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barney

New Zealand is definitely the one. I was brought up there and am still an NZ citizen (along with UK and Australia). I think it's most beautiful country I've seen, from Norwegian-style fjords in the south, lakes, glaciers and imposing mountains flanked by rolling English countryside on one side and m...

barney

I don't Donald, but I guess you do, so I send your felicitations and warm wishes back to you.

barney

Surely this is the most slimy, incompetent, despicable US Administration ever. Barr should be in jail.

barney

Scientific American Breaks With 175-Year Precedent to Endorse Biden This article appeared on Truthout, an independent left-wing news service. Mike Ludwig, Truthout PUBLISHED September 16, 2020 Scientific American has endorsed a presidential candidate for the first time in the widely respected magazi...

barney

Great timing!

barney

And you balance your reading so carefully, Belle. Hint: The Australian, Murdoch's flagship, is not left-wing, nor is it centrist.

barney

He went further, saying his physical health was in question, and his “mental health has definitely failed.” Caputo has correctly diagnosed himself. There are various forms of psychosis, but delusional thinking is a common thread in these mental diseases. In any other government or private sector bu...

barney

Trump just gets more loathsome and despicable every passing day.

barney

Of course you are right. Though it's probably easier to judge the US than any other country because of the flood of media, Hollywood, soaps etc that come to Australia. Don' get me wrong, I'm not saying we are necessarily accurate, but there is much more information. I read dozens and dozens of polit...

barney

This guy Caputo is a typical Trump appointee, now that all the adults have left the room. He is deranged, or malevolent, or stupid, or very likely all three.
Indeed, he admits the first charge.

barney

Belle is right that the malaise didn't begin with Trump. It's just that he turned up the dial from 2 to 126. And the Republicans went along with it all the way, apart from a few exceptional individuals. She's also right that people who vote for Trump have some sort of blindness, and I thank her for ...

barney

Rach3 wrote: ↑
Tue Sep 15, 2020 10:17 am

A little Vivaldi goes a long way with me, so I heard just the first 2 concertos.

How true that is. I feel Vivaldi wrote the same work 600 times; they are all interchangeable. I don't mind if I never hear the Four Seasons again. I like the violinist, though.

barney

What a sad story. One keystroke ends a career. Seems to me he has a case, but good luck getting recompense out of China, while his quartet colleagues are probably not flush with funds even if a court should find them responsible. No winners out of this, except the bullies of the CCP.

barney

:lol:Very good Joseph. Pinker and Grayling could be matched bookends from science and philosophy. Just before I leave Harrison (it's a very long and critical review), I want to quote one of the best paragraphs I've read in a review: For the sceptical reader the whole strategy of the book looks like ...

barney

Intellectuals hate progress. Intellectuals who call themselves “progressive” really hate progress. It’s not that they hate the fruits of progress , mind you: most pundits, critics, and their bien-pensant readers use computers rather than quills and inkwells, and they prefer to have their surgery wi...

barney

I hope you are right, Joseph, and you probably are. It's just that I struggle to cope with the apparent fact that 4 in 10 Americans admire Trump, are unconcerned at his loathsome personality and single political policy: personal enrichment and exaltation. 4 in 10!!! How is it possible? After that he...

barney

There are plenty of Republicans who have broken with Trump, just as many Democrats, including Biden, have spoken out against those that resort to violence. But I agree with Barney , Those condemnations by the leaders of each camp haven’t been forceful enough. Precisely. But even more than that, it ...

barney

That's an astonishing ad. It might put more people off than it persuades.

barney

I think a more pertinent question to ask is why doesn't Donald Trump condemn violence committed by the Proud Bois, Patriot Prayer, the Charlottesville marchers? Why does he encourage them, call them "fine people" or even "patriots"? Why is the onus on Democrats to denounce violence but not Republic...

barney

Really glad this has emerged, and what a courageous man the whistleblower is. The US has excellent whistleblower laws. In Australia, he would probably be whisked off to jail in total secrecy, followed by a secret trial (as happened in a similar example here recently). Our laws are appalling.

barney

...if the Democrats deny that looting is a problem, or even happening, and Trump is able to turn this into a law and order election, that will be calamitous. That is Sullivan's point, and I agree. You're suggesting a defensive strategy, particularly one that assumes the Republican framing of the Bl...

barney

You might have put this in the wrong forum, Len, even if it is music to your ears.

barney

You make strong points, and by and large I agree with you. But, as a matter of strategy, if the Democrats deny that looting is a problem, or even happening, and Trump is able to turn this into a law and order election, that will be calamitous. That is Sullivan's point, and I agree. I am sure you agr...

barney

Another powerful ad from the Lincoln Project.
Even Fox News endorsing it. How the heck did that happen? Was Rupert having a lie-in that morning?
This has got to damage the draft-dodger in chief among his constituency, which is particularly patriotic, no?

barney

I didn't know that Gould/Bernstein story. It almost beggars belief, a conductor coming on stage before a concert and disavowing the soloist and the performance. But at least Bernstein did let Gould determine the tempi. Rubinstein/Reiner story is fascinating too. I am sure it happens more often than...

