Sadness and Joy

Today I was saddened by the news of the loss of Author Patricia Nell Warren.  She published the Iconic Gay Novel The Front Runner in 1974, the year before I came out.  I discovered the novel shortly after I was summarily dismissed from the Navy for being Gay.  The novel was a wonderment to me, an honest to god romance between two people deeply in love who both happened to be men and athletes.

 
The first line of the novel paraphrased reads "I remember the first time I met Billy Sive".  I personally remember the first time I read the novel and the last and all the times in between.  I was thrilled a couple of years ago when Will got me autographed copies of the entire trilogy for my birthday.  I immediately sat down and read the whole thing again.  They are books that cannot be put down and which touch your soul.

For the first time since the Navy pretty much destroyed my life, The Front Runner gave me hope for a future beyond the bleakness of the present.  For the first time, someone other than me knew exactly how I felt.  The longing and the loneliness of always looking but being never being able to touch.  She also knew the joy that springs from love abounding between two souls who are meant to be together.  I had no hope at the time and this little glimmer of hope wrapped in joy between two paperback covers was a salve to my soul that was so deeply rent.

I have been fortunate to have been Facebook Friends with Patricia for some years now and have enjoyed several conversations via the electronic airwaves, though we have never met in person.  Yet I always knew, she knew exactly what makes me tick and could lift me the depths of sadness to heights of joy with the simple turn of a phrase.  She loved a good story and her western heritage.  I will always remember Patricia and the love she shared with everyone everywhere.  Her body of works, most of which I have read, have brought the joy of the story of true love between persons of the same sex to millions of readers around the world.  I am Sad that Patricia has passed from our lives, but we have the Joy that she left behind in all those wonderful books that shall live forever. 

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Your musical selection for the day reflects the tone of the day as evidenced by the liner notes from the Videographer:

"A recording of the complete Cello Sonatas by Vivaldi on period instruments! Antonio Vivaldi was one of the first composers to feature the cello, then a relatively “new” instrument (after the viola da gamba), as a mature solo instrument. This full recording contains the complete 6 sonatas for cello and basso continuo. Vivaldi displays an astonishing variety and inventiveness in these sonatas, using the instrument’s possibilities to the utmost; these sonatas still offer a serious challenge, both technical and musical, for any professional cellist nowadays. Apart from that they are vintage Vivaldi, featuring an enormous range of emotional extremes, from deep heartfelt sadness to infectious joy."

The complete play list:

00:00:00 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 47: I. Largo
00:03:28 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 47: II. Allegro
00:06:43 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 47: III. Largo
00:10:52 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 47: IV. Allegro
00:12:48 Cello Sonata in F Major, RV 41: I. Largo
00:16:19 Cello Sonata in F Major, RV 41: II. Allegro
.00:18:51 Cello Sonata in F Major, RV 41: III. Largo
00:22:27 Cello Sonata in F Major, RV 41: IV. Allegro
00:24:56 Cello Sonata in A Minor, RV 43: I. Largo
.00:29:21 Cello Sonata in A Minor, RV 43: II. Allegro
00:32:53 Cello Sonata in A Minor, RV 43: III. Largo
00:37:11 Cello Sonata in A Minor, RV 43: IV. Allegro
00:40:13 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 45: I. Largo
00:43:32 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 45: II. Allegro
00:46:12 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 45: III. Largo
00:51:00 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 45: IV. Allegro
00:53:42 Cello Sonata in E Minor, RV 40: I. Largo
00:56:24 Cello Sonata in E Minor, RV 40: II. Allegro
00:58:51 Cello Sonata in E Minor, RV 40: III. Largo
01:01:10 Cello Sonata in E Minor, RV 40: IV. Allegro
01:03:38 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 46: I. Preludio. Largo
01:05:37 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 46: II. Allemande. Allegro
01:08:26 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 46: III. Largo
01:11:22 Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, RV 46: IV. Corrente. Allegro

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Finally for today, these photographic art works on display below reflect a certain subtle sensuality without being overtly sexual.  Each portrait has its own mystery and allure that will draw the viewer in for a closer inspection.  Despite the Sadness in the world today, we  may all experience a moment of Joy as we are swept into the vision each portrait suggests.  Thank you for visiting, do come again and as always, Enjoy!

