Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Cole is on a roll !

T R E 4 5 O N

đŸŽ¶ Those boots were made for mockin’ đŸŽ”

You cannot shame the shameless.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Second rate reporter says what?

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

You are here: Home / Music / Late Evening Open Thread: There’s Always Room for Cello!

Reader Interactions

217Comments

  1. 1.

    Corner Stone

    Always! I love me some cello. You know what’s better than a cello? Four cellos!

  2. 2.

    Major Major Major Major

    I love how everybody knows Bach’s Cello Suite #1 Prelude as “oh yeah, that cello song” and all cellists get asked “oh, do you know that one song??” and it’s always that one.

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Watching Casino Royale on FLIX, so I haven’t listened, but It’s a nice dress.

  6. 6.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    the resistance lives

    Constituents Heckle GOP Congressman At Town Hall: ‘Do Your Job’
    More than 1,000 people showed up to question Rep. Chris Stewart.

    Utah.

    More than 1,000 people attended Friday’s town hall at West High School, the first held in the state since Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) claimed protesters at a forum he held in February were paid. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that members of the audience frequently shouted at Stewart to “do your job,” called him a “liar” and asked “who are you in bed with?” They also held up signs that read “agree” or “disagree” to show the congressman how they felt about his responses to questions.
    Stewart was also booed for professing support for Trump’s proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and for claiming that Congress is “trying to make [health care] better for you” by attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

    also booed… what fine words to see in an article about a Retrumplican

  7. 7.

    SiubhanDuinne

    My late father was a cellist (also a bugler/trumpeter, composer, and conductor). Cello and French horn are without doubt my two favourite instruments.

  8. 8.

    Tokyokie

    Nice, but it’s not Pablo Casals playing Vivaldi’s Sonatino in E sharp during a 400-foot plunge into a bucket of boiling fat.

  11. 11.

    Ninedragonspot

    Though this is probably my favorite Starker recording. He and FirkuĆĄnĂœ play the hell out of MartinĆŻ.

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SiubhanDuinne: Hmmm… To me, there is a tonal similarity between the two instruments. But then my instrument was violin (secondarily, viola). And my violin was a Strad replica – bright and colorful in tone.

  14. 14.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    and here is one of the weirdest internet traditions of which I am aware

  15. 15.

    Brachiator

    I was listening to variations on this theme via YouTube the other day. I was also thinking about how much I admire some of Michael Mann’s films, beginning with Thief, starring James Caan.

    Also, you get an interesting sequence of American history from the various “American” films starring Daniel Day Lewis.

    I also saw Ghost in the Shell today, which fails to improve over the graphic novel or great animated film version. Great production design, but glum soundtrack and undistinguished direction. I have mixed feelings about the controversy over the casting. I don’t think it matters as much here given the material’s fantasy universe even though there’s a twist which pointlessly steps into the controversy. Given how similar themes about robotic identity have been explored better before (Robocop, Blade Runner, The Matrix, Ex Machina, Westworld), Ghost in the Shell needed to offer something deeper and original, and actually the good cast and acting sometimes offers hints of a much better movie that could have been shaped from the raw material here.

  19. 19.

    Ruckus

    Hey! Look who’s back. I live/walk in an area with a lot of homeless/street people and I’ve never had one of them ask for money. I come here and look what shows up. A professional beggar.

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Sab:

    There are no instruments I actively dislike, but oboe is not at the top of my fave list.

  24. 24.

    Sab

    I love French horn. I also love cello, but I like baroque music and all the cellos ever get to do there is play ground base. Same three chords over and over until maybe the key changes.

  25. 25.

    Roger Moore

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I love how everybody knows Bach’s Cello Suite #1 Prelude as “oh yeah, that cello song” and all cellists get asked “oh, do you know that one song??” and it’s always that one.

    And, of course, they all do, because the Bach suites are such a bedrock of the repertoire.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @efgoldman:

    Don’t think I knew she was a Frenchie. It is a gorgeous sound when played well. I especially love the sound of a horn choir (Weber Freischutz overture, e.g.)

