Monday, January 07, 2013

Weekend Highlights



 Here we are at the outset of the first full work week of the new year.  I suppose it will be nice to settle back into the regular routine of our daily lives now that all the hubbub of the holidays is finally over.  My weekend was anything but routine, but it did have some highlights beginning with Friday night's Cotton Bowl game between Texas A & M and my most despised college team, Oklahoma.  It was heartwarming to see them get their ass handed to them to the tune of 41-13 at the hands of this years red shirt freshman, Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel and his Aggie team mates.  In addition to college football, this weekend was the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs that went pretty much as I expected them to.  The home teams all won with the exception of Dallas' arch rival, Washington, who got spanked by the Seattle Seahawks 24-14 on Sunday afternoon.  I derived much pleasure from seeing the Redskins meet their playoff demise.  Next week's Divisional round has some interesting match ups, but without the Cowboys to root for, I am rather ambivalent about the whole thing.  My interest is more in who I would like to see lose rather than win.  With the Redskins out of the way, I will be rooting for Atlanta (because I have friends there) and against San Francisco whose Super Bowl legends were built on the backs of the Cowboys.  Over on the AFC side, I really could not care as long as New England doesn't make it to the Super Bowl again, anyone else will be OK with me.

The other true highlight of the weekend was the long anticipated return of Downton Abbey to the airwaves with the premiere of Season 3 on Sunday night.  Downton mixes the best of British historical costume drama with a goodly dash of saucy soap opera along with some romance and intrigue.  I loved every minute of episode one and look forward to my weekly encounter with the Crawleys et al over the coming weeks.  This week Lady Mary finally married Matthew, Tom and Sybill came to the wedding on tickets bought by none other than the dowager Countess herself and Edith declared her affection for the older man, Strellan.  Thomas was up to his dirty tricks as usual but got his comeuppance.  Mrs Hughes found a lump in her breast that could be cancerous.  The fly in the ointment of stately excess was Cora's mother, played by Shirley McLaine, who did her best to cause as much drama as possible while smiling sweetly at everyone.   I can't wait for next week to see what happens next. 

That is about all the highlights of my weekend, so let's move on to the Music and the Men for both your aural and visual stimulation. Your play list for this Monday is excerpted from SECONDE STRAVAGANZE (Vol. 2), Venetian & Neapolitan Music for Consort of Viols in the XVII Century with the complete play list and performers reading (in Italian) as follows:

ANTONIO VALENTE [c. 1520 - 1601]
from INTAVOLATURA DE CIMBALO,[...] LIBRO PRIMO (Naples, 1576)
Tenore de paso e mezo / Lo Ballo dell'Intorcia

CARLO GESUALDO PRINCIPE DI VENOSA [1566 - 1613]
from PARTITURA DELLI SEI LIBRI DE' MADRIGALI A CINQUE VOCI [...] (Genoa, 1632)
Moro, lasso

ALESSANDRO PICCININI [1566 - 1638] / ANONYMOUS [Ms. Chigi Q VI 29]
from INTAVOLATURA DI LIUTO, ET CHITARRONE, libro primo, nel quale si contengano dell'uno, & dell'altro stromento arie, baletti, correnti, gagliarde, canzoni, & ricercate musicali, & altre à dui, e trè liuti concertati insieme; et una inscrittione d'avertimenti, che insegna la maniera, & il modo di ben sonare con facilità i sudetti stromenti (Bologna, 1623)
La Moniche

GIOVANNI MARIA TRABACI [c. 1575 - 1647]
from RICERCATE [...] GAGLIARDE, PARTITE DIVERSE, toccate, durezze e ligature, e un madrigale passagiato nel fine (Naples, 1603)
Gagliarda I La Galante, à cinque viole - 14:15
Gagliarda V cromatica detta la Trabacina, à cinque viole - 17:54
Canzon VII cromatica

BARTOLOMEO MONTALBANO [c. 1598 - before 1651]
from SINFONIE AD UNO E DUOI VIOLINI [...] CON ALCUNE A QUATTRO VIOLE (Palermo, 1629)
Pianello, à quattro viole

GIOANPIETRO DEL BUONO [before 1641 - c. 1657]
from CANONI, OBLIGHI ET SONATE IN VARIE maniere sopra l'Ave maris stella [...] a 3, 4, 6, 7, 8 et 9 voci e le Sonate a 4 (Palermo, 1641)
Sonata VII, stravagante sull'Ave maris Stella

GIOVANNI LEGRENZI [1626 - 1690]
from LA CETRA, Op. 10 / Libro Quarto di Sonate a due tre e quattro stromenti
(Venice, 1682)
Sonata VI, à quattro viole da gamba

CHERUBINO WAESICH [first XVII Century]
from CANZONI A 5, Op. 2 [...] da sonarsi con le viole da gamba (Rome, 1632)
Canzone II, a cinque viole da gamba

SALAMONE ROSSI also know as l'EBREO [1570 - c. 1630]
from IL QUARTO LIBRO (Venice, 1622)
Sonata sopra l'aria di Ruggiero

BERNARDO STORACE [c. 1637 - c. 1707]
from SELVA DI VARIE COMPOSIZIONI D'INTAVOLATURA PER CIMBALO ET ORGANO (Venice, 1664)
Pastorale

JEAN DE MACQUE [c. 1550 - 1614]
source: The British Library (London)
Seconde Stravaganze

VIOLA DA GAMBA TREBLE
Sergio Balestracci

VIOLA DA GAMBA TENOR
Alba Fresno, Jordi Comellas

VIOLA DA GAMBA BASS
Alba Fresno, Jordi Comellas, Santi Miron

VIOLONE
Gioacchino de Padova

DOUBLE HARP
Loredana Gintoli

CHAMBER ORGAN AND HARPSICHORD
Massimiliano Raschietti

PERCUSSION
Alberto Racchini

L'Amoroso / Guido Balestracci (conductor)





Finally to brighten your Monday and mine, here is this weeks collection of hard bodied hotties lounging about the page in the finest Monday's Undies for your visual appreciation and masturbatory inspiration.  Thanks for spending some time at Nichevo today, see you again on the morrow.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!































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