....The Butler

How could you ever know?!

Welcome.....

                                               Birds of a feather










May I ask you allow me to be totally musically/politically incorrect and quote THIS. ! If it had been written by Elton John or , or , or , OR: then you would probably/maybe think of it totally anew. The lyrics are timeless....but they were flown by a bird of another feather....

Tell Me on a Sunday ....

does anyone know how to write lyrics of pain to heal anymore: Mr Tony Bennett?! After all these centuries does the soul still need- a seal of approval...!


Love, design, tension, composition, light, balance: __________________________________________________-

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