Saturday, October 30, 2010

The sooner...


the better. To know her job very well in another decade!!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Sviatoslav Richter playing Chopin, and interviewed - "Richter, the Enigm...



Sviatoslav Richter. The "Enigma"..

Born: 20.3.1915 - Zhitomir, Russia
Died: 1.8.1997   - Moscow, Russia

Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist of a German father.
He was widely recognized as one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century,
and as sometimes proposed as the greatest of all.
He was well known for his vast repertoire, effortless technique and poetic phrasing.
Probably the most celebrated pianist to emerge in the Soviet Union in the last 60 years.
With assistance from his father, who was an organist and composer, he taught himself
the piano and gave his first recital in 1934. He then entered the Moscow Conservatoire
to become a pupil of Heinrich Neuhaus.

During a long and distinguished career, Richter has been regarded as a legend in his time
thanks to his gramophone recordings.
Long before he appeared in the West he had built up a large following of devoted admirers.
His unique reputation is built on the supreme musicalitiy of his pianistic technique, which
has enabled him to offer his public a wide repertoire in magisterial performances.

Richter's personal preference was for the music of the 19th century romantics -
Chopin, Schubert, Schumann - but his name was also associated with Russian music.
Indeed, he had long been an exponent of music of Sergei Prokofiev, having given the
first performances of the Sixth, Seventh and Ninth Sonatas.
For long heaped with honours in his own country - he was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1949 -
Richter made his fist foreign tour (to Finland and the U.S.A.) only in 1960.

His visits have always been keenly awaited in the West, but have often been fraught with
cancellations, to the great disappointment of his fans.
In recent times Richter had preferred to perform in more intimate circumstances at such
occasions as the Aldeburgh Festival (he became a close friend of Benjamin Britten) and
the Spoleto Festival and he had been very involved in the "Fetes musicales" near Tours,
France, since 1964.
Richter had farreaching cultural interests: he was a linguist, a lover of Shakespeare, an
amateur painter and a collector of fine art; he was an artist " par excellence".

Der wohl ueberragendste Pianist, den die Sowjetunion jemals hervorbrachte, war der
1915 in Zhitomir (Ukraine) geborene Swjatoslaw Richter.
Mit Hilfe seines Vaters, ein Organist und Komponist, lernte er im Selbststudium Klavier.
Er gab 1934 sein erstes Konzert, worauf er ans Moskauer Konservatorium ging, um
Schueler von Heinrich Neuhaus zu werden.

Im Laufe seiner langen und hervorragenden Karriere ist Richter schon zu Lebzeiten eine
Legende geworden, nicht zuletzt durch seine Schallplattenaufnahmen.
Lange bevor er erstmals im Westen erschien, hatte er dort eine grosse Gefolgschaft eifriger
Verehrer. Sein einzigartiger Ruf baut sich auf der unuebertroffenen Musikalitaet seiner pianistischen
Technik, die es ihm ermoeglicht, seinem Publikum in mitreissenden Interpretationen ein breites
Repertoire anzubieten.

Persoenlich bevorzugt Richter die Musik der Romantiker des 19. Jahrhunderts
- Chopin, Schubert, Schumann - aber sein Name wird auch mit der russischen Musik verknuepft:
er tritt beispielsweise seit langem fuer die Musik von Sergej Prokofiew ein, dessen sechste,
siebente und neunte Sonaten er zur Urauffuehrung brachte.

In seiner Heimal war er schon lange mit Auszeichnungen ueberhaeuft worden
- er bekam bereits 1949 den Stalinpreis - bevor er 1960 seine erste Auslandstournee
(nach Finland und den USA) unternahm.
Seine Besuche wurden im Westen stets mit Begeisterung erwartet, aber seine Anhaenger wurden
haeufig durch Absagen schwer enttaeuscht.

In juengerer Zeit hat Richter es vorgezogen, in intimerer Umgebung aufzutreten.
Als Beispiele koennen das Festival in Aldeburgh (wo er mit Benjamin Britten gut befreundet wurde)
und das Festival in Spoleto erwaehnt werden; seit 1964 hat er sich um die "Fetes musicales" bei Tours
in Frankreich besonders bemueht.

Richter interessierte sich fuer viele Gebiete: als Linguist, Liebhaber von Shakespeare, Amateurmaler
und Kunstsammler war er ein Kuenstler "par excellence".

Monday, October 25, 2010

The shower...

