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Belle

Nelsons is conducting the Wiener Philharmoniker Neujahrskonzert, January 1.

Belle

I forgot to include this woman in my discussion about vile women and how bad they can be:

Magda Goebbels ... who administered poison to all her children. She was a monster of the highest degree.

Belle

Thanks for this; my husband and I have followed the Decorah Eagles up until about July. I wondered about them when the TV news said there were 'Arctic temperatures' forecast for that area. What upset us both was those dreadful gnats (Buffalo flies) that drove the eaglets and their parents mad, proba...

Belle

Prayers your way ; how awful. Hopefully the Deputy PM and his Government can get more fire protection, and military troops, to you, regardless of wheat prices ! The erstwhile PM is no longer in government but is now regarded as something of an elder statesman. He has quite a bit of influence in the...

Belle

I remember seeing master classes on U-Tube with Andras Schiff in the UK and USA where he chided the pianists for rocking around while they were playing!! I do find it distracting but, of course, on CDs you can't see it anyway!! 8) Good answers about the 'greatest' pianist of 20th century - 'it all d...

Belle

We might equally ask the same question about Schubert; why did his operas bomb?

I've never liked the music of Puccini - let alone the operas - except for "Petite Messe Solennelle". That Rossini was more popular that Beethoven in Vienna....well.. (cue exasperation!).

Belle

A friend this week asked me what I thought of Lang Lang. I had to tread carefully because he has a recording on DVD of LL appearing in concert. In the interests of providing a 'closed' answer I said that "he's grown into the job and matured quite a lot". He went on to comment about the gesticulation...

Belle

Thanks again for your kind thoughts!! We are bracing for the worst every single day, with no rain forecast in the forseeable future. To date there have been 10 arrests for arson, the latest a 51 year old man!! So, most of these fires have been deliberately lit. As I said before, they can really expe...

Belle

My cousin lives in the badly affected Forster/Tuncurry/Taree area. Her husband is a retired Detective Sergeant from the police force and he's been called in to investigate some of these fires; most, if not all, of them are believed to have been deliberately lit. The majority of offenders who've done...

Belle

Cheaper fares have made flying far more democratic. I don't want to go back to the days when only the rich could fly. And is not Melbourne-Sydney one of the world's busiest routes? You can do that for next to nothing on Tiger (which I wouldn't dream of doing because they are so unreliable) up throu...

Belle

Great, John, thanks. I will Chromecast tomorrow and watch.

Oh, I've just realized I've seen it before!!

Belle

It's a war zone in some parts of NSW, including the Sydney suburb of Turramurra. Our house still standing when we arrived home from lunch. Our friends had another 'refugee' there who had left her house in fear too. This is far from over. We have all our valuables contained in suitcases and are ready...

Belle

Barney, we last had decent rain in April, 2015, while we were in Europe. Whatever showers we've had subsequently have been dried up by ensuing high winds. The ground here is crisp and dusty and our water bills horrific. Spouse is out right now removing leaves from the roof as we have to go to lunch ...

Belle

How very kind of you to think of us; thanks very much. I live in one of the zones rated 'catastrophic' and the fire headquarters/command centre is just 400m down the road from our house in the Hunter Valley!! Our neighbours say that should make us feel safe, but the fire-fighters are usually away fi...

Belle

If Donald Trump has been able to redraw the electoral boundaries/college to suit himself then he can expect the same thing to happen to him next time!! More than one person can play that game. He's not bright enough to do that-he's relying on Putin! Regards, Len :( Can you clarify what you mean? Ar...

Belle

People accused Bjelke-Peterson of a 'gerrymander' in Queensland back in the day. I think this had something to do with altering the electoral boundaries at a sensitive time, but I cannot quite remember. As you say, it's not the role of political parties to draw electoral boundaries and thank god for...

Belle

Quite right; all politicians, of whatever stripe, routinely lie. As I've said before, the morality of a society runs vertically through all the strata/classes/professions/races rather than horizontally through one. Who can ever forget the immortal lines in the Stanley Donen film, " Charade ": "Why d...

