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Ricordanza

I just learned the sad news that on July 2, we lost Nikolai Kapustin, the Russian composer known for his brilliant piano compositions with a jazz idiom. I haven't seen any obits in major media (NY Times, Washington Post) as yet, but I'm sure we will see some articles about this unique talent. For a ...

Ricordanza

Just thought I'd add a mini-rant on the ads that bother me the most: the pharmaceutical commercials. It's not that the content is unpleasant. On the contrary, these ads are rather idyllic--after taking the advertised drugs, people suffering from some very serious physical and mental diseases are sud...

Ricordanza

Anybody else notice this lately? I've been getting robo calls (and junk calls with live voices) on my landline for quite some time. Not as many as you, Lance, but it averages about 4 a day. Since I have caller ID, I usually can spot them and avoid answering them, but they are still annoying (waking...

Ricordanza

As for Trump dropping out, this is just wishful thinking. Even if the polls are right (which they were not in 2016), I don't see Trump giving up. Rather, Trump and his allies are going to step up their efforts at voter suppression. Their path to victory is to suppress the votes of Democrats (restri...

Ricordanza

As for Trump dropping out, this is just wishful thinking. Even if the polls are right (which they were not in 2016), I don't see Trump giving up. Rather, Trump and his allies are going to step up their efforts at voter suppression. Their path to victory is to suppress the votes of Democrats (restric...

Ricordanza

david johnson wrote: ↑
Tue Jun 30, 2020 4:14 am
I most always mute the ads, but will watch ones I find amusing.

There are some amusing ads--GEICO ads come to mind--but after the 52nd repetition, they are just annoying.

I don't have DVR, so my technique is to switch to a movie channel for the 4 minutes or so that the ads are playing.

Ricordanza

Thanks for the alert.

Ricordanza

I'll have to wait two more months until I find out the Philadelphia Orchestra's plans for the fall. Here's the relevant excerpt from the email I just received: Since the onset of the pandemic and our last concert on March 12, we have all been wondering when it will be safe and practical for us—music...

Ricordanza

And as I've already reported in another thread, I've paid for my 2020/21 Philadelphia Orchestra season. Two of the six concerts take place in 2020 (November and December). The renewal for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society is sitting on my desk. Perhaps if there are cancellations without refund...

Ricordanza

I've already paid for my 2020/21 season here in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. And as I've already reported in another thread, I've paid for my 2020/21 Philadelphia Orchestra season. Two of the six concerts take place in 2020 (November and December). The renewal for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Soc...

Ricordanza

Best wishes on your birthday, Lance, and thanks for all you do.

H

Ricordanza

I also commend Leonard Slatkin for thinking through these issues. Are his solutions feasible? Will others follow his lead or come up with different ideas? Who knows. I've taken a chance and renewed my subscription to the Philadelphia Orchestra for next season. The first concert is scheduled for Nove...

Ricordanza

I'm sure that Rach 3 is in mourning. :roll: Rep. Steve King, who was shunned by GOP leaders for his racist remarks, loses in Iowa primary By Mike DeBonis June 3, 2020 at 12:48 a.m. EDT Iowa Republicans voted Tuesday to end the long and divisive congressional career of Rep. Steve King, whose hard-rig...

Ricordanza

Put the TV on this morning early to get the latest on the terrible situation in Minneapolis-suddenly there was the live scene of a CNN reporter and his crew being arrested for no reason I could understand-it's all on tape now of course. I was also watching CNN when this happened. Before the arrest,...

Ricordanza

To accompany my daily walk (actually, two daily walks), this 1976 recording by Vladimir Ashkenazy of the complete Rachmaninoff Preludes. It's been a while since I listened to the complete set and this was a pleasant reminder of Rachmaninoff's magnificent contribution to the piano literature. Ashkena...

Ricordanza

This is not the first time that Trump has promoted a discredited conspiracy theory, but he reached a new low here, particularly after doubling down on this crusade after receiving the letter from the widower. So I posted the following query on Facebook: A question to my friends and relatives who rem...