  29. 29.

    germy

    @Gin & Tonic: I think he’s brilliant. He showed up this afternoon at the puppy lovers/writers’ thread. He knew puppy lovers would be a soft touch, and writers want to help other writers. But he got deleted.

  30. 30.

    debit

    I am generally a live and let live kind of person, but @jurassicpork: contributes nothing to this blog, yet feels free to come here and attempt con us out of money. I say permaban.

  31. 31.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    To me, there is a tonal similarity between the two instruments.

    Indeed, I agree with you. I think it is that shared tone that I respond to with such positivity.

  33. 33.

    germy

    There is a conductor (I can’t remember his name) who says Beethoven is played too slowly nowadays. He conducted one symphony at what he called Ludwig’s intended tempo, and it was like a rock concert.

  38. 38.

    germy

    @Adam L Silverman:

    If he/she gets worst, persistent, outright annoying, I’ll go UNODIR.

    He never reaches that level. He simply posts and then leaves. Waits by his paypal account for the little “ka-ching!” sound. Someone here said he hits a bunch of blogs.

  40. 40.

    Ruckus

    @debit:
    A few years ago he did at least try a bit to be involved. But then became so obvious and tedious that most lost all interest. Now all he does is show up once in a while and annoy with his begging.

  48. 48.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @germy: I’ve seen him at just about every blog where I somewhat regular read the comments– BJ is now just about the only one where I still do

  51. 51.

    germy

    @debit:

    I can’t believe someone is paying him to write How to Make Money as an Internet Panhandler.

    "Mining Liberal & Progressive Blogs: They're Sympathetic, They Care, And They Love Giving Money Away"

  52. 52.

    lamh36

    Watched the Matrix earlier, now watching Matrix Reloaded.

    sure I’ve said this every time i watch it, but The Matrix really does hold up VERY well even 16 yrs later.

    Not for nothing, but for it’s “era” the diversity in The Matrix cast, even more so when you get to see Zion in Matrix Reloaded is greatness. Compare the trilogy’s diversity to even some of today’s big Sci-fi films and the Matrix really puts a lot of them to shame,

    Sadly, the entire Matrix universe when really broken down is a bunch of gobbledegook, but actions sequences are so EPIC so that doesn’t matter.

    Speaking of Matrix Reloaded, the question has to be, most useless sci fi movie cameo…Cornell West in Matrix, or Tyler Perry in Star Trek?

    My answer…Both

  53. 53.

    Roger Moore

    @germy:

    There is a conductor (I can’t remember his name) who says Beethoven is played too slowly nowadays.

    My impression is that this is a common belief among the historically informed performance people. Beethoven was one of the first composers to have access to good metronomes, and he actually gave metronome markings for much of his music. They were much faster than most people expected, and they’ve been a source of ongoing controversy ever since. I really like his music when it’s played at the indicated tempos; it has a fire that’s lacking when it’s played at more traditional speeds.

  54. 54.

    debit

    @Ruckus: I seem to remember him as doing some citizen journalism and posting it on the GOS. Seemed like he had a thing going and then suddenly it was all pleas for money all the time.

    I get being broke. I’ve been so hungry that I’ve dreamed about food and then cried when I woke up. I never once considered making a career out of begging, no matter how desperate I was.

  57. 57.

    germy

    @Roger Moore: I’ve heard Mozart played the same way.

    I sometimes wonder what those old classical boys would think if they could listen to contemporary performances of their music. “Why the hell are you playing so slow??! And why is the audience so quiet?”

  60. 60.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Thanks for the fabulous link, Adam. LotM is an excellent film, the music so good, and Ms Guo is very talented and charismatic.

  61. 61.

    Oatler.

    The only cello I was aware of in my youth was Clare Deniz (Fairport, Nick Drake, Strawbs, etc) and the one in “The Time Machine, the Rod Taylor one.

  63. 63.

    efgoldman

    @germy:

    There is a conductor (I can’t remember his name) who says Beethoven is played too slowly

    It’s the general feeling of the period instruments / early music crowd. You’re perhaps thinking of Roger Norrington, who recorded a complete Beethoven set using Beethoven’s metronome marks. It’s startling, and makes them fresh again. He also used period instruments, a Beethoven-sized ensemble (much smaller than a modern symphony), and contemporary (to Beethoven) pitches. My favorite set.