In the Beginning

Sunrise Over 7th Street, looking East from my store.

Before I begin, I would like to extend my condolences to one of my oldest friends, Steve R. in Virginia who lost his Mom this week.  She was a gentile Southern Lady who was charming, funny, gracious and compassionate.  She will be missed I know, but the circle of life will continue and memories of her will warm the hearts of all who knew her.

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 When I first came to the offices of Stay The Course at the behest of the VA, I did so with not a little trepidation but a lot.  Was I ready to reveal all my deep dark secrets?  I did not know, but I did know that I had to change the course of my life and thoughts or I was going to end up in that rubber room with a straight jacket.  I had been seeing my psychiatrist, Dr Moradi, at the VA on a quarterly basis and she recommended I engage a therapist and pointed me in the direction of Stay the Course.  I placed a desperate phone call and of course got voice mail.  I left a message and Tempa called me back and set an appointment for our first session.  It was early in the establishment of her practice with just she and one other therapist.  I have watched her practice grow to several therapists and staff members.  Many of the staff there are either Veterans themselves or spouses of Veterans, all of whom have the best interests of the Veterans and First Responders who come to them for assistance foremost in their minds.  Tempa herself is married to a Veteran and knows first hand how difficult life is when transitioning from military to civilian life.  Our common experiences as Veterans or First Responders results in a shared bond which one cannot really understand without having been there, done that for yourself.

Tempa is a tall willowy red head with a heart as big as Texas with whom I found it easy to talk.  In our first session, she asked me what my goal was for my course of therapy.  I forget now what turn of phrase I used at the time but basically I wanted Clarity,  Stability and Sanity.  I am a classic bi-polar person.  It was either depression so deep as to be inconsolable or giddy happiness that knew no bounds.  I wanted to be somewhere in the middle with the ability to handle the daily stress that comes with life.  If there is anything I have learned in my lifetime, it is the fact that I can only handle so much stress (very little in fact) before having an adverse reaction to it.  Medication certainly helps, but the ability to handle stress for me is that core feeling of inner peace, and I had no such feeling when I began my sessions with Tempa.

I am prone to erratic behavior, irrational thought, extremely OCD and easily angered.  I am also the caring, compassionate, witty 'Uncle' to everyone.  I often try to provide the means to achieve that inner peace for others that I so desperately seek for myself.  Unfortunately for me, that inner peace has never been possible.  I am closer now than ever I have been.  Tempa has guided me in my journey to get as far as I have.  I have revealed to her things I have never told anyone, often not even myself.  She helped to pry open the cellar door in my mind, sweep out the corners and is helping me to discover what I need to keep and what I need to throw away.  She has helped me to see that staying in the here and now moving forward is the more preferable state of being.  The Past is full of pain, pitfalls and traps which lures me in and then destroy my mental state which has painful physical ramifications.  However, by taking past events in my life, examining them one at a time, then deciding whether it is a treasure to be kept or just plain trash which needs to be disposed of properly has not been an easy task.  I have had to remember things sometimes best forgotten and un-remember things that did not promote a healthy mental state.  I am by no means done with my journey, but before I can tell you where I am going, I must first tell you where I have been. I have hopes my story will help someone else avoid some of the pains and pitfalls life throws at one when one least expects it.

It will take a while for the whole story to come out and deciding to share my tightly bound and hidden secrets was not an easy choice.  However, I have learned to loose their bonds, deal with them face to face one at a time and move on.  Learning how to deal with my issues has helped me face life with a few more tools in the box to deal with whatever comes my way and the way of others in my life.  I have held some of these things so tightly and buried so deep for so long, I had no recollection of them.  In order to discover what has been hidden in the corners of my mind, I must first sort through the pile of crap covering them before I can see what is truly in those dark corners.  Next week I will begin the uncovering with events of my youth, which of course is long past at his point and not always on ready recall.  The past is never as really clear as what we think it is and only by a careful examination of these things can one retain as valuable or reject as unnecessary what it is one finds there.  I hope this will not be as painful for you as it has proven to be for me.

