Lisa
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lisasass.bsky.social
Lisa
@lisasass.bsky.social
LitWit • Baroque music & early keyboards • Hockey • Enterprise tech marketing

"Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time."
~Howard Nemerov

#ClassicalMusic #Baroque #SciComm
‘Nite, peeps. Bedtime story? Listen to this ‘30 Bach’ podcast—it’s an engaging, accessible, and in-depth look at BWV988, the Goldberg Variations by JS Bach.

Episode 11, Variations #22-24:
“Where did Bach find joy?”
You may need tissues.
#ClassicalMusic #Bach
11. Where did Bach find Joy? Bach's Goldberg Variations with Pianist Kevin Lee Sun | 30 Bach
YouTube video by 30 Bach Goldberg Variations Podcast
youtu.be
February 15, 2026 at 6:25 AM
Best Baroque Romantics: 2/n
💘 Bertarido (Rodelinda, Handel). Exiled king, devoted husband, professional sufferer with excellent tone.
🟢 Faithful, tender, sings through heartbreak without becoming weird about it.
🥹 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“Steady. No towels on floor. Texts back.”
#ClassicalMusic #opera #valentinesday
Handel Rodelinda Dove sei Andreas Scholl
YouTube video by dragan1412
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 9:41 PM
Best Baroque Romantics 1/n
💘 Rodelinda (Handel). Loyal, brave, and *completely* uninterested in mediocre men.
🟢 Turns down power, survives palace chaos, still expects emotional competence.
🥹 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Would cancel the wedding if vibes were off.”
#ClassicalMusic #opera #valentinesday
Rodelinda "Ombre, Piante" - Handel
YouTube video by Jeanine De Bique
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Happy Valentine’s Day!
After surveying some of Baroque opera’s worst couples, time for the good romantics—surprisingly good at managing feelings AND random relatives. 🤷🏻‍♀️

💘 First up, devotion, loyalty, and improbable fidelity that survives Act II…
#ClassicalMusic #opera #valentinesday
February 14, 2026 at 9:29 PM
I appreciate how Zbigniew Herbert frames hope without sentimentality. The heroes in his poems aren’t conquerors—they’re the people who refuse to become cruel.

“we will keep for them in our trembling beaks a drop of love until the end of the world”
-From “Composition With Birds”

#poetry #resistance
February 14, 2026 at 6:24 PM
OK, one more, then we’ll do good guys!
🥀 Don Giovanni (Hey, he’s Baroque as a menace in spirit…)
🚩 Sings the party anthem of imminent damnation.
Stone statue: “Repent!”
Our guy: “Nope!”
Gets dragged to hell mid-finale.
😱⭐️☆☆☆☆. OG & operating system for bad boyfriends.
#ClassicalMusic #opera
ETIENNE DUPUIS "Fin ch'han dal vino" DON GIOVANNI (2019)
YouTube video by Etienne Dupuis
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by Lisa
Consider Cupid, whose name in Latin means desire, and whose image is that of a human but bereft of logic and self-control (an infant).

Also, too, this infant lacking all self-control can fly, and while flying wields the ancient version of a semi-automatic weapon.

Happy Valentine's Day.
a woman in a pink vest is making a funny face with the words what the what written below her
ALT: a woman in a pink vest is making a funny face with the words what the what written below her
media.tenor.com
February 14, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Bad Valentines, Baroque Style: 4/n
🥀 Médée (Charpentier) Emotional devastation, but in French.
🚩 Mythic breakup revenge energy. Let’s don’t bring up the kids. Arson. Sorcery.
😱 Dating review 🚫 ☆☆☆☆☆ “Not over the ex. Hard pass.” “Barely survived first date.”
#ClassicalMusic #opera #valentinesday
[EXTRAIT] MÉDÉE de Marc-Antoine Charpentier (Lea Desandre - "Quel prix de mon amour")
YouTube video by Opéra national de Paris
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Bad Valentines, Baroque Style: 3/n
🥀 Jason, Giasone (Cavalli). Well, *he’s* having a fabulous time.
🚩 Love is like a big buffet! Abandons Medea & kids, marries another. Promises forever, means ‘…until Act II.’
😱 Dating review ⭐☆☆☆☆
“Will ghost after a quest.”
#ClassicalMusic #opera #valentinesday
Pinchgut Opera presents Cavalli's Giasone
YouTube video by Pinchgut Opera
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Bad Valentines, Baroque Style: 2/n
🥀 Poppea, L’incoronazione di Poppea. She did NOT steal your guy, she annexed him.
🚩 Manipulation as cardio. Sleeps her way to the throne. Ends opera rewarded. Also, gets this gorgeous duet.

😱 Dating review: “Gaslight, get crowned.”
⭐☆☆☆☆
#ClassicalMusic #opera
Pur ti miro! Pur ti godo! (Monteverdi): Kate Lindsey, Nardus Williams | Arcangelo
YouTube video by Arcangelo
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Happy Valentine’s Day! Time for Baroque opera’s worst romantic partners: liars, sorceresses, emperors, & at least one guy dragged to hell.
Historically inaccurate, but histrionics on point.