Ricordanza

Here's an excellent response from my friend, Rabbi Lewis Eron: I sent this as a letter to the Philadelphia Inquirer in response to our President's desire to "order" the states to open houses of worship: I am sorry to hear that our President wants to "open" Houses of Worship, and I am even more sorry...

Ricordanza

Everyone will have different thoughts on this. I am probably more "traditional" in my thinking, but that comes with getting older! (Maybe.) :roll: I also tend to be more "traditional" in my approach to concerts, but there's an additional reason why I prefer having a concert follow the printed progr...

Ricordanza

barney wrote: ↑
Fri May 15, 2020 7:38 am

Why not show a little optimism?

My subscription purchase is an expression of optimism. I'm asking my CMG friends to tell me whether or not my optimism is grounded in reality.

Ricordanza

That's the question on my mind. I don't see how "social distancing" can be applied; audience capacity would have to be reduced drastically, and that would not be financially feasible for already strained budgets. And how do you fit a 100-piece orchestra on the stage with musicians spaced six feet ap...

Ricordanza

In my area, patients who are having a bad cold can visit a general practitioner....Dr. Howard Shivers.

There's another doctor in my area who passed away a few years ago. He was an OB/GYN named....Dr. Busch.

Ricordanza

Just thought I'd lighten things up a bit. We may have done this topic before; if so, my apologies, but it's always worth revisiting. So here's my initial offering. I came across this in the NY Times--an unlikely name for an expert on meat: Last week was the fourth week in a row that the number of ca...

Ricordanza

I've been able to hit balls at the driving range and a number of courses have remained open. I am envious! Here in New Jersey, we are subject to the highest level of restrictions, which even include such outdoor venues as golf courses and parks. A pleasant update: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is...

Ricordanza

now I'm even starting to question Dr. Birx's credibility Dr. Birx is in a tough position. If she directly contradicts Trump, she knows that he will not hesitate to oust her from the task force. Her colleague, Dr. Fauci, already received a warning about this (when Trump re-tweeted the post about fir...

Ricordanza

I've been able to hit balls at the driving range and a number of courses have remained open. I am envious! Here in New Jersey, we are subject to the highest level of restrictions, which even include such outdoor venues as golf courses and parks. So my outdoor activities are limited to walks in the ...

Ricordanza

And by the way, you failed the Scott Adams IQ test with regard to Trump and his injection comment: https://www.scottadamssays.com/2020/04/24/episode-933-scott-adams-lets-have-a-laugh-about-the-national-iq-test-that-half-of-the-public-is-failing/ (it starts about a minute into the video) No objectiv...

Ricordanza

I first heard Louise Farrenc's music in February, when the Philadelphia Orchestra performed her Symphony No. 2. Given the immediate appeal of that piece, I look forward to hearing her piano compositions. http://www.classicalmusicguide.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=50820 Due to the covid-19 virus, that was...

Ricordanza

Every time I think that Trump has descended to a new low, he finds a way to go even lower.

Ricordanza

Previously, I had been notified that the Philadelphia Orchestra was cancelling all concerts through May 10. Today, I received an email stating that the rest of the season through June is cancelled. This is not unexpected, but it's still disappointing, especially considering the pianists I am going t...

Ricordanza

Barry, it looks like I'm the only one playing. My next guess is Pierre Boulez. No particular reason...just a hunch.

Ricordanza

I'll jump in and play this game with conductors. Which from this list have I not seen? Giulini Colin Davis Boulez Inbal Chailly Levine Temirkanov Abbado Muti Haitink I had to look up one name on this list--Inbal--because I had never heard of him. Now that I have glanced at some info on Eliahu Inbal...

Ricordanza

Echoes of Charlottesville. If the protesters are "his people," Trump will support them no matter how wrong their cause may be.

Ricordanza

On Thursday evening, members of the Philadelphia Orchestra offered a virtual concert of early chamber works by Beethoven. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

https://www.facebook.com/PhilOrch/video ... /?sk=h_chr

Ricordanza

OK, my turn Which of these pianists have I not seen: Leonard Bernstein Emanuel Ax Maurizio Pollini Vladimir Ashkenazy Andras Schiff Murray Perahia Alfred Brendel Lang Lang Benjamin Grosvenor Daniil Trifonov Can't think of any useful clues, sorry. How about, the name has more than one vowel in it? T...