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For your listening pleasure today, I have another of my favorites among the Italian Baroque composers, Luigi Boccherini, with this recording of 5 of his 6 Flute Quintets featuring Jean-Pierre Rampal, Flute; Régis Pasquier, Violin; Roland Pidoux, Violoncello; Mathilde Sternat, Violoncello and Bruno Pasquier, Viola.  You will find the play list after the video.  Also after the playlist is this week's visual treats.  This week we are sticking with the Art side of Male Art with 7 more paintings of young men.  Thank you for the visit, please do come again and as always, Enjoy!

Quintet No. 3 in C Major, G. 439 : I. Allegro vivace (Instrumental) 00:00 

Quintet No. 3 in C Major, G. 439 : II. Cantabile (Instrumental)  

Quintet No. 3 in C Major, G. 439 : III. Andante con variazioni (Instrumental) 

Quintet No. 2 in G Major, G. 438 : I. Allegro (Instrumental)15:00 

Quintet No. 2 in G Major, G. 438 : II. Adagio non tanto (Instrumental) 

Quintet No. 2 in G Major, G. 438 : III. Andante con variazioni (Instrumental) 

Quintet No. 1 in F Major, G. 437 : I. Allegro (Instrumental) 28:51 

Quintet No. 1 in F Major, G. 437 : II. Largo (Instrumental) 

Quintet No. 1 in F Major, G. 437 : III. Grazioso (Instrumental) 

Quintet No. 5 in G Major, G. 441 : I. Moderato (Instrumental 41:00 

Quintet No. 5 in G Major, G. 441 : II. Adagio (Instrumental) 

Quintet No. 5 in G Major, G. 441 : III. Grazioso (Instrumental) 

Quintet No. 6 in B-flat Major, G. 442 : I. Allegro (Instrumental) 53:45 

Quintet No. 6 in B-flat Major, G. 442 : II. Adagio (Instrumental) 

Quintet No. 6 in B-flat Major, G. 442 : III. Rondeau. Grazioso (Instrumental

"Hello Darkness, My Old Friend. I've Come to Talk With You Again"

It has been a long time since I last communed in these pages with you my faithful followers.  Too long really.  There is reasoning behind this of course, which will surely in the course of the next few months become readily apparent to all who visit here.  Suffice it to say I have traveled a long road to arrive at the point at which I reside today.  It has been a road with many a twist and turn with its hills, valleys and long lonesome stretches all playing a part in the story I will tell you as we go along.  

I know that in the history of these pages the photography has been a major drawing point to attract readers who then discover the Music and More that there is to Nichevo.  For Nichevo is not just a destination, it is a journey, my journey with all the joys and wonders it encounters.   There is also the despair and pitfalls ever present in any one's journey.  Like a lot of Gay Men of my generation growing up in the South in the 50's and 60's, I was taught I could not be me. The real me.  Suppression of desire and an air of Propriety ruled the day in a lot of homes across the American South.  Some, like my Mother, perfected the art of "if we don't talk about it, it isn't real, happening or the truth".  Sadly though in most cases, it was real, it was happening and it was the truth.  The only truth we could ultimately live.  When I got to the point that my truth was the only truth I could live, my life was destroyed by the government and I was forever ostracized from my family.  Yet I have survived, despite the best efforts of the world to defeat me, I still stand here today ready for the fight.

Will is still with me and we, like many a family in America, are a Family of Choice.  We choose to be each other's family as the families we were born with basically left us for dead or tried to sweep our 'secret' so far under the rug it would seam like a feature of the floor. Will and I have been working on our dynamics in the last few months. Although the world at large has no clue as to how or why what we have works, it works for us and if they do not choose to understand, then that is truly their problem and not mine or ours.  It has been a difficult journey to get to be able to say and believe that statement.  Thanks in large part to the VA and the marvelously wonderful staff at Stay The Course Veteran's Services, I am on the road to really being all I can be.  I invite you all along on this journey.