🥀 First up, coloratura revenge: “Hey, your crazy ex is in town & she’s on a Crusade!”
#ClassicalMusic #opera
Rinaldo: 'Furie terribili' - Glyndebourne
YouTube video by Glyndebourne
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Lisa
Staier is always interesting. Pursuing authenticity for the insights and opportunities, never imprisoned by it
J.S.Bach : Goldberg Variations, BWV 988 - Andreas Staier (harpsichord)
YouTube video by Bachology
m.youtube.com
February 14, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Wow! Sit down for 12 minutes and listen, because these La Folia variations from East Coast Chamber Orchestra are riveting—energetic, vibrant, and vividly inventive, unfolding with an almost out-of-body intensity.

Thank you so much for sharing these, @brdstrbare.bsky.social !
#ClassicalMusic
February 14, 2026 at 6:35 AM
As a person who loves both classic Godzilla movies AND lots of strong coffee, this speaks to me…
February 14, 2026 at 3:11 AM
The music is instantly recognizable, and has so many variations. The backstory is just as fascinating, though: “La Folia…literally meaning madness, folly, or empty-headedness is one of the most remarkable phenomena in the history of music…”

Read more: folias.nl/html1.html
#ClassicalMusic
Falconieri: La Folia (Folías de España); Voices of Music
YouTube video by Voices of Music
youtu.be
February 14, 2026 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Lisa
This is probably my favorite poem by Cesar Vallejo, on the game of craps and the idea that God plays dice with the Universe.

Poor translator Jull Costa butchered the poem because she missed all the nuances and vocabulary of the game of craps...
Eshleman and James Wright captured this poem better
February 14, 2026 at 12:29 AM
Introduce yourself with the name your parents almost gave you:

Iona (violet, the island Iona); and,
Asteria (star, Titan goddess)
were the next two choices after my given, Elisabeth (St Elisabeth).
Introduce yourself with the name your parents almost gave you.

I think mine considered two other names: Ira (after a great-grandfather who died roughly twenty years before I was born), and Alexander.
Introduce yourself with the name your parents almost gave you.

No idea. I think as adopting (white, middle class) parents in the 60s they went shopping for an infant with the right characteristics (male, brown hair, blue eyes), and ‘background’ to name after their grandfathers. Family planning.
February 13, 2026 at 6:51 PM
G’nite, peeps—have a Leclair Trio Sonata in D minor to ease into whatever’s next.
Started the day with orchids in full, impossible color at the botanical garden.
Ended with a new read and animated conversation—steady, human things that took the edge off the rest of…other stuff. 🤷🏻‍♀️
#ClassicalMusic
J.-M. Leclair - Trio Sonata in D Minor, Op. 4, No. 1 | Ensemble Diderot
YouTube video by Ensemble Diderot
youtube.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:17 AM
Brilliant performance, crossing into possibly my favorite recent version of this. #ClassicalMusic
February 13, 2026 at 4:12 AM
Today’s predawn wake-up mood be like youtube.com/watch?v=_inh...
#goodmorning
(I really shouldn’t have more coffee at this point…although one Alice Russell equals a full pot, probably)
Quantic Soul Orchestra feat. Alice Russell - Pushin' On
YouTube video by iigic
youtube.com
February 12, 2026 at 2:48 PM
Reposted by Lisa
#otd 1760, Czech composer Jan Ladislav Dussek was born. #NowSpinning his Messe Solemnelle in G major. Richard Egarr conducts the Academy of Ancient Music.
#music #musicsky #classicalmusic
Academy of Ancient Music & Richard Egarr - Dussek: Messe solomnelle in G Major, C. 256
Listen to Dussek: Messe solomnelle in G Major, C. 256 on TIDAL
tidal.com
February 12, 2026 at 5:44 AM
G’nite, peeps! Take a thoughtful breath away from doomscrolling: Sylvius Leopoldo Weiss—Passacaglia in D, performed by the inimitable Jadran Duncumb.

Time stands still for 8 minutes, no drama. Radiant. Warm. Weiss.
And oh…that gentle ending. Sigh.
#ClassicalMusic
youtu.be/WEIDLFusTYg?...
Passacaglia in D major by Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Jadran Duncumb (baroque lute), Villa Zileri, 4K
YouTube video by Jadran Duncumb
youtu.be
February 12, 2026 at 3:36 AM
There’s a ground bass that can help you find bliss—Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor BWV 582, for example.
Then there are grounded bases that decidedly do not, especially near Fort Bliss.

#ElPaso flights in/out halted for unprecedented 10 days.
Things that make you go “huh?” 🤔 #ELP #FAA #ClassicalMusic
Bach - Passacaglia in C minor BWV 582 - Smits | Netherlands Bach Society
YouTube video by Netherlands Bach Society
youtu.be
February 11, 2026 at 2:30 PM
I’m sure @thalia.bsky.social has some advice & thoughts to offer on this International Day of Women and Girls in Science…
🤔👩‍🔬🧪
#WomenInScience #MCB #IDWGS #microbiology #unesco
On International Day of Women and Girls in Science 🔬👩‍🔬
We’re launching the Women Microbiologists Network: a member-led networking and discussions event for women in microbiology by Dr. Enas Newire.
Read the news story and join:
🔗 https://microb.io/4ax5M5I
February 11, 2026 at 1:03 PM
Last night was less insomnia and more…rest-adjacent. Not surprising after an always-complicated day. 🤷🏻‍♀️

🎨 Henry Miller. “Insomnia” series. Info in alt text.

🎵 Vikingur Olafsson performing György Kurtág, Játékok: Little Chorale.
youtu.be/x4LGf4AYCS4?...

#ClassicalMusic #goodmorning #needcoffee
February 11, 2026 at 11:54 AM