Spring days on foot

Officially we're in spring now so it's a bit warmer again which helps when it comes to getting out as ice and walking don't mix with me at all.

 Sometimes you just come across things when you happen to be out aided no doubt for more tuned into nature, rather less on techno and groan up things and that is where this nice picture comes in as just happening to be passing thinking to myself "This looks good", quickly framing it up old school style with twin finger actions.
At a more technical level I did stretch the lens out to 114mm (in 35mm film terms) to fill the frame better and soften the background a little and corrected the colour in Roxio but otherwise it is 'as is'.
Just obscured by the tree, there is a very famous North Staffordshire landmark that is the home of a certain running event and playing a central place in establishment of the form of Methodist Christian teaching known as "Primitive Methodism" which shaped much of our region. 

Classical sacd round up part six - more Nordic sorts

Today on this months installment of the classical sacd round up seeing it had snowed this weekend, I look at two major Nordic composers.
Carl Nielsen was born on the Danish island of Funen on June 9th 1865, taking up music playing and attending the Royal Danish Academy of Music and is regarded as the pre-eminent composer of that country and died in 1931. His earlier works were inspired by Grieg and Brahms.
He wrote 6 symphonies all of which tended  to be around the half hour length  were written between 1892 and 1925 and have a number of common characteristics such as the prominence of the role of brass instruments  and unusual changes in tonality that have the effect of heightening the dramatic feel.

The London Symphony Orchestra recorded  between 2009 and 2011 all his symphonies on sacd and these were gathered up in this box set of three which also includes a audio only blue ray with high definition (192khz /24bit pcm) stereo and multichannel recordings for those who have blu ray home theatre systems.
 Decapo records issued a most useful sacd of his violin , flute and clarinet concertos  with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra performed live at Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall New York that goes well with the Symphony box set.

A long term favourite composer of mine was the Norwegian Edvard Grieg and when it came to my cd based collection that was first started in September 1987 starting with Grieg's Peer Gynt in long extracts and disc of violin sonatas.
Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor and Peer Gynt (which includes Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King). Edvard Grieg is to Norway what George Washington is to America and William Shakespeare to England: his country's most celebrated human icon.
Apart from taking a chunk of his musics recording to this format, I also wanted to expand the scope of my collection.

Around 2005/6 the Swedish company BIS Records issued four sacds covering a wide range of his music so I started with this one of the Peer Gynt Suite.

String music is something I like and the one above plus the one by another label of his String Quartets expands on my original collection and features the lovely Holberg Suite.

I did have a disc on DG of the Norewegian and Symphonic dances that I wished to replace.

I was looking for a good modern recording of the Symphony in C and found this well regarded one fairly cheaply used.

I never had a recording of Grieg's Cello Sonata and this sacd is very highly regarded that has works by Grainger and Nielsen too.

 In 1996 I bought a recording by the Manchester pianist Ronan O Hora of Griegs Piano Concerto coupled with the Lyric pieces performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Tring which the Penguin cd guide gave a rosette award to.
I was able to track down the 2005 Membran sacd issue of this recording .

To say the front cover is generic is an understatement but it sounds good so I switched the front cover over to the original one which is much nicer.

Going around the sun 2018 style

As you *may* of managed to work out it was my birthday last week but it just missed the publishing schedule which is why it is I'm writing about it today.
I had a number of cards from family and friends even if some were a bit late arriving with the recent extreme weather effecting when individuals could get out to mail them and also the UK wide delivery network.

 Tatty Teddy is such a cool creation, indeed I have a number Tatty Teddie stuffies and one person I know, my BFF sent me this lovely card through the mail.
I went out for midday lunch with family to celebrate to a local public house that does home made cooking with big chunky carrots and home prepared roast potatoes so I opted for a Turkey roast with cranberry sauce. Apple sauce never did that much for me to be honest.
I followed that up with home made Apple Pie and vanilla ice cream which was really scrumptious having lots of flavour and texture. I don't like mushy apple flavoured filling in fruit pies.
I had birthday wishes from the site that's the home of 'George' and the Famous Five and other Enid Blyton favourites and some forums including GT, the IK chat room and the classical music thread of a music site who put up with my regressive side pretty well.
That ties into having by way of presents four classical music discs one of which will be featured in a review next week, some money and a W H Smiths voucher I used toward this book when I went into town on Thursday. 

It was one that I kind expected to get but didn't at Christmas so didn't buy myself and there's new book in this historical series coming out next month.

Just being younger than my years me

As we enter a new month and approach a significant date I thought I'd post something around what it means to me.

 This time of year reminds me so much of the largely unchanged way that I am no different in many ways around the ages of these children and even the fuzzy warm lack of focus of it might as well be a metaphor for both how I am and the prism I see things through.
Any of them could of been me and certain respects more mentally sharper and alert too.
Our world compared to todays was a good deal simpler for just reading, playing and watching tv more often than not together and communication was mainly face to face by phone with parental approval so we'd sure know about it if anyone had been mean.

  We read comics, often joining fan clubs whose paraphernalia come through the mail and talked about them during school recess  and in many ways that remains what I loved and within reason love to do even now cos in my head I'm still the same.

 In the recent snowy weather my first instinct remains to gather up snow to have snowball fights and to make snowmen. This year even the outdoor model railway village got snowed in!!!

 I'm in so many ways the same as I was when I was legally younger.