barney

I bow to your superior literary taste! I read Beowulf in modern translation 40 years ago. Growing up, I loved Tolkien and read Lord of the Rings annually from age 12 to 19, and once or twice since.

barney

I didn't know that Gould/Bernstein story. It almost beggars belief, a conductor coming on stage before a concert and disavowing the soloist and the performance. But at least Bernstein did let Gould determine the tempi. Rubinstein/Reiner story is fascinating too. I am sure it happens more often than ...

barney

The orcs didn't despise fighting/fighters.

barney

Trump's alleged remarks are absolutely in character. I completely believe it.

barney

What a lot of discussion has gone on in this thread since I last checked in! :D And it's all very interesting. CMG at its best. Tangentially, JohnF and I crossed swords on Norman Lebrecht. John couldn't stand him. Norman can be a show pony, but he loves music, is always entertaining, and his views a...

barney

Thanks for posting this, Len. I look forward to going through them.

barney

Yes, such rituals are very affirming. I think my favourite religious work is Messiah because it is so exquisite yet so accessible, though the St Matthew Passion and Mass in B minor are possibly greater musical achievements. This will (probably) be the first time in years that I have not attended a l...

barney

An outrage. My wife's father was a bomber pilot in World War II. Luckily, he didn't get shot down by German flak, but many were. Were the troops who stormed the beaches at Normandy under heavy German fire, fought at the Battle of the Bulge, or liberated the concentration camp at Dachau losers ? Of ...

barney

I agree. I am always delighted when I listen to a Bach cantata, but would become fatigued after half a dozen, let alone 150, if I wanted to play them in order.

barney

Sorry, DG Eloquence, as you said Lance. It comes from the same Australian compiler whether Decca or DG.

barney

I've got this set too, but haven't opened it yet. I have a large number of the CDs already- at least a dozen from releases as single Decca Eloquence CDs. He also appears in other sets. Still, maybe I will have the self discipline to find the single recordings and give them to friends so as to free u...

barney

Those are interesting responses. When I don't like something, and the performers are top-tier, then I always wonder if it's just me, which I'm perfectly okay with, or if the issue is more general. So it would seem to be more general. The Triple Concerto with Hvk, with Rostoprovich, Oistrakh and Ric...

barney

Trump at the RNC: Echoes of Saddam (Counterpunch 31/8/2020) By Patrick Cockburn | On 6 September 2020 The Republican convention was a nauseating performance even by the cess-pit standards of the Trump administration. In its cult-like obeisance to the supreme leader it reminds me of meetings of the I...

barney

Rach3 wrote: ↑
Sat Sep 05, 2020 10:14 am
As one who has a family member in the military, reaffirms my view if you support Trump we can’t be friends.

I know of no friends who support Trump. I don't think this is coincidence.

barney

More shameless his suckers ante up for Do I dare risk a knuckle rap from a culture warrior by using the term deplorables ? Deplorables-without-tears? If not for the voters - and I'd prefer deluded to deplorable - then certainly for the GOP, which has been simply disgusting for most of the 21st cent...

barney

Score settling to be sure. But Wolkoff is also shining a light on massive corruption and apparent theft in the Trump Inaugural committee—millions upon millions of dollars went poof! like magic—and the WH, with Melania's acquiescence, made Melania's supposed friend Wolkoff the fall guy for that scan...

barney

Actually, I find all this tell-all stuff a bit unsettling. What business is it of ours how Melania and Ivanka get on? Does it affect the nation in any way? I find it a bit sleazy - smacking of the revenge of a spurned friend and possibly the chance to make a bit of money. Still, that said, I read th...

barney

"I'm the only one who can furgle up. I know more more about furgling up than the furglers do." Furgle, that rhymes with burgle-he's trying to burgle the election! Regards, Len :( He certainly is. And the NYT today talks of the Russian interference getting busy again. But I'm terrified - and that ma...

barney

Actually, it's a very lovely r ecital. Thanks for posting the links.

barney

Yes, and conductors like the much-admired Labadie in Bach play far too fast for my liking. The music is strangled, and where there are singers they often can't really articulate. He wouldn't have to slow down a lot to let the music breathe just a little and still keep the excitement he wants. I reme...

barney

This piece by the conservative commentator Andrew Sullivan, who has seen from the very start what Donald Trump is ("I said long ago I thought the election of Donald Trump was an extinction-level event for liberal democracy) crystallises my own thoughts and fears absolutely. The Democrats' refusal to...

barney

From the name, Nino, I was expecting male pianist but she is a bit too beautiful for that. :D I'm listening now, just started the Arabesque and see what Brian means. But it doesn't offend me at all. I would also be eager to hear her Mussorgsky disc, because the music on that would be much less well ...

barney

In general, I am a great fan of Haitink as a conductor who puts the music above his own personal glorification. I think that this is very important. The big exception, and, given that I am probably the world's biggest Shostakovich fan, an important exception, is in Russian music, especially Shostak...

barney

During my training at Juilliard, my Maestro, Vincent La Selva, continuously stressed that "Fatser is not necessarily more exciting!" It's true. Excitement and the electricity of the finest performances come from the commitment and passion of the musicians involved. Many conductors make this mistake...

barney

Great memories, Brian. And, as you say, a very sad announcement.

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