Summer in Crete...
Καλοκαίρη στην Κρήτη..

ΕΤΣΙ ΣΥΧΝΑ ΟΤΑΝ ΜΙΛΩ ΓΙΑ ΤΟΝ ΗΛΙΟ
ΜΠΕΡΔΕΥΕΤΑΙ ΣΤΗ ΓΛΩΣΣΑ ΜΟΥ ΕΝΑ
ΜΕΓΑΛΟ ΤΡΙΑΝΤΑΦΥΛΛΟ ΚΑΤΑΚΟΚΚΙΝΟ.

ΑΛΛΑ ΔΕΝ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΒΟΛΕΤΟ ΝΑ ΣΩΠΑΣΩ...

ΟΔΥΣΣΕΑΣ ΕΛΥΤΗΣ

Very often when I talk about the sun
gets confused in my tongue
a big red rose..
But it does not suits me to remain silent.

Friday, October 22, 2010

A moment of attention.

An evening at the port of Chania (Crete).
A military band is playing upon lowering the flag.

Ηλιοβασίλεμα στα Χανιά..
Υποστολή της σημαίας με τιμές από την στρατιωτική μπάντα των Χανιών.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Monday, October 11, 2010

Mέτρον άριστον...

Mέτρον άριστον!!
Moderate is best!!
What a deep meaning and I didn't listen to these true words, ever!
For almost thirty years I was an athlete. I thought, that my bones are made of steel..
Now, having, since January, a bad injury, I cannot write for a few weeks.
And most of all, not follow you, my dear friends!!
But... The Bitch will be back... soon!!

And here is another poem (won't kill you, to read it)..

Then and Now.
In younger days I was happy in the morning,
wept in the evening;
now that I am older,
I begin my day in doubt,
but its end is holy to me and serene.

Friedrich Hoelderlin
(1770-1843)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Die Rebe..


Herr: es ist Zeit. Der Sommer war sehr gross.
Leg deinen Schatten auf die Sonnenuhren,
und auf den Fluren lass die Winde los.

Befiehl den letzten Fruechten voll zu sein;
gib ihnen noch zwei suedlichere Tage,
draenge sie zur Vollendung hin und jage
die letzte Suesse in den schweren Wein.

Wer jetzt kein Haus hat, baut sich keines mehr.
Wer jetzt allein ist, wird es lange bleiben,
wird wachen,  lesen, lange Briefe schreiben
und wird in den Alleen hin und her
unruhig wandern, wenn die Blaetter treiben.

Rainer Maria Rilke.

Lord, it is time.The summer was very long,
Lay your shadows on the sundials,
and loss the meadows let the winds.

Command the last fruits to be full,
give them two more sunny days,
still urge them on the fullfillment and the pursuit
the last sweetness into heavy wine.

And who has not a house, will not build now.
Whoever is alone, will remain alone,

will wake, read, write long letters
and will the avenues up and down
restless wander, when the leaves are falling..

(Google Translation).
.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Summer in Greece. Last sunset.

One of my favorite photos from this summer. That light of the sunset...
Send you all a last sunset to enjoy the coming winter!

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Melancholy..



Sommer

Am Abend schweigt die Klage
des Kuckucks im Wald.
Tiefer neigt sich das Korn,
der rote Mohn.

Schwarzes Gewitter droht
ueber dem Huegel.
Das alte Lied der Grille
erstirbt im Feld.

Nimmer regt sich das Laub
der Kastanie.
Auf der Wendeltreppe
rauscht dein Kleid.

Stille leuchtet die Kerze
im dunklen Zimmer;
eine silberne Hand
loeschte sie aus;

windstille, sternlose Nacht.

Flown away is the gold of the days,
The evening's brown and blue colors:
The shepherd's soft flutes have died,
The evening's brown and blue colors,
Flown away is the gold of the days.

Georg Trakl
Austrian poet (Salzburg 1887-1914)

Friday, October 1, 2010

Ο μπόμπιρας..


Please my son.
Pay attention and take, first, that stupid lollipop out of your mouth.
One day you are going to be the head of my business !!
In fact, I am going to make you the best businessman in the whole country !!
So go now, pick up the bill and pay the waiter...
Be serious and take that lollipop out of your mouth right now..
How can I trust you ?

A moment in a Greek tavern.
Στιγμιότυπο από μια ταβέρνα στα Σύβοτα..

Καλό μήνα !

With best wishes for a very good and sunny month!