I told you in my last post I would keep you apprised of the progress of my journey of which I have done a poor job.  However, I will attempt to rectify that oversight in the coming months as I tell you my story.  There may be a little less eye candy and a lot more prose, but always there will be the Music, the soundtrack of my life.  As the Music is the international language that speaks to all people and expresses the inexpressible in a way we all can absorb and understand.  So the formatting may change somewhat, but the standard of excellence I have set for Nichevo will never change.  Sometimes that is an awesome challenge, but one I feel up to meeting head on.  

I am not going to promise a daily post, my life today is far too busy to allow me the time for that ambitious an endeavor. I have however made it my goal to publish at least once a week on Sundays.  The will be prose, there will be an allotment of Men of course. I am not dead yet and I can always appreciate beauty in all its forms!  And always there will be the Music. I cannot live life without a soundtrack.  Music has been an integral part of my life since earliest childhood and will continue to be as long as I exist.  Life without Music is not life in my humble opinion.  I hope that you will continue to join me as I relate to you the mileposts of my journey thus far and into the future.

Now I suppose you may have wondered at the title to this post. It is a line from a Simon and Garfunkel song that happens to be the Class Song of my 1969 high school graduating class entitled the "Sounds of Silence".  I have been in the Darkness, but I wish to burst forth into the Light as symbolized by the photograph at the top of the post.  In order to do so, the time for the Sounds of My Silence have to come to an end.  I look forward to sharing my story with you as we continue on the journey that is Nichevo.

As for the Sounds of the Music today, I thought I would start with my favorite instrument and my first favorite composer. The instrument of course is the Violoncello and the composer is the "Red Priest" Antonio Lucio Vivaldi.  Today's recording features Vivaldi's six Cello Sonatas rendered masterfully by Brilliant Classics in this performance by L'Arte dell'Arco under Federico Guglielmo violin & concertmaster with the featured Soloist  Francesco Galligioni cello.  You may find the complete play list here.  The Cello has been a safe harbor for me many a time and Vivaldi never disappoints me in his brilliance as a Violinist and Composer.  So enjoy the recording during your most convenient quiet time, it is well worth the listen.

Given the thoughtful nature of today's initial volume of the Return of Nichevo, I thought I would just throw you one stunning photo that I am sure will give you plenty of food for thought.  Those readers not particularly into eye candy do not have to scroll any further than the last sentence.  You will find him just below this paragraph. That will about wrap up the blog for this week, I feel that today has been a break through day just because I sat down and the words flowed from my fingers.  That is a very good day in my book.  So take care, tune in and do come back to see me again. Thank you for the visit, until next time as always, Enjoy!

Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes Revisited

Every day this week, I have made a concentrated effort to catch up on all the episodes I have missed from the shows I follow.  I have made tremendous progress towards my goal and was working toward that this morning when I was profoundly affected by the episode of CSI: Cyber starring Patricia Arquette, Ted Danson and James Van Der Beek I was watching.  To explain the significance of that episode, first I must tell you a story about a remarkable woman who just so happens to share my birthday of May 27, so here goes:

