The lost genius of Mozart’s sister
Nannerl Mozart was a child prodigy like her brother Wolfgang Amadeus, but her musical career came to an end when she was 18. A one-woman play puts her back on the stage, where she belongs.
Read more here.
Another concert in Second Life
Tonight the whole family went to a Russell Eponym concert in Second Life.
This is my mom listening to the live music until she got ‘ants in her pants’ and wanted to leave.
This is my sister and I, who were able to stay the whole concert:
My sister and I at the concert
Another concert
Tonight I went to another concert in Second Life. This time my mom went with me. It was a fundraising concert with Simon & Garfunkel songs. It was fun, though it took my mom ages to get online on the mini laptop. I will definitely keep going to these events.
Hot video
I found this in a newspaper and I thought I’d share it here. Enjoy! (Not safe for work.) I’m not sure if the sound is supposed to be like this, but even without, I’d say it works fine.
Somewhere in Sweden (‘My soldier’)
This one doesn’t have anything to do with my situation, but since I was on YouTube and found this sad song, I’ll post it here anyway. And just because I’m interested in history.
How did ancient Greek music sound?
The music of ancient Greece, unheard for thousands of years, is being brought back to life by Armand D’Angour, a musician and tutor in classics at Oxford University.
Read more here.
A little update
I suppose it’s time for a little update about what I’ve been doing lately.
First the bad news: I’ve spent the last couple of days more or less in bed, sleeping, trying to get rid of the worst cold I can remember having at least for the past ten years or so. Ugh. I’m getting better now (except for the dreaded cough), fortunately, because I have plans for the next couple of days, but more about that later.
All this summer I’ve been indulging in a bit of shopping. Mostly clothes, but also a backpack that I really love. Not that I really needed it but still…
I’ve probably mentioned this before a couple of times, but we also spent at least the early part of the summer trying to get workers up to our cottage in the woods, to get us indoor plumbing and a few other things that needing doing. Apparently they were all on vacation… So we missed our chance to spend the summer in the countryside. Sob. It would have been alright, if I’d only been happy living here, but as most of you know, I’m not. Oh, well… Maybe our luck will change this year.
Anyway, last week, my mom and I went to an outdoor musical show. It’s a sort of ‘preview’ of the Gothenburg Opera House’s program for the autumn/fall. There were hundreds of people. I had no idea this town had so many music lovers. At least people who love this type of music.
There was a bit of Benjamin Britten, which I, quite surprisingly, liked a lot better than I had expected (normally, I’m a fan of much older music). I also loved the Gluck pieces, especially Dance of the Blessed Spirits. Finally, I also liked a piece by one of our Swedish composers, Alice Tegnér, mostly known for her children’s songs, but this was a different kind of work. I didn’t expect to find it very cheerful because it was named for Goethe, but it was.
There was also a little preview of a Swedish opera about a notorious con artist who made people believe she was a diplomat and scientist, related to the Rockefeller family and the Japanese emperor… In reality she was a Swedish hairdresser, with a lot of imagination. Too modern for me, too much jazz, but interesting all the same.
Reflections on music and movies
I’m a big fan of 80’s music. From what I can tell, without being an expert at music, the songs made in those days really were good, no matter how you define ‘good’. In any case, I’m not the only one who thinks so. I rather like 90’s music too, but not quite as much. The same goes for 7ö’s music and older music as far back as to the 1950’s.
Lately, I’ve begun to realize that at least in my opinion, the 90’s was a time of great tv series and movies. That didn’t dawn on me until relatively recently, when I was considering the lack of good tv series these days. Up until 2004 or so, there were still a few good series coming along and movies too, but from then on they’ve become more and more scarce. Fortunately, there are still exceptions but I’m dreading a future when no good tv or film will be made. But to use an expression from the Oz books: no need to borrow trouble. Here we say ‘don’t grieve over a day you haven’t seen’. Who knows? The current penchant for ‘reality’ tv and game shows might vanish.