  64. 64.

    gene108

    @Gravenstone:

    My vote is Free Republic, for websites that demand money to survive but do absolutely nothing with it to improve the website.

    Stumbled on it once during a fund raising push and the annual goal was $300,000.

    Nice living. Beats work.

  66. 66.

    Adam L Silverman

    @SiubhanDuinne: @Roger Moore: But the real question we have to ask is what the white, working ruralnomes think and feel about these issues of tempo and pacing if we ever expect to make any progress.

  68. 68.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @efgoldman: It’s the general feeling of the period instruments / early music crowd.

    I love early music. My most frequent Pandora station is Renaissance radio

    ETA: now I”m curious as to how much he makes doing this

  69. 69.

    Roger Moore

    @lamh36:

    Speaking of Matrix Reloaded, the question has to be, most useless sci fi movie cameo
Cornell West in Matrix, or Tyler Perry in Star Trek?

    I take it comic book sci fi doesn’t count, or “Stan Lee in everything” would clearly top the list.

  71. 71.

    Ruckus

    @debit:
    This century I got far lower in life than I’ve ever been. Ended up with $200, a van and no place to live. (a friend took me in for a year) Looked for jobs all over and couldn’t find anyone willing to hire, let alone hire someone in their 60s. But then it was during the recession. I had to take SS early so that I could eat. If I had been a year younger I have no idea what I’d have done. But I never thought that begging was the way to go. During the recession I could sort of understand, but a recession is a horrible time to beg, no one wants to let loose of cash if they have it and many don’t have extra or any.
    Glad that you aren’t going hungry now.

  73. 73.

    efgoldman

    @germy:

    “Why the hell are you playing so slow??! And why is the audience so quiet?”

    “Und vy do you heff the equivalent of sree ztring zections on ze ztage?”

  74. 74.

    gene108

    @lamh36:

    sure I’ve said this every time i watch it, but The Matrix really does hold up VERY well even 16 yrs later.

    19 years. Came out in 1998. Next year will be its 20th anniversary.

    Time flies, when you are having fun.

  75. 75.

    lamh36

    @Roger Moore: naw…Stan Lee cameo is a must for ANY Marvel film, kinda like end of credits extra scene.

    Also too, Stan Lee is no “idle fan”

  78. 78.

    debit

    @Ruckus: God, the stories I’m sure some of us could tell. Thank you. I’m doing well enough now that I probably should go hungry every now and again. I hope you’re doing okay as well.

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @Lizzy L:
    If he’s used a different name he also used a different pitch. When he uses jp he always plays the same few notes. I checked out his blog long, long ago and it wasn’t horrible but when he started begging it went completely to shit. Haven’t looked in a long time, not interested in giving him money or clicks.

  80. 80.

    efgoldman

    @germy:

    Tuned lower back then, weren’t they?

    Mostly, yes. And different from town to town and even church to church, depending on where the organ was pitched.
    I forget what composer/music it was, but Pinnock, I think, once recorded at a pitch *higher* than A=440, because they discovered the local pitch at the time was higher.
    OTOH, when I was growing up, the Boston Symphony got that “brilliant French” sound by tuning to A=443.

  81. 81.

    the Conster, la Citoyenne

    Since it’s an open thread, I just want to say how much I’ve enjoyed Wilmer being seriously dragged on twitter today for his clueless bullshit, and there’s been some EPIC threads by black women today inspired by Maxine Waters telling Wilmer and his bots they will not be put aside or let him claim any part of their hard work. They have been right all along about Trump and Wilmer. Women/PoC are the base and the future of the party and we should all take a seat and let them lead.

  82. 82.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I’ve seen him at just about every blog where I somewhat regular read the comments– BJ is now just about the only one where I still do

    You know, honestly, if JP participated semi-regularly in various threads, expressing his opinion and basically establishing himself over time as a known and trusted commenter, I think a lot more of us would be willing to consider his begs. But he shows up only when he’s in dire financial straits, and so his credibility is shot. It’s pretty sad, actually.

