All Men Should Be Brothers

Last week Beethoven’s 9th was performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra with Maestro Bramwell Tovey at the podium, Canadian-American Erin Wall soprano, Anita Krause mezzo soprano, Colin Ainsworth tenor, Russell Braun baritone, and Vancouver Bach Choir, in the gorgeous theatre of Orpheum.

Listen to part of the finale:

4. Presto, allegro ma non troppo
Baritone Bryn Terfel
Berlin Philharmonic
Claudio Abbado
1.64 Mb 6:59 Mins

Original German lyrics:
O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern laßt uns angenehmere
anstimmen und freudenvollere.
Freude! Freude!
Freude, schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
(Schillers Original:
Was der Mode Schwert geteilt;
Bettler werden Fürstenbrüder,)
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Wem der große Wurf gelungen,
Eines Freundes Freund zu sein;
Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
Mische seinen Jubel ein!
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle
Weinend sich aus diesem Bund!
Freude trinken alle Wesen
An den Brüsten der Natur;
Alle Guten, alle Bösen
Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
Küße gab sie uns und Reben,
Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;
Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,
Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,
Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt
Muß ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muß er wohnen.
Finale repeats the words:
Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt
Muß ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Seid umschlungen,
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Freude, schöner Götterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium,
Freude, schöner Götterfunken

English translation:
Oh friends, not these tones!
Rather let us sing more
cheerful and more joyful ones.
Joy! Joy!
Joy, thou glorious spark of heaven,
Daughter of Elysium,
We approach fire-drunk,
Heavenly One, your shrine.
Your magic reunites
What custom sternly divides;
All people become brothers
(Schiller's original:
What custom's sword separates;
Beggars become princes' brothers)
Where your gentle wing alights.
Whoever succeeds in the great attempt
To be a friend of a friend,
Whoever has won a lovely woman,
Let him add his jubilation!
Yes, whoever calls even one soul
His own on the earth's globe!
And who never has, let him steal,
Weeping, away from this group.
All creatures drink joy
At the breasts of nature;
All the good, all the evil
Follow her roses' trail.
Kisses gave she us, and wine,
A friend, proven unto death;
Pleasure was to the worm granted,
And the cherub stands before God.
Glad, as his suns fly
Through the Heavens' glorious plan,
Run, brothers, your race,
Joyful, as a hero to victory.
Be embraced, you millions!
This kiss for the whole world!
Brothers, beyond the star-canopy
Must a loving Father dwell.
Do you bow down, you millions?
Do you sense the Creator, world?
Seek Him beyond the star-canopy!
Beyond the stars must He dwell.
Finale repeats the words:
Be embraced, ye millions!
This kiss for the whole world!
Brothers, beyond the star-canopy
Must a loving Father dwell.
Be embraced,
This kiss for the whole world!
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods

Jacqueline du Pré

Jacqueline Mary du Pré (1945-1987) was a British cellist, today acknowledged as one of the greatest exponents of the instrument.

Born in Oxford, England, on 26 January 1945, Jacqueline du Pré was the second child of Derek du Pré, an accountant, and pianist Iris du Pré. At age four du Pré heard the sound of the cello on the radio and asked her mother for "one of those." She started with lessons from her mother, who composed little pieces accompanied by illustrations, before beginning study at the London Violoncello School at age five. Before long she was entering and winning local music competitions alongside her sister, flautist Hilary du Pré. Du Pré’s main teacher, from 1955 to 1961, was the celebrated cellist William Pleeth. Subsequently she also participated in a Pablo Casals masterclass in Zermatt, Switzerland in 1960, as well as short-term studies with Paul Tortelier in Paris in 1962, and with Mstislav Rostropovich in Russia in 1966. So impressed was the legendary Rostropovich with his young pupil that at the end of her study with him, he declared her "the only cellist of the younger generation that could equal and overtake his own achievement."

