Marais: "La Folia" and other music for viols and violins (The Purcell Quartet with William Hunt)

Marin Marais (1656 - 1728) 是法國中期巴洛克的作曲家，是古中提琴(viol 或 viola da gamba)的大師。任何有在拉古中提琴曲子的音樂家，不可能不知道他的。可惜問題是，古中提琴以外的人，就連音樂家，也幾乎沒人知道。

Austria Trip Part 9 : 9/2 Vienna Day 2 - Silberkammer (Chinese)

餐桌上的中央擺設

Movie: Little Ashes

Little Ashes is a film portraying young surrealist artist Salvador Dali's intimate relationship with poet Federico García Lorca in the 1920s, amidst all the social unrest in Spain.  Dali arrived at the Madrid's Students' Residence, which attracted the greatest young talents of Spain of the time, and it was only time before Lorca and Dali would cross paths.  A close friendship develops into a romantic one, which Dali cannot quite handle.   

Concert: Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (11/08/2010)

11/08/2010

CORELLI: Concerto grosso Op. 6, No. 11 in B-flat major
PERGOLESI: Sinfonia in F major
VIVALDI: Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons)
ZAVATERI: Concerto decimo a Pastorale, Op. 1
DURANTE: Concerto No. 5 in A major

Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin solo
Nicholas McGegan, conductor

Cancun 11/2010 Part 3 (Chinese)

11/18/2010

前一天離開Cancun，在外面跑了一整天，這一天則乖乖地待在會場。中午的時候，和Stanford長期在秘魯做研究的同學碰了面，並在開會旅館的餐廳吃中飯。我們點的前菜是一海鮮雜燴ceviche。Ceviche是墨西哥有名的涼菜，將生的魚還有海鮮是用檸檬汁還有不同的香料醃製而成。檸檬汁的酸性除了調味用，還會將肉的蛋白質變質，變「熟」。

Cancun 11/2010 Part 2 (Chinese)

11/17/2010
Coba

這一天我決定不乖乖參加會議的行程，而溜出去參觀附近景點。這天音樂聲學的主題是講墨西哥傳統樂器，比較算是非專業的討論。雖然題目有意思，但這種資料性的演講，大多可能也是聽完記不大住的那種。再者，來到Cancun這邊但不去看看古蹟，一味只待在觀光的地方，也太浪費了。

Cancun 11/2010 Part 1 (Chinese)

學術主辦單位選擇在渡假聖地或是迷人的城市開會，無疑是吸引大家前來參加的一種好方法。半年一次的美國聲學學會會議，既上次四月在Baltimore那個不甚吸引人的城市舉辦之後，這次十一月的會議很明智地選擇在墨西哥的Cancun。在這兒之前，我並沒去過墨西哥，因此有這次的大好機會，當然也不放過。

Fischer: Musicalisches Blumen-Büschlein (Olga Martynova)

Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer (1656-1746) 是我之前寫那一篇有關法國鍵盤組曲時有提到一位巴洛克中期的德國作曲家。他是將法國鍵盤組曲那特別的風格，引進德國的人，其作品也深深引影了年輕的巴哈與韓德爾。他被許多同時期的音樂家稱為是當時最厲害的鍵盤音樂家，也極優秀的作曲家。可惜，歷史對他不盡公平，今天並沒很多人知道他是何許人也。

Movie: Alice (2009 Miniseries) & Alice in Wonderland (2010)

It seems nowadays that, films that follow the original novel faithfully just don't seem to create any interest in the public as much.  There has to be something cool or new in the movie to capture anyone's attention.  One thing today's directors like to do is either shoot a film with a story that "takes place after the main events of the book," or a "present day setting."  English classics Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass has been adapted to film numerous times, yet as the embodiment of the fantasy genre itself, it never stops to fascinate people.  It is interesting that two very different attempts at injecting new life into these 100-year-old stories are released so close to each other.
 

In Cancun 11/14-11/19/2010

In Cancun for an academic conference, how nice ! 
Will post any photos if I get a chance. 

Facco: Pensieri Adriarmonici 6 Concertos Op.1 (L'Arte Dell'Arco / Federico Guglielmo)

Giacomo Facco (1676-1753) 是位巴洛克晚期的義大利作曲家。Facco雖然出生於義大利的威尼斯，但日後到西班牙發展，和小史卡拉第有類似的際遇。當時十八世紀初，威尼斯來了一位西班牙的候爵，Marquis de los Balbases，叫 Carlo Filippo Antonio Spinola。Spinola家族原本來自北義大利Genoa，因為政治鬥爭失利，轉向投靠西班牙帝國，而後來被封候的。Spinola在威尼斯的時候，結識了24歲的Facco。從此，西班牙的宮廷開啟了這扇大門給Facco。

Movie: The Ghostwriter

The Ghostwriter is a political thriller by Roman Polanski, starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, and Olivia Williams.  Ewan plays the ghostwriter, who is supposed to finish the memoirs of the former prime minister of UK, Adam Lang.  Lang is now involved in a political scandal of alleging turning over prisoners to the CIA for torturing and questioning.  Furthermore, Lang's previous ghostwriter committed suicide another suspicious circumstances.  Despite the extremely good job offer, Ewan's character starts to suspect a larger conspiracy going on as he continues to dig deeper and unravel the inconsistencies of the existing manuscripts.