  83. 83.

    Roger Moore

    @efgoldman:

    He also used period instruments, a Beethoven-sized ensemble (much smaller than a modern symphony), and contemporary (to Beethoven) pitches.

    I think the smaller orchestra had a lot to do with the faster tempo and the later controversy over it. The smaller orchestras are simply more nimble than the big, ponderous ones the late Romantics preferred. You get a very different interpretation of Beethoven if you see him as the predecessor to Wagner than if you see him as the successor to Mozart.

  84. 84.

    blackcatsrule

    @khead: I am so sorry. What a beautiful cat. Sometimes this is all you can do. Thank you for trying to save her.

  85. 85.

    lamh36

    Still watching Marix Reloaded, and not for nothing, but I prefer entire fight scene between Neo & The Frenchmen’s Henchmen ? Less reliance on FX and more “classic” stunt & wire work than the scene with Noe fighting the gang of Agent Smiths.

    On the one hand, the Matrix Reloaded scene where Neo fights the army of Agent Smith clones is EPIC…on the other hand…’

    overkill?

    If I had to chose fav FX seq…my fav: Morpheus vs the Agent on the freeway (the entire freeway sequence actually) my fave above Neo vs Gang of Smiths

  86. 86.

    Roger Moore

    @Adam L Silverman:

    But the real question we have to ask is what the white, working ruralnomes think and feel about these issues of tempo and pacing if we ever expect to make any progress.

    No, no. See, it’s because we spend all our time thinking about effete coastal liberal stuff like Beethoven that we’re failing to make any progress. We need to spend more time exploring the music of Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith if we really want to understand the WWC trump voter.

  88. 88.

    Ruckus

    @debit:
    Working, living in a nice apartment. The van engine took a crap last yr, I’m doing well enough that I could buy a car. Now my health on the other hand….. Hard to tell if it’s just getting older, but as the VA is running some pretty weird tests, and prescribing some rather out there meds, I’m guessing not. Oh well such is life. One does what one can, then one moves on.

  92. 92.

    Roger Moore

    @lamh36:

    sure I’ve said this every time i watch it, but The Matrix really does hold up VERY well even 16 yrs later.

    I think a huge part of it is that the visual effects were built to support the story rather than to show off what the VFX department could do. Bullet Time and the wire fighting weren’t just there to look good; they were there to show how people (and agents) who understood the Matrix could warp its reality. Because of that, even if they look dated, they won’t detract from the experience the way other dated effects tend to.

  93. 93.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    Awesome links again, Adam. Ms Guo is performing in CA for anyone else here (LA, SF this month).

    Anne Akiko Meyers’ recording and videos of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons on the Vieuxtemps violin is just stunning, too. (Me no good with the linkies.)

  94. 94.

    Mathguy

    @efgoldman: The Norrington Beethoven symphonies are awesome. It’s as though the scales dropped from my eyes and I could see again. His Ninth is breathtaking.

  99. 99.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    It’s cool, yes, her electric cello, but I just love the… gravity of the traditional instrument.

  101. 101.

    debit

    @Ruckus:

    One does what one can, then one moves on.

    That’s a healthy way to look at it, but it doesn’t diminish the suck factor of dealing with the situation. I hope they come up with a clear diagnosis and path of treatment.

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yeah. We have a lot of people in my neighborhood standing on street corners. I never give them money because Minnesota actually does have a pretty good social safety net, but at the same time I think about what life circumstance it would take to make me stand on a corner and hold a sign and…I still don’t give them money but always feels bad about myself when I drive away.

  104. 104.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    That’s a 16 million dollar violin she’s playing. I’d be afraid to breath on it.

  110. 110.

    lamh36

    @Roger Moore: true. I compare it to other sci fi movies from the past and even 10 years after there debut, the FX was already dated I mean Terminator 2: Judgement Day was only like 7 years after original Terminator just in those 7 years the originals FX were dated.

    Matrix and it’s triology has managed to not do that…of course there triology was never meant to be years apart I believe

  111. 111.