Jane Elliott (born May 27, 1933, in Riceville, Iowa) is an American former third-grade schoolteacher, anti-racism activist and educator, as well as a feminist and LGBT activist. She is known for her "Blue eyes–Brown eyes" exercise. She first conducted her famous exercise for her class the day after Martin Luther King Jr was shot. When her local newspaper published compositions that the children wrote about the experience, the reactions (both positive and negative) formed the basis for her career as a public speaker against discrimination. Elliott's classroom exercise was filmed the third time she held it with her 1970 third-graders to become Eye of the Storm. This in turn inspired a retrospective that reunited the 1970 class members with their teacher fifteen years later in A Class Divided. After leaving her school, Elliott became a diversity trainer full-time and has been on Oprah and Ellen and still holds the exercise and gives lectures about its effects all over the U.S. and in several locations overseas.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, Elliott turned on her television and learned of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. She says she vividly remembers a scene in which a white reporter with the microphone pointed it toward a local black leader and asked, "When our leader [John F. Kennedy] was killed several years ago, his widow held us together. Who's going to control your people?" Shocked that a reporter could feel that Kennedy was a "white people's leader", she then decided to combine a lesson she had planned about Native Americans with a lesson she had planned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for February's Hero of the Month project. At the moment she was watching the news of King's death, she was ironing a teepee for use in a lesson unit about Native Americans.  To tie the two together, she used the Sioux prayer "Oh Great Spirit, keep me from ever judging a man until I have walked a mile in his moccasins."^[3] She wanted to give her small-town, all-white students the experience of "walking in the moccasins" of someone of color.

The following day, she had a class discussion about the lesson and racism in general. She later said: "I could see that they weren't internalizing a thing. They were doing what white people do. When white people sit down to discuss racism what they are experiencing is shared ignorance." Most of Elliott's eight-year-old students were, like her, born and raised in the small town of Riceville, Iowa and were not normally exposed to black people. She felt that simply talking about racism would not allow her all-white class to fully comprehend racism's meaning and effects.

Steven Armstrong was the first child to arrive in Elliott's classroom, asking why "that King" (referring to Martin Luther King Jr.) was murdered. After the rest of the class arrived, Elliott asked what they knew about black people. She then asked the children if they would like to try an exercise to feel what it would be like to be treated the way a person of color is treated in America. She decided to base the exercise on eye color rather than skin color to show the children what segregation would be like. The children agreed to try the exercise^.

On that first day of the exercise, she designated the blue-eyed children as the superior group. Elliott provided brown fabric collars and asked the blue-eyed students to wrap them around the necks of their brown-eyed peers as a method to easily identify the minority group. She gave the blue-eyed children extra privileges, such as second helpings at lunch, access to the new jungle gym, and five extra minutes at recess. The blue-eyed children sat in the front of the classroom, and the brown-eyed children were sent to sit in the back rows. The blue-eyed children were encouraged to play only with other blue-eyed children and to ignore those with brown eyes. Elliott would not allow brown-eyed and blue-eyed children to drink from the same water fountain and often chastised the brown-eyed students when they did not follow the exercise's rules or made mistakes. She often exemplified the differences between the two groups by singling out students and would use negative aspects of brown-eyed children to emphasize a point.

At first, there was resistance among the students in the minority group to the idea that blue-eyed children were better than brown-eyed children. To counter this, Elliott lied to the children by stating that melanin, which is responsible for making children blue-eyed, was also linked to their higher intelligence and learning ability. Shortly thereafter, this initial resistance fell away. Those who were deemed "superior" became arrogant, bossy, and otherwise unpleasant to their "inferior" classmates. Their grades on simple tests were better, and they completed mathematical and reading tasks that had seemed outside their ability before. The "inferior" classmates also transformed – into timid and subservient children who scored poorer on tests, and even during recess isolated themselves, including those who had previously been dominant in the class. These children's academic performance suffered, even with tasks that had been simple before.


The next Monday, Elliott reversed the exercise, making the brown-eyed children superior. While the brown-eyed children did taunt the blue-eyed children in ways similar to what had occurred the previous day, Elliott reports it was much less intense. At 2:30 on that Wednesday, Elliott told the blue-eyed children to take off their collars. To reflect on the experience, she asked the children to write down what they had learned.  Later she was quoted as saying "I think these children walked in a colored child's moccasins for a day"