Du Pré primarily played two Stradivarius cellos, the instrument of 1673, and the 1712 Davydov Stradivarius. Both instruments were gifts from her godmother, Ismena Holland. She performed with the 1673 Stradivarius from 1961 until 1964 when she acquired the Davydov. Many of her most famous recordings were made on this instrument including the Elgar Concerto with Barbirolli, the Schumann Cello Concerto with Barenboim and the two Brahms Cello Sonatas.

rom 1969 to 1970 du Pré played a Francesco Goffriller cello, and in 1970 she acquired a modern instrument from the Philadelphia violin maker Sergio Peresson. It was the Peresson cello that du Pré played for the remainder of her career until 1973, including a second, live recording of the Elgar Concerto, and her last studio recording in 1971 of the sonatas by Frederic Chopin and César Franck.

Jacqueline du Pré met pianist Daniel Barenboim on New Year's eve in 1966. They married in June 1967; some commentators have compared this musical marriage to that of Clara and Robert Schumann. This was evidenced by the many performances of du Pré with Barenboim as either a pianist or orchestral conductor.

Du Pré’s sister Hilary was married to conductor Christopher "Kiffer" Finzi, with whom Jacqueline had an affair from 1971 to 1972. According to Hilary and her brother Piers in their book, A Genius in the Family, which was made into the film Hilary and Jackie, the affair was conducted with Hilary's consent as a way of helping Jacqueline through a nervous breakdown.
In 1971, Jacqueline du Pré’s playing began an irreversible decline when she began to lose sensitivity in her fingers, as well as in other parts of her body.

She took a sabbatical in 1971 until 1972, recording her last studio album of sonatas by Chopin and Franck in December 1971. Although she did perform during her sabbatical, they were very rare occurrences.

In 1973 du Pré resumed her concert activities, but by this time, the symptoms had become severe. In January 1973 she toured North America and some of the concert reviews from that period were less than complimentary. It was an indication that her condition had worsened, although there were moments of brief respite from the symptoms, during which she played without noticeable problems. She performed the Elgar Concerto for her last London concerts in February 1973 with Zubin Mehta and the New Philharmonia Orchestra.

Her last public concerts were in New York in February 1973, where she was scheduled for four performances of the Brahms Double Concerto with Pinchas Zukerman, and Leonard Bernstein conducting the New York Philharmonic. Du Pré later recalled that she had problems judging the weight of the bow, and even opening the cello case had become difficult. As she had lost sensation in her fingers, she had to rely visually, to know where she had to play on the fingerboard.

Although she managed three of the four dates, she canceled the last performance. Isaac Stern stepped in to replace du Pré, performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

In October 1973, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the disease that caused her health to deteriorate until her death in London on October 19, 1987, at age 42.

She left her Davydov Stradivarius to Yo-Yo Ma, while Lynn Harrell acquired the 1673 Stradivarius naming it the du Pré Stradivarius as a tribute. The 1970 Peresson cello is currently on loan to Kyril Zlotnikov, cellist of the Jerusalem Quartet.

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major
3. Allegro molto
Cello Jackueline du Pre
English Chamber Orchestra
Daniel Barenboim
1.57 Mb 6:42 Mins

Source: Wikipedia

Mozart Verdi Puccini

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Die Zauberflote
Finale, Papagena 601Kb 2:28 mins

Papageno (Tenor): Olaf Bar
Papagena (Soprano): Eva Lind
Ambrosian Opera Chorus

Chorus Master: John McCarthy
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Sir Neville Marriner

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
La Traviata
Atto Primo, Introduzione 1100Kb 4:42 mins

Violetta: Renata Scotto (Soprano)
Alfredo: Alfredo Kraus (Tenor)
Giorgio: Renato Bruson (Bariton)
Flora: Sarah Walker (Mezzo Soprano)
Annina: Cynthia Buchan (Mezzo Soprano)
Barone Duphol: Henry Newman (Bariton)

Ambrosian Opera Chorus
Chorus Maters: John McCarthy
Philharmonia Orchestra
Riccardo Muti

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
La Boheme
Questo Mar Rosso 1060Kb 4:30 mins

Mimi: Mirella Freni
Musetta: Elizabeth Harwood
Rodolfo: Luciano Pavarotti
Marcello: Rolando Panerai

Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Chorus Master: Walter Hagen Kroll
Berlin Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan

Rain 300/365

There's a humour which says it's rainy over 300 days a year in Vancouver. Well, it may be true that it's not sunny 300 days a year in Vancouver, but it means a lump sum of cloudy and rainy and a few snowy days.

