Use Only as Directed – ProPublica

 

Use Only as Directed – ProPublica.

Valentina Lisitsa: Gute Nacht (from Winterreise) Schubert Liszt

From Valentin: 
“As a stranger I arrived
As a stranger I shall leave”
Those are the opening words on a heartbreaking journey of gloom, grief and utter loneliness.

One of Schubert‘s friends described the day Schuber performed his newly written song cycle “Winterreise” ( Winter Jorney) :
“Schubert was gloomy and depressed, and when asked the reason replied,
“Come to Schober’s today and I will play you a cycle of terrifying songs; they have affected me more than has ever been the case with any other songs.” He then, with a voice full of feeling, sang the entire Winterreise for us. We were altogether dumbfounded by the sombre mood of these songs, and Schober said that one song only, “Der Lindenbaum”, had pleased him. Thereupon Schubert leaped up and replied: “These songs please me more than all the rest, and in time they will please you as well.” 

Good Night (Wilhelm Müller)
English translation with German text below :

As a stranger I arrived
As a stranger I shall leave

I remember a perfect day in May
How bright the flowers, how cool the breeze
The maiden had a friendly smile
The mother had kind words

But now the world is dreary
With a winter path before me
I can’t choose the season
To depart from this place
I won’t delay or ponder
I must begin my journey now

The bright moon lights my path
It will guide me on my road
I see the snow-covered meadow
I see where deer have trod

A voice within says — go now
Why linger and delay?
Leave the dogs to bay at the moon
Before her father’s gate

For love is a thing of changes
God has made it so
Ever-changing from old to new
God has made it so

So love delights in changes
Good night, my love, good night
Love is a thing of changes
Good night, my love, good night

I’ll not disturb your sleep
But I’ll write over your door
A simple farewell message
Good night, my love, good night

These are the last words spoken
Soon I’ll be out of sight
A simple farewell message
Goodnight, my love, good night

Gute Nacht

Fremd bin ich eingezogen, 
Fremd zieh’ ich wieder aus. 

Valentina in Norrköping – drinking coffee, talking pianos, playing Rachmaninoff…

Short video report about my concert last week with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra . We do more Rachmaninoff this season eith them – #2 and #3 with a run-out in Stockholm. The schedule here :http://www.norrkopingssymfoniorkester…

 

BBC News – Syria rebels agree Azaz ceasefire

 

BBC News – Syria rebels agree Azaz ceasefire.

Israel narrowly escapes rap in nuclear agency vote – FRANCE 24

 

Israel narrowly escapes rap in nuclear agency vote – FRANCE 24.

What’s At Stake: Sequestering Meals on Wheels Could Cost the Nation $489 Million per Year | Center for Effective Government

 

What’s At Stake: Sequestering Meals on Wheels Could Cost the Nation $489 Million per Year | Center for Effective Government.

BBC News – French riots: Police to stand trial over teen deaths

 

BBC News – French riots: Police to stand trial over teen deaths.

Giacomo Puccini: “Coro a bocca chiusa” (Humming Chorus) from Madame Butterfly

Madame Butterfly waits for the ship of her beloved Pinkerton to come. In fact her death comes closer. 

composed by Ciacomo Puccini
performed by the Hungarian State Opera

 

Brahms Serenade no.2 Andrei Gocan ensemble36 (marvelous composition!)

ensemble36
Andrei Gocan conductor
Duke’s Hall, London

A. VIVALDI, Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings and B.C. in G minor RV 155, La Magnifica Comunità

Antonio Vivaldi

Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings and B.C. in G minor RV 155:
I. Adagio 0:01 
II. Allegro 2:18 
III. Largo 6:03
IV. Allegro 9:40

La Magnifica Comunità 
Enrico Casazza [director]
Edition by Pablo Queipo de Llano

 

Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, K. 216

The Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Salzburg in 1775. Mozart was only 19 at the time. The piece is in three movements:
1. Allegro
2. Adagio
and 3. Rondeau, Allegro.
The Allegro is in sonata form, opening with a brilliant G major theme, played by the orchestra. The main theme is a bright and happy discussion between the solo violin and the accompanist, followed by a modulation to the dominant D major, then its parallel key D minor. It experiments in other keys but does not settle and eventually heads back to the tonic, G major, in the recapitulation with the help of the cadenza.

Schumann Kinderszenen Op 15 – Valentina Lisitsa

Schumann Kinderszenen Op 15 – Valentina Lisitsa Haskil Argerich Horowitz Bosendorfer:

no.1 Of Foreign Lands and Peoples

1:32 no.2 Curious Story

2:37 no.3 Blindman’s Bluff

3:09 no.4 Entreating Child

3:54 no.5 Perfect Happiness

4:33 no.6 Important Event

5:22 no.7 Dreaming

7:55 no.8 Near The Fire Side

I love no.7 (Traumerei)

Quotation: Henry David Thoreau about being “men first, and subjects afterwards”!

Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward.

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Discuss

 

Today’s Birthday: ELIZABETH KENNY (1880)

Elizabeth Kenny (1880)

After breaking her wrist as a young girl, Kenny developed an interest in medicine and eventually became a nurse. While treating polio victims in her native Australia, she devised a treatment using hot compresses and passive exercise that differed drastically from the usual approach of immobilization. Kenny later brought her controversial treatment to the US, where it was initially met with skepticism but was ultimately accepted. What actor attributes his recovery from polio to these treatments? More… Discuss

 

This Day in the Yesteryear: RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 IS LAUNCHED (1967)

RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Is Launched (1967)

By the time Cunard‘s RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, often referred to simply as the QE2, ocean liner was built, airplanes had already largely supplanted ships for transatlantic travel. Thus, the vessel needed to be more efficient and versatile than her predecessors in the fleet. During her 39 years in service, she completed 806 transatlantic crossings, ferrying 2.5 million passengers across nearly six million miles of ocean. During what war was she pressed into service as a troop carrier? More… Discuss

 

SLEEPING BUILDS BRAIN CELLS

Why do we need to sleep? Obviously, without it we are tired, irritable, and unable to think and function as effectively as we otherwise could, but why is this? What are the underlying biological processes that drive this need? Scientists have long been grappling with this topic, and recent research has yielded some pretty interesting findings. During sleep, the production ofnervous system cells that generate myelin, a substance that insulates the nerves and permits the rapid transmission of nerve impulses, doubles in mice. This suggests that sleep may serve certain reparative and growth functions in the brain. More… Discuss

 

BIOLOGICAL PEST CONTROL

Biological pest control involves the introduction of natural enemies, such as predators, parasites, or pathogens, into the environments of pests. Once a natural enemy is successfully established, it rarely requires additional human action. Examples of effective biocontrol include using ladybugs to prey on aphids and treating turf with the bacterium Bacillus popilliae, which is fatal to Japanese beetle larvae. What pest were dachshunds originally bred to control? More… Discuss