The premise of the episode of CSI: Cyber I was watching was entitled "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes".  The lead character played by Arquette recalls here experience with the experiment in relation to the case they were investigating involving  a cyber generated social experiment designed to end in a race riot.  Of course the crime was solved and the end game of the perpetrator was prevented from coming to fruition... barely.  The show was very well done and as I said I was profoundly moved by the episode and its message.  If you have not watched this show, now in its second season on CBS.com or Hulu.  If you like intriguing drama and good acting, you would do well to catch up on this show and add it to your own watch list.  It is great to see responsible TV remind us of the lessons of the past to ensure we do not repeat our same mistakes.  I also think this is pretty cool that one of the best tools in the arsenal of the fight against bigotry and racisim was conceived and implemented by someone who also happens to be an out LGBT.  Visiblity is important but internalizing the true understanding of this knowledge is something that we should all should strive for.  We also should have more people like Jane Elliot in our lives to help us along the way.

Now as for Music and Men, I have some great stuff to share today with you also.  You all know how much I love the Cello, so I thought I would share some new music for the Cello.  I have 3 new works by young composers from The London Symphony Orchestra Soundhub Showcase for Phase I Composers at LSO St Luke’s on Saturday 13 June 2015.  First up is Klinge(n) by Benjamin Graves performed by Yoanna Prodanova;  then comes Foreign Tongues by Daniel Kidane performed by a quintet of members from the LSO.  The final piece in this play list is Tricko by Kit Downes performed by the Composer at the Piano and Lucy Railton on the Cello.  Then also from June and just released on You Tube is Luka Sulic performing Kol Nidrei by Max Bruch with the Zagreb Soloists at the Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb.  I have that posted over on my tumblr.

Now it is time for Friday's Fantasy Fuel to feed that over active imagination of yours which you will find posted down below.  Over on my tumblr, you will find that Your Hottie of the Day!, Enrique, is all set to add some 'sabor del fuego' to your fantasies.

Will got the parts for his computer today and is in the process of his build right now.  My parts came yesterday and I have already installed the new Asus Monitor (which is really fabulous by the way).  I will do my build over the weekend and should come to you for the Sunday Morning Concert from Nichevo 2.0.  The new monitor has a 1920 x 1080 resolution so I have to add more photos of that resolution to my portfolios.  The photo at the top of the post is my latest wallpaper and I already had this one at the proper resolution so up it went,  I should be an exciting weekend for me and you will hear all about it on Sunday or Monday.  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon from Nichevo 2.0!!  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Friday

Not in the Mood. 
Fantasy Fuel
Hottie of the Day!
Brahms' Cello Sonata

Friday

Well we made it to Friday once again, and mostly in one piece.  Just one more truck night and then the Weekend is mine.  I am getting used to having 'normal' weekends off after years and years of working on Saturday and Sunday.  I may bar the door this weekend though, and hermitize myself for some much needed R & R.  Maybe not, we shall see what the weekend shall bring.  

For today, we continue Ensemble Week with a couple of wonderful performances by the Khachaturian Trio ( Armine Grigoryan, Piano; Karen Shahgaldyan, Vion and Karen Kocharyan, Cello) and their Friends, Sona Barsegyan on Piano and Hayk Ter-Hovannisyan on Viola.  Recorded live at the Special Events Auditorium of the Cafesjian Center for the Arts, Yerevan, Armenia this two part concert entitled 'Fantasy' features works from Bazzini, Sarasate, Schubert and Brahms.  In the first part of hte concert Armine and Sona perform 3 Fantasies:  Bazzini's Fantasy on themes from Verdi's La Traviata, Sarasatae's Fantasy on the theme from Mozart's Magic Flute and Schubert's Fantasy for Piano Four Hands.  In part two, Hayk joins the Trio for Brahms Piano Quartet in G Minor.  Over on my tumblr, the Khachaturian Trio puts on an intimate Chamber Concert featuring Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio Number 1 in D Minor, Opus 49.  

Since this is Friday, and we all need us some fantasy... I tried to select the most sizzlin' studs among the many in the file I had pulled up for this week's edition of Fantasy Fuel which you will find posted down below.  Each portrait evokes its own spark to set fire to your desire.  To add spice to the mixture, be sure to check out the 'Lascivious Latino', Your Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for the visit, stop in tomorrow for Ensemble Week's Saturday Evening Concert.  Until next time as always, enjoy!