Belle

John F wrote: ↑
Sat Nov 09, 2019 5:36 am
I do mind "Winterreise" sung by a woman, even as communicative an artist as Lotte Lehmann. The story is about leaving a girl who is marrying for money, and makes no sense if the traveler is also a woman, implying some kind of lesbian relationship.

I must say I have to agree with this.

Belle

I won't mention the war; I did once, but I think I got away with it. (Basil Fawlty)

Belle

Double ouch, Barney!! I don't feel I could have gone that far in criticizing the US, which is still in my affections. Just use the short-form "deplorables" and we'll all understand.

Belle

barney wrote: ↑
Fri Nov 08, 2019 7:06 am
People do call it racist,and indeed our Prime Minister stooped to that re Gladys Liu,but I am unquestionably with you on this.

Let's be clear; the vast majority of politicians need their heads banged together anyway!

Belle

Basically most of the things you've said were in that program. Yes, a wonder of an aircraft and - just imagine - 50 year old technology, since its designing began about the time of the 747!! It made my heart soar just to watch it and also to hear the erstwhile crew talk about it. What human beings a...

Belle

The Concorde was profitable at the exorbitant price of a ticket, and overlooking the immense cost of building the thing, which was never recovered. As for its purported usefulness to budiness people, again, nobody's time is so valuable that savng three hours at a cost of$10,000 makes economic or bu...

Belle

Who would have thought? Are we a retrograde society or what? :mrgreen: I agree that LPs were the ideal format for reading about the music contained therein, but I was never comfortable with Snap, Crackle and Pop as part of my musical experience. That young people are willing to compromise their lis...

Belle

Actually, the documentary said that Concorde was very successful once it was marketed properly - for a good many years. Today it wouldn't be needed so much because of the internet and tele-conferencing but apparently business people used it to get to NYC from London (and vice versa) when they'd very...

Belle

I admire David Brooks from seeing him on "The News Hour" with Mark Shields. Other than that, I know nothing of his work. Me too. Never read a word he wrote till now, stumbled upon it in my wife's Kindle library. More than a confessional spiritual journey, also an intellectual odyssey and a stirring...

Belle

Thanks so much; I'll certainly give it my attention. Right now I'm programming my last Semester (1, 2020) as Co-ordinator for our music group and I've just had a submission to examine the Bach St. Matthew Passion - from a choirmaster/musician/musicological perspective - over 2 sessions. Here we have...

Belle

When your system is referred to as " affordable care " that relates to individual Americans but not to the taxation system overall!! Assuming Obamacare's $700 billion/yr in healthcare subsidies is unaffordable for the govt, that makes the 2017 GOP tax cut of $1.5 trillion (2/3 of which in 2018 went...

Belle

I admire David Brooks from seeing him on "The News Hour" with Mark Shields. Other than that, I know nothing of his work. I just looked at the review in the NYT and it's a personal journey. This is usually the stuff of Jordan Peterson, so I might easily read it. Looks like a good read!! The review sa...

Belle

I only asked Lance because of the sheer number of recordings he has of it!! (Thomas Quasthoff - wunderbah!!) Gerald Moore really was an exceptional artist; he just understood Schubert as few accompanists have. But I wonder about the newer generation of accompanists, as they seem to have been oversha...

Belle

I just counted up how many Schubert Winterreise s I have on CD (does not include any LP performances of which there are also many), and the count is 48 . Isn't that completely ridiculous?!? Some artists have recorded it several times, or live and studio performances as well. I think it is about eno...

Belle

Belle the rich getter richer-the rest of us are conned. The corruption of this trump and his cronies is right out there for the viewing-very sad. Len Yesterday I was at the dentist and we had a bit of time before his next appointment so we 'chewed the fat' about political issues. (This is something...

Belle

You've mentioned this wonderful production before!! I'm watching it again. Levine really has been quite the Wagnerian conductor, from all accounts. Pity about the other issues but I'm inclined to the view, more and more, that he has/had psychological issues; though this doesn't provide an excuse per...

