Catching Up

I am making a sincere effort to catch up on all my little stuff that crops up from time to time along with the big things like rent and car repair.  That includes making note of a couple of things that were in the news over the Weekend on which I have not yet had a chance to comment.  Do not think for a moment that I failed to notice the Supreme Court action affirming the right to Marriage Equality for All Nationwide on Friday.  Especially in light of the post I wrote on Friday in eager anticipation of just such an event.  I was giddy with glee and emotionally overwhelmed all at the same time.  It has taken me a bit to assimilate the fact that for the first time in the 64 years and some odd days of my life, I am a fully recognized citizen of these United States with Civil Rights and all.  Pretty heady stuff for one who has had the official US Government stamp of disapproval on his head for most of his life.  This action coupled with The Letter granting my appeal to upgrade my discharge means it has been a pretty fucking awesome year so far for me.  Yeah, I have hit a few bumps in the road, but I am on a generally upward trend as a whole.  This is a very good thing and makes the bumps in the road seem less severe even if they really aren't.  Ain't that a kick in the ass for an old fart?  

The other big event of the Weekend was the Final Round of the inaugural Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival held at TCU's Ed Landreth Auditorium and their PepsiCo Hall.  The competition began  on Wednesday with 24 young Pianists ages 13-17 invited to participate.  Jon Nakamatsu, chairman of the jury for the First Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival (June 21-28, 2015), at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, announced the winners on Sunday night from the Ed Landreth Auditorium stage.  The winner, Alim Beisembayev, 17, of Kazakhstan, daringly performed Van Cliburn's own signature performance piece, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mei-Ann Chen during the final round.  He gave this well known staple of the Piano repertoire a new life with his infusion of passion and power.  You can read who won what by clicking here. 

Now as long as we are on the subject of Classical Music, we may as well move into your featured performances for today.  You guys know I listen to a lot of Venice Classic Radio, more so now that I have the technology to carry it with me everywhere.  Listening to VCR exposes me to so much more Music than I have been familiar with in the past.  This morning I heard some works by today's featured composer, Gaetano Donizetti that I thought you all could appreciate also. Donizetti, along with Rossini and Bellini, was a leading composer of the bel canto style of Opera in the first half of the 19th century.  However he also composed some lesser know chamber works which is what I wish to share with you today.  Posted down below is a compilation of some of Doniazetti's Chamber works recorded by the Orchestra da Camera di Santa Cecilia and Conductor Alessio Vlad.  Performers on the recording include Vincenzo Bolognese, Mario Gangi, Rodolfo Bonucci, Alexandra Stefanato, Dino Asciolla, Arturo Bonucci, Massimo Taddei, and Pietro Spada.  The play list is diverse and features many works for solo or small ensemble performances.  That list includes;

01. Introduzione for string orchestra in D minor ( 07:49 )
02. Nocturne for winds & strings in E flat major ( 03:22 )
03. Nocturne for winds & strings in F minor ( 03:49 )
04. Nocturne for winds & strings in A flat major ( 02:13 )
05. Nocturne for winds & strings in F major ( 03:58 )
06. Amusement pathetique (from Anna Bolena), for violin & strings ( 12:28 )
07. String Quintet in C major (1st mvt. only) ( 06:10 )
08. Quintet for guitar & strings in C major ( 22:41 )
09. Sinfonia for winds in D major ( 05:28 )
10. Largetto for winds in F major ( 03:55 )
11. Moderato (untitled) for wind instruments & organ in B flat major ( 04:15 )
12. March for orchestra ( dedicated to Francesco Donizetti ) ( 03:05 )

Over on my tumblr you may indulge yourselves with Donizetti's String Quartets №3 in C minor & №5 in E minor with a performance by the Philharmonia Slavonica.  

One further note on Classical Music, you know how on You Tube and even VCR, the titles of the various pieces of music are written in different languages.  I found handy dandy little chart listing the French, German, Spanish and Italian equivalents to the English "do re mi fa so la ti do' of the Octave Scale to help me figure out the key in which the various works are written.  For example, F Sharp Major is fa dièse majuer in French and fa sostenido mayor in Spanish.  Where it gets tricky is German where the key of B Major is represented by H Dur and B Flat is represented by just plain B.  You can find and bookmark this nifty little chart here.

Finally for today comes the visual accoutrement to all the beautiful Music.  This Weekend is the Fourth of July, so to help get you in the proper mind set for Water Sports, Cookouts and other Festivities, I have this super sultry edition of Sexy Studs in Swimwear posted down below.  Meanwhile Your  Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr invites you to 'Share A Coke'.  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!