And Then The Phone Rang...

I think I made it to Friday.  Let me check that Thursday is ACTUALLY  over...  Last we spoke I was saying my Pay Day was to be jam packed with activity.  Boy was it ever.  I thought it would never end.  I had made good progress through my list. So much so, I eliminated the last errand as it had become unnecessary.   I was winding down getting ready to head off to some much deserved rest.  And then the phone rang...

It was my boss of course saying some waste-oid had called in for some flimsy excuse or another (For a waste-oid, almost any one will do!) and wanting me to cover the shift.  I did it of course, but by the time I did get around to getting that much needed rest, it was nigh onto 10 PM.  As a result, both my body clock and my schedule are kinda whacked today.  No matter, after truck night, I have the weekend off and all will be OK!  Luckily as I began my process to put this post together, a beautiful thing popped up in my You Tube Subscriptions In Box.  I would thus like to share it with you now.  

Today's Musical Moment is the first recording ever released of the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Dimitri Shostakovich.  The recording is by the Moscow Radio House from 1959 and features the Composer himself at the Piano and Mstislav Rostropovich as the Cellist.   It is a monaural recording, yet the mystery of Shostakovich and the rich masterful tones of Rostropovich ring out  in this marvelous classic recording.  Fast forward a few years and you will find this performance of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto Number 1 by  Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra with  Yo Yo Ma as the Soloist to be equally intriguing.  You may hear that recording over on my tumblr.  

Then Friday would not be Friday with just a bit of Fantasy Fuel which you will find posted down below.  There is also the Hottie of the Day! who wants to take you on a Picnic in the Park over on my tumblr.  Thanks for the visit, stop in tomorrow for another Fabulous Live Saturday Evening Concert, see you then.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Saturday Evening Concert

Welcome to the Weekend and your Saturday Evening Concert.  As always, I have a stellar live performance lined up for you this evening.  But first I must tell you, today is a special day here in Fort Worth, marking the end of the 2015 Stock Show and Rodeo (Oh, Thank You, Jesus!).  But that is not the only reason today is special here in Fort Worth.  Across from the Stock Show Festivities sits the Kimball Art Museum, recently expanded and World Class, whose facilities include a concert venue in their Piano Pavillion.  This evening the Piano Pavillion plays host to one of the premier masters of the accoustic Classical Guitar, Pepe Romero.

While I cannot live stream the simulcast of Pepe in Concert from the Kimball, I do have a Concert Performance from September of 2007 to share with you.  In this concert appearance Pepe Romero plays the world premier of Federico Moreno Torroba's Sabicas Concierto en Flamenco and also the Concierto de Malaga written by his father, Celedonio Romero, with his son, Angel Romero, conducting the Orquesta Filarmonica de Málaga from his hometown of Malaga Spain.  

For another classic live performance, head on over to my tumblr.  There you will find the 1954 recording of then 77 year old Pablo Casals performing the Suite Number 1 for Solo Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach.  You will also find the Hottie of the Day!, Brandon to put the cherry on the top of the sundae after  you cruise the Naked or Nearly So in the post down below.  Thanks for sharing part of your Weekend with me, see you again on Monday for another week of Music, Men & More! Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

As you can tell from the time stamp on this post, I am running slightly behind today.  It is Pay Day with an especially long list of chores and errands that had to be accomplished.  I came home from work this morning, napped for a couple of hours then got up to get things rolling.  The day took off like a lit fuse and exploded into activity that kept me occupied and on the run to almost 6 this evening.  I am just glad that with the new schedule, I now am off on Pay Day.  I used to have to do all this stuff and make it to work on time at 5.  All without being a stressed out SOB.  Now that I am finally home, I can chill, catch up on all my shows and try to catch up on some rest.  I have a 10 hour work day tomorrow, so I will need to get at least a little rest.  Anywho, let's get to the Music so I can proceed to chillax.  

