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Sunday, April 18, 2010

Making a Listening Commitment to Mozart.

Lately, I have been focussing on Mozart's Piano Sonatas and Variations. I have discovered that these piano works of Mozart tend to focus my thoughts far more than his piano Concertos, which, though very inspiring, tend to become too familiar. The sonatas tend to pick up my thoughts and concentrate them particularly well. It is difficult for me to listen to the entire piano sonatas in one listening session although I have achieved that once or twice.
I tend to listen to about four of those Daniel Barenboim CD's before turning to the softer tones of the singing and orchestra of the Operas. I turn most often to "Cosi fan Tutti" or "The Marriage of Figaro".These Operas are also useful for tuning up my thinking though without the harsh sound of the solo piano virtuoso increasingly getting on my nerves. The Operas,conducted by Barenboim, tend to quieten down the listening experience.
I also tend to listen to the ethereal beauty of the Variations contained in the Minuet in D, K355, The Fantasia in D Minor, K397, The Rondo in D, K485, The Adagio in B Minor, K540, and completed by the Eine Kleine Gigue in G, K574. These I have played by the Japanese Pianist Mitsuko Uchida.These variations also pick up and concentrate my thoughts.
I tend to think of Mozart's earliest Piano Sonatas, 1-5, K279, 280, 281, 282, and 283 as being of a slightly cooler flavour than his later ones which awe me with their intensity. Sonatas 1-5 tend to ramble considerably, far more the rest which I think have far more diversity and delineation.
The "Marriage of Figaro" cheers me up enormously, while the darker themes of "Don Giovanni" tend to tear at me. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau makes a compelling Count in "The Marriage of Figaro" but there is much gay and poignant beauty throughout these three Operas.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

"The Marriage of Figaro" to the rescue.

I had little to do today but turn on my computer and listen to some of the music stored there. I had taken my mother on an outing from the private hospital she was recovering in yesterday. She had fallen down some stairs at her home and fractured some bones in her pelvis. Walking was still fairly painful for her and the nurse said that she had better use her wheelie-walker while she was out and not attempt to climb any stairs. At about 9.45am we got into a taxi and headed along Oxley road in search of a restaurant. She said she would like to go to the Coffee Club in Toowong. I knew this was likely to cost a bit of money as the distance from the private hospital at Oxley to Toowong was considerable.
But we arrived at last and she agreed to pay the driver with her credit card. (The fare was about $30.00). The Coffee Club was definitely open and in full swing-it was Easter Saturday-I could barely hear myself talk above the din of the talk of other diners and the television there. We ordered omelettes with spinach and mushrooms as well as some orange juice and a milkshake. At last the drinks and food arrived and we had our repast. This time the bill was around $40.00. I agreed to pay half.
Next, we went to Toowong Village-a shopping mall nearby. It was even noisier and more crowded there. My mother had trouble keeping pace with me as I attempted to make my way through the crowds. After fighting our way through to the toilets we returned to some chairs in an out of the way corner on the ground floor. She asked me to go off and buy some mandarins and apples. I did this and paid the balance of the bill with my own money, some $2 or so. She said she would like something to drink, so I bought her a 600ml carton of milk with straw. We sat for a while and talked. At length she said she would like to return to the hospital as she had some pain in her lower back.
So off we went with me leading the way through the dense crowds and in search of a taxi to take us back. She waited on the side of the kerb nearest the mall while I jumped into a cab on a nearby rank and told the driver to do a U-turn and pick mother up. This accomplished we set out for Canossa Private Hospital and on arrival there she once again paid with her credit card. The whole affair had cost us that much and as we regained her room on the fourth floor of the hospital the nurses were preparing her for a dose of the painkillers she was on. I stayed on for a few minutes and finally decided to leave. It was the first time I had ever been to that hospital and didn't know the area at all so I asked her if I could borrow some money for a taxi to Oxley train station. She handed me a $20 note and off I went, first catching a train into Central Station and then a bus out to New Farm.
On my return to my room in New Farm, I found three messages on my phone, all from my mother. The first two anticipated my arrival at the hospital that morning hoping that I would come quickly and get there soon. The third was a rebuke for the cost of the outing and my poor dress which she thought made me look like a "street urchin". She sounded very angry and upset. Oh, well, there's no point in arguing with any of that. Back to Mozart Sonatas and Beethoven Piano Concertos 3&4 and the Mozart Requiem K626. I think I also tossed in two of the three CD's of "The Marriage of Figaro". I needed something to get me going the next day.