Ricordanza

I'll go with Sir Neville. He is the only one I'm not certain was either a music director or guest conductor in Philadelphia. One of my great classical music regrets is that I started attending Philadelphia Orchestra concerts just a couple years after Ormandy stopped conducting, so I never heard the...

Ricordanza

Barry wrote: ↑
Wed Apr 15, 2020 9:58 am
Sawallisch, who was Music Director in Philadelphia for a decade while I'm sure Henry was a subscriber.

True. I became a subscriber during Sawallisch's tenure. Therefore, Lenny's guess is incorrect.

Ricordanza

Barney, I posted a conductors' game under the heading, "Another Game." Why don't you give it a try? And in case you're not familiar with the geography, Southern New Jersey is just across the river from Philadelphia.

Ricordanza

Here's a list of conductors I have seen/heard in concert, but there's one I haven't. I'll give you a clue--based on my geographic location, you would expect that I heard this conductor, but I haven't. 1. Ernest Ansermet 2. Charles Dutoit 3. Christoph Eschenbach 4. Erich Leinsdorf 5. Neville Marriner...

Ricordanza

Barney, that's too easy.

Unless you're a lot older than the rest of us mortals, or you own a working Time Machine, Mahler is the conductor you have not heard in concert.

Ricordanza

Glenn Gould then. Cos his public performing career ended so early? Correct! Glenn Gould ended his public concert career in 1964, when I was 13 years old. The first concert I attended on my own was a recital by Horowitz in 1966, when I was 15. I'm thinking of posting a similar game with conductors, ...

Ricordanza

barney wrote: ↑
Mon Apr 13, 2020 1:02 pm
I'm guessing Martha Argerich because she cancels so often?

Good guess, but incorrect. I've heard her twice in concerto performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, both times with her ex conducting--Charles Dutoit.

Ricordanza

Some of you may have seen a similar game on Facebook: the individual posts a list of 10 concerts they've attended, but asks you to guess which one is a "lie" (that is, the poster did not attend that concert). Of course, the Facebook posts list pop/rock performers. I'll make my list more appropriate ...

Ricordanza

The device is familiar—a story within a story—but it is used very effectively by Ronald Balson in this novel. The “outer” story involves a husband and wife team (featured in four of his previous novels), lawyer Catherine and investigator Liam, who are dispatched to the Tuscany region of Italy to try...

Ricordanza

The guy is a pianistic wonder. Agreed. I have been a fan of Lugansky since a Philadelphia Orchestra concert three years ago, where he dared to perform both Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 AND the Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini on the same night. These performances were not only technically fla...

Ricordanza

From the Philadelphia Inquirer: To avert ‘enormous’ deficit, Philadelphia Orchestra musicians take 20% pay cut as special fund-raising begins by Peter Dobrin, Updated: March 31, 2020 Faced with an abrupt and unprecedented loss of ticket revenue, musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra are taking a p...

Ricordanza

barney wrote: ↑
Sun Mar 29, 2020 5:03 pm
Who are the people in those pix, besides Lance? It's always nice to put faces to names.

In the first photo, from the left, the late Werner Isler, Donald's father, the late Ralph Stein, and Charlotte Isler, Donald's mother. In the second photo, the person on the left is (I believe) Chalkie.

Ricordanza

Yesterday, the rain let up so it was time to un-quarantine myself for a walk around the neighborhood. What should I listen to on my iPhone? This was my selection--a solo piano version of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, played by the (quite young at the time) Andre Watts. Watts' playing is so idiomatic ...

Ricordanza

I just saw this film via "On Demand." Now that I have a big screen TV at home, I was able to appreciate the full visual effect of this film. But it's more than a technical marvel; it is one of the best films I have seen in a long time.

Ricordanza

She sounds and looks pretty good! I hope she has a full recovery.

Ricordanza

My law school classmate Larry posted on Facebook that his cousin's daughter, age 40 [!], died at 5:15 pm today from the coronavirus. He added the following: "What was terrible about my cousin's situation was they could not go to the hospital. Their daughter died alone. The funeral cannot be a family...

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