2024年6月29日
It must be the time of year. My hiking colleagues have scattered to the four corners of the world...the furthest away would seem to be Indonesia.......where I'm not sure if hiking; Balinese dancing.........
ハイキング仲間はみんな旅行中. インドネシア.
or eating was the priority....looks yummy doesn't it?......
Photos: Phe
A bit nearer home we have Dunfanaghy, Ireland......
アイルランド
Photo: Bénédicte
However, a few of us faithful were to be seen at the weekend at Eppstein in Taunus.....
フランクフルトの背後の丘陵地帯でのハイキング
Paper maps do still exist........
紙の地図はまだ存在します.......🚶♂️
I managed to keep up with some power-hikers, who scrambled up this horrifically high tower after a long walk through the woods......The Atzelberg Turm.........(p.s. That is not me leaning over the edge at the top......)
この高い塔に登りました...私には高すぎました 😯
Coming back from this hike I caught my usual S3 train. The train stopped at Neu Isenburg, and I looked wearily at the people getting off and disappearing down to the exit. But wait........can that be.......yes......I know him........what's he doing in Neu Isenberg clutching a sheaf of music? A quick text later and I'm invited to a concert in Dreieich that same evening. A village not far from here. No, come on, I've just been on an 18km hike. Need some food, shower etc. But, yes, come on, let's make the effort. It is after all the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610. But in a local church? You never know. As it was, I was in for a huge surprise.......
家に帰る途中で友達に会い、彼のコンサート「モンテヴェルディの晩祷」に招待されました。素晴らしかったです!
The Bach Choir Mainz, although maybe a little big for the job, were well trained and up to it. A professional baroque orchestra had come from Munich. Professional singers were engaged. I just sat back and let myself be transported back to 17thc. Venice. Glorious. Later, when trying to convey my enthusiasm to friends in Japan, I realized that Monteverdi is perhaps not quite so well known of, as say Beethoven or Brahms. "Just listen to the duet Duo Seraphim....二人の天使" I said (It's actually 3 tenors, answering each other across the cavernous interior of St. Mark's church in Venice...echo effects and all....). But how to find this glorious solo.....scroll through a Youtube video?....do a search in Spotify?....translate the Latin...easy really.....and yet in some strange way too easy......
It was then that my eye fell on this.......bought when I was 20....(!)......
本棚に録音を見つけました。箱の中には、すべてを説明した素敵なリーフレットが入っていました...
I drew this dusty box from out of the shelf, feeling the weight of it in my hand, and opened the lid. There lay, aswell as the dark shiny discs, a wonderfully expansive sheaf of sleeve notes.
🔵 All the sections of the Vespers clearly laid out with an English translation.
🔵 A translation written by a human being.
🔵 A three page introduction written by a professional musicologist.
🔵 Pictures of Venice.
How pleasant for the eye. No scrolling needed. Just an armchair and a quiet turning over of the pages.......
And of course there was the solo I was looking for. In context.
We have gained so much through digitalization, and I am no luddite. I stream my films, and read novels on a Kindle. However. I don't know about you, but I still need to feel weight, the touch of paper, the gleam of vinyl...even the smell of a box unopened for decades. Simple tangible pleasures. We can retrieve these of course, but we have to do it on our own initiative......
And at the concert, needless to say, I enjoyed catching up and even meeting people I hadn't seen for ages.
"....These songs were calming and soothing.." ( i.e the Monteverdi )....... sometimes, a non-native English speaker uses words that make you stop and think.
Back to Langen, where an almost Italian feel seems to have taken over. It's 27°c outside, hence the beer to accompany this local speciality....
Gli spaghetti delle Torri (Spaghetti à la Towers)
これは今晩の私のスパゲッティ料理です。
The olianders are in full bloom just down the street......
私のアパートの近くのキョウチクトウ
And a sweet perfume hangs in the air....the lime trees....and there are many of them.....
ライムの木は甘い香りがする
Meanwhile the evenings have become warm and sultry......
暖かく蒸し暑い夜
...which inevitably leads to this........the old slate roof holding out against the onslaught.....this is no gingerbread house you know.....
毎晩嵐が来ます…
I do get a 'cello out now and again. Even if it is just to adjust the soundpost position....as here.......
I use a midi file to tell my Kawai epiano to accompany me. Not much fun, but better than nothing.....
チェロの練習
However, I love listening. And when you go to a 'cello class performance at the music college in Frankfurt you are always in for a surprise.
フランクフルト音楽大学
When do you get the chance to hear Ligeti's Sonate for solo 'Cello and pieces by Hindemith, Schostakovitch and Dvorak thrown in - not to mention Haydn...and all in one evening?
What's more, every performer has a different character, every instrument has a different sound........and everyone has a different technique for the spike.....do I stab it into the floor like an spear? do I bring my own spike holder with me on stage.... slung nonchalantly over the shoulder like some sling shot? Essential questions, these.....😂.
Every violinmaker has a collection of spikes......like some medieval armoury.....
But back to the music.....
I always wanted to play the Cassado "Requiebros" way back in my school days, but was cold-shouldered by my teacher...probably because she couldn't manage the piano part...(?) 😆
And Nadia Boulanger? I didn't even know she had composed for 'cello. Shame on you Nigel. Slightly ethereal, strange harmonies here. She must be experiencing some sort of rennaissance. My son sang two of her songs in Karlsruhe recently.
Wonderful accompanying 🎹 by Anna Naretto and Tomoko Ichinose as always 👏👏 - those 'cellists are lucky. And of course thank you to Jan Ickerts for running the whole show. His infectious enthusiasm must be a great encouragement for his students 👍.
👼 Thank you for reading "..Duo Seraphim.."
"...二人の天使..... " を読んでくれてありがとう
👼 Feel free to share the blog with friends.
よろしければ、リンクを友達と共有してください
👼 And and I enjoy hearing from you...!
コメントすると楽しいです!
See you next week.....また来週
THE END
👍
終わり
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