Anyways, it's most likely you regularly see our beautiful city as I've seen through the lens in these pictures.

Bach Arias

It has very rarely happened that two great soloists join to make incredible historic recordings. There are so many recordings by the best soloists but just intermediate orchestras and conductors, and vice versa. As a matter of fact, I can never forget the conventional vinyl record I got 30 years ago which really disappointed me; Beethoven’s concerto op. 61 performed by Christian Ferras with Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Herbert von Karajan. Ferras, although a great violinist of the time, was by no mean in the rank of that orchestra and that phenomenal a conductor.

Anyways, one of such rare records is a Deutsche Grammophon recording of Bach’s arias by the incredible soprano Kathleen Battle and the great violinist Itzhak Perlman. Please listen to two tracks of this CD:

Bach, Arias
Soprano, Kathleen Battle
Violin, Itzhak Perlman

1. Vergnugen und Lust, 0.80 Mb 3:16 Mins
2. Ich Esse mit Freuden mein Weniges Brot, 1.15 Mb 4:55 Mins

Make Your Itunes Page

If you do not already know about it, Itunes is a software from Apple, including music libraries and a very nice player as well.

Let me show you how to install it step by step:

1. Go to the download page, where you can download the latest version 7.0.2 for free.

2. At the left side of this page, enter your e-mail address and push the DOWNLOAD button. That’s it. If you wish to keep a backup of the software select SAVE and give the destination folders, otherwise just select RUN. The download and installation process would take a few minutes, so please be patient.

3. Open Itunes by clicking on the icon which should have been added to your task bar and/or desktop by now.

4. At the left side, there are a lot of options from radio stations to podcasts. If you click on RADIO for instance, you’ll see tens of free radio stations from 60’s pop to classics, country, hard rock, Latino, and much more. You can even find a Traditional Persian music station in the CLASSICAL category.

5. In the PODCASTS option, you can subscribe to many TV shows, which will automatically be downloaded right after the new show is released weekly or daily or whatever. What I love about the podcasts is that the new episode of the show remains there in the list and you may watch it whenever you’d wish.

Let me give you another recipe for setting your podcasts as this is the greatest feature of Itunes. I select Photoshop TV for illustration purposes, which is a weekly show on Mondays, and the phenomenal photographer and author of photography books, Scott Kelby, is among the three instructors.

1. Click on ITUNES STORE right at the left side menu.

2. At top right corner type PHOTOSHOP in the search field and ENTER.

3. A list of tens of related links opens in a few seconds.

4. At the very first lines look for Photoshop TV and click on SUBSCRIBE under the PRICE column.

5. A verification window pops up. Push the SUBSCRIBE button again.

6. Click on PODCASTS now. The show is added to your podcasts. Double click on the line (any point) if it does not start loading down automatically the first time only. In a few minutes you can watch the most recent Monday show. Each episode is around 27 minutes and 100Mb.

You can follow the download process by clicking on DOWNLOADS at the same left side menu.

You explore other features of the software… and… enjoy!

Piano Poet

On such a sacred day was born the poet of the piano, Frederic Francois Chopin. It was 197 years ago in 1810.

Let’s listen to a few of the most charming pieces he wrote for the instrument:

- Ballade No. 1, g minor Op. 23
10:09 mins
Vladimir Horowitz

- Ballade No. 3, a-flat major Op. 47
7:43 mins
Claudio Arrau

- Nocturne No. 8, d-flat major Op. 27-2
4:43 mins
Maurizio Pollini