Hump Day

Truck night last night damn near kicked my ass.  I worked from 9:30 PM to 8 AM this morning checking in and putting away 5 separate deliveries after midnight.  As a result, when I go home this morning, it is I who felt like he was the humpee in a rough sex scene.  After a short chill period, I began preparing for this post, gathering the Music and the Men, before succumbing to the irresistible  urge to nap.  Upon arising, events have conspired to preclude my arrival in these pages until now.  However, I do have Marvelous Music from 2 different composers as well as some Super Sexy Studs Splashing about to keep you entertained.  

As we continue what for lack of a better title is Violin Week here at Nichevo, we explore two very different concerti that while being different, both offer many similarities as well.  Our composers today wrote but a singular Violin Concerto each and no accompanying Sonata.  Antonin Dvorak, born in 1841 and Jean Sibelius, born in 1865, both used traditional themes and folklore from their native lands which inspired their compositions.  Other than his Violin Concerto in D Minor, Opus 47, Sibelius composed 7 Symphonies using each successive work to further develop his own personal compositional style similarly to Beethoven before him.  His works continue to be performed frequently in the concert hall and are often recorded.  You will find his Violin Concerto with a live performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Barenboim with Maxim Vengerov as the Soloist recorded at the Kolner Philharmonie posted down below.  In addition to his Violin Concerto in A Minor, Opus 53,  Dvorak wrote 9 Symphonies.  Four of those, including one lost to the composer himself, were only discovered after his passing.  You will find his Violin Concerto over on my tumblr with a marvelous 1965 recording by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra featuring Isaac Stern as the Violin Soloist. 

Then for the aforementioned Super Sexy Studs Splashing about, check out this week's edition of Wet Wednesday down below.  There is also the Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr who shows us how to 'Shower in a Sea Shell'.  Thanks for sticking around, join me tomorrow as we celebrate Tchaikovsky's birthday with his Violin Concerto.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Happy Halloween

It's Friday.  It's Halloween.  It's Truck Night.  A Triple Whammy if ever I saw one.  It should be a 'very interesting' evening, all things considered.  I just hope it does not get too wild, wooly or weird out there.  We will see how it goes down and report back to you tomorrow.  In the mean time, it is the one night of the year everyone gets the opportunity to be someone besides themselves by donning a disguise or costume.  This is known as guising or Trick-or-treating. 

"According to many scholars, All Hallows' Eve is a Christianized feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals,^[13][14] with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain.^[8][15][16] Other scholars maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.  Confined to the immigrant communities during the mid-19th century, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the 20th century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds.^[100] The annual New York Halloween Parade, initiated in 1974 by puppeteer and mask maker Ralph Lee of the Lower Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village in New York City, is the world's largest Halloween parade and America's only major nighttime parade, attracting more than 60,000 costumed participants, 2 million in-person spectators, and a worldwide television audience of over 100 million."  (Source: WikiPedia)

So what are your plans for the evening?  I hope your plans are much more entertaining than my scheduled activities for tonight.  At any rate it is still Friday and I have Marvelous Music and Gorgeous Guys to add to the celebration.  Musically, today's featured selections are the String Quartets Number 11, 12 and 13 by Dmitri Shostakovich with a performance by the Borodin Quartet.  Over on my tumblr you may hear Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.77 with a performance by Daniel Barenboim conducting the Staatskapelle Berlin featuring Maxim Vengerov as the Violin Soloist.

As for the Gorgeous Guys, this collection is full of Halloween Treats.  Although these guys are not in costume, it is not a Trick that they will provide plenty of Fantasy Fuel for a Friday evening.  Over on my tumblr is a Fiery Fantasy Hottie of the Day! to add to your celebration.  Thanks for the visit, see you tomorrow for the Saturday at the Symphony Evening Concert.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!