    Lizzy L

    @debit: I go the other direction. (No judgment implied.) We have a lot of folks on corners in my neighborhood, too — Bay Area California has a lot of homeless people, because they mostly don’t die in winter. I try to always have dollar bills with me in the car so that I can give them away. I know some people I give money to are going to spend it on booze and drugs and I also know that what’s written on those artful cardboard signs is mostly lies, but I don’t care. There have been times in my life where I came close to standing on the corner with a sign, and people helped me. I’m in better shape now, so…

  115. 115.

    Ruckus

    @debit:
    If it’s what I suspect and what they’ve been looking at for 2 yrs, there is no treatment, other than what they are already doing. But I’m going to wait and see what happens before I say more.
    Here in socal (and nocal as well) we have people who stand on street corners with signs, professionally. If you go by at the same time regularly, you will see the same people there. I’ve even seen them change shifts. Now there is a man near my place who stands at the same light regularly and offers to wash your windshield with his brush/squeegee. But he isn’t begging and besides he only has one arm. I think tomorrow I will walk over there and give him some money. You and I understand begging, even if we wouldn’t consider it. Some times, for some people, it’s all there is.

  120. 120.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Yeah, I wouldn’t mind if she got her paws on my instrument…

    Of course, I really should get that old piano tuned first.

  122. 122.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @germy: My initial favorite piece of classical music (dating from my first year in grad school) was the Jupiter symphony. Some years later I first heard it live, Sergiu Commisiona & the Baltimore Symphony in the local Catholic cathedral, & I remember thinking almost from the gitgo (or should that be the giddy-up-go), Jeebus fricken cripes, are they late for the last plane outa here or what?? It was as if the Archdiocese was charging them for each minute they played…

  123. 123.

    Ruckus

    @Adam L Silverman:
    Decades ago used to go to a bar to watch the band play because the front man played a violin that he put a pickup on. Very tall, young guy. The band played on a stage about 1 1/2 off the floor and his head almost hit the ceiling. He was amazing and I’ve tried a few times to see if I can find out who he is. But no luck.

    ETA These girls are damn good on strings.

  124. 124.

    Yarrow

    @Lizzy L: I have a friend who buys bulk packs of peanut butter crackers from Costco. She hands those out to people begging on the street corner. She’s quite religious and feels compelled to help the poor but doesn’t want to give them money. She’s always got a plastic tub of those six-packs of crackers in her car.

  125. 125.

    efgoldman

    @Roger Moore:

    it’s because we spend all our time thinking about effete coastal liberal stuff like Beethoven

    Last time I looked, Vienna didn’t have a coastline (unless you count the river)

  127. 127.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Ruckus: Nothing worse than that happening. You know the where, when, and what, but you can’t get the who no matter what you do.

  131. 131.

    ThresherK

    @khead: Calicos and torties are my favorites. So sorry to hear.

    For those who want some good feline news: They are on KittenWatch at TinyKittens.com! An orange female is due any hour now.

  132. 132.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    There’s a term for it, but I can’t find it now, when you’re super emotionally susceptible to music, art, film, etc. I’ve got it big-time. Damn, even the right commercial or cartoon can do me in. Actually, I’d hate to lose it, even if it’s occasionally embarrassing.

    Anyone else react that way?

  133. 133.

    joel hanes

    @Ruckus:

    Years ago I thought he would benefit from a short-term hand up, and gave him several, amounting finally to perhaps a thousand dollars. Apparently not enough to change his life in any way.
    In the end, I had to spam-filter him in email.

  136. 136.

    efgoldman

    @Mike J:

    The 9th, the most upheld circuit in the country, said H1-Bs are unconstitutional under the 13th.

    From the article, sure sounds like indentured servitude to me.

  137. 137.

    Lizzy L

    @Yarrow: I have a friend who does something similar. He hands out new pairs of socks to street people. Keeps them in his car. (“Hi, could you use a pair of new socks?” “Oh hell yeah!” “What’s your shoe size?”) During the winter, especially, it’s very much appreciated.

  138. 138.

    efgoldman

    @Ruckus:

    Here in socal (and nocal as well) we have people who stand on street corners with signs, professionally. If you go by at the same time regularly, you will see the same people there.