Belle

He and his are still trying to repeal the affordable care act. Len :( Yes, it's a huge dilemma. The British Health system is free and a total shambles. Millionaires get free medical care under their 'universal' system and my GP, who worked as a surgeon at St. George's, London (featured in ' 24 Hour...

Belle

The "forgotten people" living lives of quiet desperation surely exist but they were not the deciding factor in electing Donald Trump — the Russians were.

Absolutely priceless!! I'm probably triggering, so I'll stop now.

Belle

For the record, I'll decide what I do and do not appreciate without any unsolicited assistance. To get an inkling of what American exceptionalism might actually entail, however, one might take the time to look at the relevant presidential speeches by JFK and Ronald Reagan or at the estimable intell...

Belle

Indeed, America, as I see her, is different, and exceptional. But taking a longer view, we all will need luck, Mitochondrial Eve being what she is. That very same 'difference' and 'exceptionalism' which saw the election of Donald Trump? You didn't seem to appreciate those qualities then!!! The real...

Belle

In the case of the war which never ended it seems to me conciliation is the answer. But there is such a thing as 'loser consent' in a democracy and without that - without people accepting the will of the people - there are grounds right there for big strife. If you think the USA is different to all ...

Belle

Presumably that includes a vicious civil war. There were idealists there too, I'm told

Dear me, pardon my cynicism.

Belle

I wouldn't be so sure about the outcome of any of this. The world over, democracies are becoming unstable, minority governments: Australia had one until 18 May and only holds by a slender majority of 1, the UK is in minority (and probably will be so again), Canada, Israel, NZ as well as Germany (whe...

Belle

Well, the Chinese are almost single-handedly keeping the Australian university system alive, coming here in droves and paying top dollars. I've no problem with that, but I have real problems with pusillanimous administrations that let Chinese authorities set the courses and have no problem with the...

Belle

And here's another from an area very close to our former farm: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Folbigg Note that 'on appeal' her original sentence was commuted to 25 years. That's 6.25 years per child and such leniency most certainly would not have been available if it was the father doing th...

Belle

SURELY this is a big mistake; only men are violent and toxic!! In our area, about 10 years ago, a woman killed her 2 children, husband and then shot herself. Filicide: why do parents kill their children ? CAROLINE OVERINGTON ASSOCIATE EDITOR, THE AUSTRALIAN The neighbours heard the screaming first. ...

Belle

Two interviews, in English, the 2019 about non-CM topics mostly, which may be of interest to your 10-year old ( if the painting on wall is appropriate ), the other 2014 not as interesting with annoying background music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eu44fO447c (2019 ) https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Belle

I just listened to these; thanks. These two musicians are growing on me daily, with their confidence, artistry and sheer talent. Fluent in at least 3 languages and looking every bit like movie stars, I'm sure they both have very bright futures. I'm wanting to get my grandsons in Perth interested in ...

Belle

I would be very interested in hearing such a program as I generally know nothing much at all about Levine's work at The Met.

Belle

Interesting question, Lance. First, I think there's a gulf between Domingo, an old-fashioned Lothario who now seems a bit of a dinosaur but no worse than that because he took no for an answer, and Levine, an alleged paedophile and exploiter. With Levine, I am happy to play his performances myself. ...

Belle

barney wrote: ↑
Mon Oct 28, 2019 4:28 pm
Fair enough. I don't know her, though obviously she has a following, but I found her every bit as "look at me, look at me" as he was. But they were both pretty quick on the banter.

I thought Gene took Chelsea's ridicule really well; it was really out there!!

Belle

Not funny. Too many careers and lives have been ruined. One victim was the American tenor Jerry Hadley, who committed suicide in 2007, a year after he was arrested for attempting to drive while intoxicated. That was a real tragedy with Jerry Hadley; he had a beautiful voice and I was terribly shock...

Belle

A stitch in time saves 9?

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