Your featured selection today is Piano Trio No.7 in B-flat major, Op.97 "Archduke" by Ludwig von Beethoven.  Today's performance is from a Classic 1956 recording of a trio of Russian All-Stars in Emil Gilels on Piano, Leonid Kogan on Violin and Mstislave Rostropovich on Cello.  You may also hear a live performance of Beethoven's 'Gassenhauer' Clarinet Trio by Paul Meyer, Julian Steckel and Éric Le Sage over on my tumblr.  Then be sure to check out 'Nature Boy', Your Hottie of the Day! while you are there.  Thanks for stopping in, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!

Pleasure Points

The Holidays are fast approaching with Thanksgiving less than a week away.  The Holidays in Spirit are supposed to be filled with Joy, Happiness and the Spirit of Giving all meant of course to give one pleasure.  One of the things among the many that gives me pleasure is sharing with and helping others.  Sometimes it is as simple as giving away a smile to someone that does not have one.  Sometimes it takes a little more effort than that.  I often us my talents in the kitchen to pass along a meal or meals to someone who needs it which is a tremendous source of pleasure.  Giving a friend a ride, sometimes just lending an ear.  In this Spirit, I would like to pass along a request from a friend of mine for a friend of her and Nichevo both.  Bailey Bradford posted a link to a Facebook post by Crystal Marie of  Crystal Marie's Reviews about her younger brother Vinny.  Vinny is an amazing child with a ready smile for anyone and is a friend to all he meets.  Vinny however needs our help although he would never ask.  So Crystal Marie took to Facebook to tell his story.  Vinny was born with Down's Syndrome but has never let that keep him from enjoying life and sharing his smile with everyone.  Now Vinny is fighting leukemia and is very sick, yet he still smiles.  Vinny loves T-shirts of any kind and he absolutely loves to get mail.  So Crystal is asking folks to help brighten Vinny's Christmas by sending him a Christmas Card with a simple message of Joy from wherever you are.  You,  like me probably have not done your card mailing yet so adding one for a brave young man like Vinny to your list should be easy to do.  Vinny has a T-shirt page also but Crystal says a card would be enough to make Vinny's Christmas more joyous.  Read Vinny's story and make it a pleasure point for Vinny and yourselves by taking a minute to send him some Seasons Greetings, you will be glad you did.   

Other things that give me pleasure are of course Beautiful Music and Magnificent Men.  Sharing that pleasure with you all is a Labor of Love and an immense Joy for me, even when I bitch about it.   For your Friday Musical Moment I want to share a couple of my favorites from the world of Classical Music, Music for the Cello and Italian Composer Antonio Vivaldi.  Our featured selections today come from Vivaldi's The Early Concerti for Violincello Obligato.  Included in the play list are the Concerti for Cello, Strings and Basso Continuo in A minor RV 422; D minor RV 407; G minor RV 416; B flat major RV 423; C minor RV 402; A minor RV 420 and D minor RV 405.  Today's performance is by Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca whose members are Walter Vestidello [violoncello], Giorgio Fava [violin], , Roberto Falcone [violin], Judit Földes [viola], Nicola Dal Maso [violone], Giancarlo Pavan [double bass]. Giancarlo Rado [archlute] and Gianpietro Rosato [harpsichord, organ].  You may join the Sonatori over on my tumblr along with Giuliano Carmignola [violin] for their performance of Vivaldi's Concerti della Natura. 

I do love to share what I think is my excellent taste of the Beauty of the Male Form and the artistic representations of that Beauty.  To that end, let me provide you with the final Pleasure Point for today with an exquisite collection of truly magnificent examples of Art and Beauty in this week's edition of Fantasy Fuel on display below the play list.  You may also find your Hottie of the Day!, Alberto Castro Porras to be your perfect Fiesta of Fantasy over on my tumblr.  Thanks for the visit, see you again over the weekend for the Saturday at the Symphony Evening Concert.  In the meantime, I hope you indulge yourselves in at least one Pleasure Point over the weekend, and oh yeah, please remember to add Vinny to your Christmas Card list.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!