    When I worked in downtown Boston, I regularly saw a guy commuting on my same subway train, to take his spot just down the street from my office.

  140. 140.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    I saw Verdi’s La Traviata at the SF Opera House years ago. My then-wife was about a week away from delivering our daughter. The little bugger was dancing in utero from the first notes.

  141. 141.

    No One You Know

    @debit: @West of the Rockies (been a while): Oh god yes. I damn near wet myself watching that for the first time. Who plays cello lying on his back?
    They do.

    I had to buy the live performance, because they have such strong stagecraft I enjoyed the show, not just the music.

  142. 142.

    Suzanne

    @Yarrow: I buy the two-for-a-dollar packages of honey roasted peanuts every time I go get gas and give them out. Works well except for the people who don’t have teeth.

  147. 147.

    fuckwit

    @efgoldman: Indentured servitude is exactly what they are.

    Once worked with a couple, both of whom were here on H1B’s: her from Germany, he from Scotland. If either of them lost their jobs, they’d both have to leave the country.

  148. 148.

    efgoldman

    @efgoldman:

    sure sounds like indentured servitude to me.

    When you can’t tell a joke from the real way those Randian assholes act…..

  149. 149.

    Ruckus

    @joel hanes:
    If we weren’t such jackals we probably wouldn’t have noticed that his hand is always out and has been for years. He’s good but greedy and I can understand why someone would be pulled in. In a lessor blog, one where people didn’t get to know each other a bit, and some times actually meet in person many might not have noticed his gig is begging. Now maybe he really needed help once upon a time. I’ve been there, others on this thread have been as well. And maybe he needs help now. But he’s become a professional beggar and I don’t get that. Of course we have a political party that is pretty much made up of professional beggars and fanatics and it’s only taken what nearly 40 yrs for that to catch up with them.

  150. 150.

    Yarrow

    @Ruckus: LOL. I think she first started keeping them in the car for her kids when they were young. Then she just moved to handing them out to people on corners to set a good example for her kids of helping the poor, along with meeting her believed religious obligations. She’s thin and doesn’t eat much so I think they’re not tempting to her.

  155. 155.

    efgoldman

    @Mike J:

    No US court will ever rule that.

    Who ever thought a 21st century US federal court would rule to void the voting rights act and the 15th amendment?

  156. 156.

    Brachiator

    @lamh36:

    Stan Lee cameo is a must for ANY Marvel film, kinda like end of credits extra scene.

    There is no Stan Lee cameo in Logan.

    Would not be surprised to see him in the upcoming Spiderman movie.

  158. 158.

    Ruckus

    @efgoldman:
    I’ve heard reports of fights over street corners. Nasty ones. I’ve watched a lot of people work freeway off ramps with long lights. There is one in particular that I see on my way to the bank. Same woman, every day, same sign, bet she makes a hundred or more a day, easy.

  163. 163.

    efgoldman

    @Gretchen:

    Why is it a source of controversy? If Beethoven marked what tempo he wanted, why do people think it should be slower?

    Basically nobody did the research until after WW2.
    And late 19th / early 20th century conductors were such COMPLETE authority figures nobody would question them.
    And, until mid-20th century, nobody cared – it was assumed that performance practice evolved.
    That’s why, for instance, the most famous Messiah recording before WW2 was Beecham’s, with a full modern symphony orchestra (including percussion for which Handel never wrote) and a chorus of over 200.

  168. 168.

    Mike J

    @Gretchen: Shoegaze is a genre in which the only appropriate response is to stare at your shoes, whether you’re audience or band. For example My Bloody Valentine. No headbanging, no bopping around. Tends toward slowish and heavy. MBV are actually pretty upbeat. The wiki article is pretty good as musical sub-genre articles go.

    If Kangaroo is your favorite Big Star Song, you’ll probably like shoegaze.

  170. 170.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    My parents were attending a performance of Parsifal when my baby brother Richard (yes, named after Richard Wagner) decided to arrive. My father never forgave my mother for making him miss the last act. (For the record, they had already separated, but the expensive Opera tickets had been purchased, so….)

  174. 174.

