Reflections
Schubert and Brahms on David Lewin’s Piano
Yesterday night, Seda played a short concert with Schubert’s Sonate in a-moll D. 784 and Brahm’s Sechs Klavierstücke op. 118 in the Lowell House library at Harvard University. I love this pensive program. It is full of deep emotions, thorough thinking, and rhythmic complexities.Seda played on the piano that once belonged to David Lewin, the […]
Musical Moments
In a recent blog post at On a Pacific Aisle, Joshua Kosman, the music critic of the San Francisco Chronicle, introduces us to what he calls a “magic moment” in Gustav Mahler’s 9th Symphony. The passage in question lasts only one quarter note, and in his article, Joshua shares with us his thoughts and feelings […]
The Muezzin’s Silence
In Turkey five times a day all music stops. The loudspeakers on public beaches stop pounding dancing rhythms, the DJs in bars and clubs grant their audiences some time to get new refreshments, the shopkeepers’s radios cool down their tubes: all of Turkey listens to the Muezzin’s call to prayer (click here to hear a […]
Ästhetik des Performativen
Imagine a world in which there is no way to record music. Imagine a world in which there is no possibility to broadcast sound. A world without CDs, radio, cell phones that play mp3s, websites that stream music. A world in which music sounds only in live performances. Most people would find this world terribly […]
Looking Bismarck over the Shoulder
Riding my bike along the numerous paths through the Tiergarten today, a friend of mine showed me a spot where one can see Begas’ Bismarck monument from behind. Set back from the huge traffic circle on the Großer Stern, it sits there between trees and bushes, almost hidden from those who rush by in their […]
Music for the Masses
Last night the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Maxim Vengerov, and Hakan Hardenberger gave an open air concert at the Brandenburger Tor. “Nice!”, some of you may think, “what a cool place to have a concert!” Right. Alas, as those of you who follow the world cup will know, the place in front of the Brandenburger […]
Vergangenheitsbewältigung
Spuren alter Reklame an Hauswänden. Schilder längst nicht mehr vorhandener Geschäfte und Werkstätten. Hinterhöfe voller leerstehender Garagen und Schuppen – wer arbeitete und lebte hier einst? Geschichten der einsamen Alten. Unterirdische Kanäle und Tunnel. Wie lassen sich die Zeitschichten einer Stadt freilegen?
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