    West of the Rockies (been a while)

    What’s the only instrument you play without touching (no, not your voice)? Answer forthcoming….

  177. 177.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @The Lodger:

    Hah! My ancestral blood runs way too tartan for me to hate bagpipes. To the contrary, I love their sound.

    Accordion/concertina? Depends on context. I always remember that classic definition: “A gentleman is one who can play the accordion, but doesn’t.”

    Didge and vuvu are context-specific. I don’t want either of them serenading me at 3:00 a.m. outside my boudoir, but in aboriginal ceremonies or international sporting events, I have no objection. ????

  181. 181.

    Roger Moore

    @Gretchen:

    Why is it a source of controversy? If Beethoven marked what tempo he wanted, why do people think it should be slower?

    I think there are two root causes. First, metronomes were still in their infancy during his life, so a lot of contemporaries never used his markings and instead played at the speed they thought was appropriate. Second, his markings are often very technically challenging, so people’s natural tendency was to play much slower. The result was that by the time most people had metronomes, they had an idea of how fast his music should be played that was a lot slower than his marked tempo. From a quick reading online, it sounds as if the markings were mostly removed from his music in the 19th Century and it wasn’t until 20th century musicologists went back and rediscovered them that people could see how fast he intended his music to be played. You can imagine how somebody coming forward and claiming that everybody had been playing his music too slow for the past century might be controversial.

  186. 186.

    chopper

    I gotta say, the one thing missing from most cello work is videos of hot ladies walking in slow motion all serious-looking.

  188. 188.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    American style. REE-kard would have been a bridge too far in 1946.

    My dad was also a fan of James Joyce (as am I, so don’t anybody start). My other younger siblings, twins, are Joyce and Steve (for James Joyce and Stephen Dedalus). In fact, I’m the only one of the four of us not named after anyone, let alone after one of my dad’s cultural heroes.

  190. 190.

    efgoldman

    @Mike J:

    Who called it, “an ill wind that no one blows good”?

    George Bernard Shaw, and he was actually talking about the oboe’s lower pitched cousin, the English Horn

  199. 199.

    PIGL

    @Villago Delenda Est: yea, even unto recent times. I think Crimea, for example has a naval base that the Russians were not about to hand over to NATO no matter disingenuously they were asked.

  200. 200.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Lizzy L:

    There have been times in my life where I came close to standing on the corner with a sign

    I have been homeless. It is strange how little of it I remember. Enough flashes to know it happened. The prospect of homelessness, mine or anyone else, fills me with terror and can be hard to talk about, so maybe it was so bad I’ve blocked it? I just remember… bits, like sleeping on the floor of an empty, abandoned house, trying to figure out if there was another public restroom around since the one I was using was out of order.

  201. 201.

    efgoldman

    @Major Major Major Major:

    We had a whole four-strap harness for it, and I’m 6’4″ so proportionately it wasn’t that big :P

    You ever see/hear a contrabass sax? I’ve seen it in one concert.

  202. 202.

    efgoldman

    @Yarrow:

    Can’t really imagine a small person playing it.

    My college marching band was a cliche. The biggest, fattest guy was the piccolo player, but my friend Phil, who was maybe 5’3″ on a good day, played tuba/sousaphone.

  203. 203.

    TriassicSands

    Last year, during the campaign, I said to my sister that I couldn’t believe no one was actively accusing Trump of inciting violence for things he was saying during his rallies. Tonight in the WaPo there’s an article saying that a judge in Kentucky is letting just such a lawsuit proceed. Free speech is no defense. I think my comments were about North Carolina, but since he was running around the country running his mouth off and encouraging people to be violent, I suppose charges or lawsuits could have been filed in any number of states.

    Criminal charges would be more appropriate, but if Trump could be found liable in a lawsuit for inciting violence with his reckless words, it would be both amazing and wonderful.

    Gee, our president is a Thug, who could have ever guessed it?

  204. 204.

    SWMBO

    @khead:
    @debit:
    It’s not begging if you need help with a pet (like Walter RIP). Don’t let the money keep you from trying to save one. Ask. As you found with Walter, there are lots of folks on this blog that will help.
    Didn’t see the jp beg (it was already gone by the time I got here) but he has been around before.

  205. 205.

    Mary G

    This is how Hillary lost, Republicans all over the country putting their thumbs on the scales. According to the twitters, Maricopa County in Arizona stuck voter registrations forms in boxes if proof of citizenship was not attached as required by law. The Republican registrar of voters lost to a Democrat, so the legislature is passing a law to take away the office’s power. It just makes me so furious. I was aggravated yesterday when I got about a trillion fundraising emails from progressive organizations and candidates, but now I’m all fired up again.

    New report: Arizona's tough voting registration laws led Maricopa Co. to just put aside 40,000 voting registration forms last year.— Taniel (@Taniel) April 1, 2017

  206. 206.

    Major Major Major Major

    @efgoldman: Never played one, but I’ve seen them, yes. Quite large!

    @Mary G:

    This is how Hillary lost, Republicans all over the country putting their thumbs on the scales.

    I heard it was because black people said they didn’t want to be shot as much by cops.

  207. 207.

    opiejeanne

    @germy: For part of my Senior Recital I played Handel’s Suite in d Minor, and there was a big argument within the department over the tempo of the 5th movement, the gigue. My instructor had misinterpreted it by confusing the French Gigue with the Italian Giga and I was playing it too quickly, if I remember correctly; that was 41 years ago so I’m not sure.

  208. 208.

    opiejeanne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: A French Horn player said that to me when we were getting our music degrees. She was stunned by the amount of math in second year theory, especially when we got to some of the 20th century compositions.

  210. 210.

    Ruckus

    @opiejeanne:
    The number of people who had math issues in my college chemistry classes amazed me. They didn’t seem to understand that maths would be involved. I also liked that another guy and I taught a man who worked for us trig in about 2 months of on/off work. He was about 5 yrs older than me, black and only had a 4th grade education in southern Louisiana. He could add/subtract, had an idea what multiplication/division meant but was not proficient in them. Not unintelligent in the least, just uneducated and told his entire life that he was incapable. Many of the people I met in college were not near as smart. He spent a good part of his life without the skills he was capable of easily mastering because of racism. Wonderful man, built like an offensive lineman, gentle as a kitten, full of life, nice wife, 3 kids (twins and they didn’t know it before hand)
    @debit: remarked upon my attitude about life and this is one of the people I developed it from. I will always owe him big time for that.

  214. 214.

    Cain

    I watched like the Donner Superman films kinda out of order on Friday – Superman 1, superman returns, and superman 2. I ran out of time after that as Netflix expired all the superman movies after midnight. (also firefly! :( So, that kind of sucked. They were fun, but definitely some plot holes in all of them that I never cared about when they first came out as a kid. But when you re-watch them, you’re kinda like “uh huh, yep.. if the planet was spinning the other way, it would turn back time.. yeeyup!)

    Last of Mohicans – nice cello, always loved the cello.. such a sensitive instrument. There is another band in there from the original soundtrack that you should hear – Clannad – No Matter Where You Go, I will find you It is a fabulous song, and the band is just amazing. Maire Brennan’s sister is Enya and have a different than Enya does. But a fabulous voice. I generally prefer their older stuff, especially their traditional northern ireland stuff – see Clannad 2 and Dulaman.

  215. 215.

    J R in WV

    @West of the Rockies (been a while):

    I frequently cry at concerts when the music and emotions crash together inside me somewhere. Moved by the sounds. I try to always take a large handkerchief – the largest – whether it be red or blue or whatever. If not, I just get wet.

    It takes a moving performance, of course.

  216. 216.

    Fair Economist

    @germy:

    There is a conductor (I can’t remember his name) who says Beethoven is played too slowly nowadays. He conducted one symphony at what he called Ludwig’s intended tempo, and it was like a rock concert.

    For quite some time, I’ve heard this from many places, and about most classical composers, not just Beethoven. Even composers as late as Brahms were apparently played much more quickly when first performed.

    Scores were also treated with much less reverence too. Improvisation and tweaking were quite normal – rather like live performances of current music, where the scoring is usually changed and often entire passages added or dropped.

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