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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 2d

“…more akin to the contemporary gilded canvases of Klimt in a deliquescence of musical gesture, as notes inexorably [dissolve into] silence.”

I love reading reviews that feel as inspired – and as inspirational – as the performance itself! 💕
#Mahler9

Bachtrack @bachtrack.com · 2d

Choose life: Oramo's Mahler 9 leaves death for the last page
✍️ Peter Quantrill
bachtrack.com/review-oramo...

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 3d

What a way to open the season – BBCSO & Sakari Oramo w/a sublime Mahler 9! 💕
An orchestra friend told me she kept “losing it slightly” in rehearsals and “barely kept it together” last night, re the Adagio. That last mov. is everything! Big emotions from me too; so many reflections on life & death.

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 5d

Mahler’s 4th Symphony with LPO, Ed Gardner & Jennifer France – being a Mahler fan, my expectation was huge, and I really wanted to say I loved it…But I didn’t. More meh than yay. 😒

I’m now placing my bets on Mahler 9 tomorrow with BBCSO & Oramo. Their Mahler 4 last April did not disappoint!

Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 11d

If you're a workaholic, or someone in your household is, this piece may resonate. So often our drive to overwork stems from a skewed belief that the love and approval of others can only be earned in this way...
Here's a PDF version in case you can't access the article: tinyurl.com/mrv6h4dn

Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 14d

I seem to live in Duolingo rage these days! Their coercive tactics are starting to get on my nerves. Why can't I just get on with my lessons without being forced to try things I don't wanna try! Aaaaargh!!!

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 14d

Duolingo just *forced* me to sign up for a free trial of Duolingo Super Family by not giving me an option to say no and continue my lessons! I really really don't want it. Does anyone know how to cancel it?
In real life as in an app, not being given the choice to say 'no' is called coercion! 😡

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Reposted by Chie

Paintings of London @paintingsoflondon.bsky.social · 15d

'The Concerto', Queen's Hall, Langham Place (c.1935) by Cyril Power

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 15d

How do you show you're obsessed with Mahler without saying you're obsessed with Mahler?
Every time you write the verb to paint in German ('malen'), you spell it 'mahlen' and lose points on Duolingo! Gah... ❌⚠️😁

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Reposted by Chie

James Ball @jamesrball.com · 16d

The Labour Party has a tradition of antiracism campaigning. It’s supposed to be in the party’s DNA. That they cannot say it’s just straightforwardly wrong to alarm families who choose Britain to live, work and raise children in is a total moral failure.

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 16d

Keir Starmer’s spokesperson asked for the PM's response to Nigel Farage’s plan to deport hundreds of thousands of people living and working completely legally in the UK, replies that he thinks it is “unworkable” and “unfunded”.

So his objection is that they’ve got their sums wrong

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 16d

I'm not familiar with either. I must check them out!
Well, acc. to the programme notes, Britten was influenced by Berg's violin concerto, which is one I don't enjoy either. Sometimes, however, a piece or a composer grows on me with time. That was the case with Shostakovich–went from meh to yay! 😁

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 16d

Thank you! Yes, I had that on my calendar. With BBCSO and Lintu, right? It clashes with a Benjamin Grosvenor recital at Southbank Centre (I'm a huge BG fan!) so I'm still undecided whether to go to one or the other...

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 16d

When is the 8th being performed? I must make sure I've got that on my calendar!

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 16d

It was the same for me! I think Janine Jansen's a superb violinist, but Britten's not my cup of tea, I'm afraid. I haven't (yet) been able to find any Britten pieces I enjoy.
The Shostakovich, on the other hand, was ultra-captivating. Every cell of my body loved every minute of it!

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 17d

Back at the Barbican with the LSO & Pappano for Shostakovich’s Tenth (after the Ninth on Thursday). That fierce, relentless 2nd movement had my heart racing – I barely breathed! Might be my favourite Shostakovich yet. Spectacular from start to finish!
My Shosta fever has gone up a notch this week…

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 20d

That's hilarious!

Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 20d

And…can I just say how much I appreciate the @londonsymphony.bsky.social programmes? Delightful programme notes tonight by Stephen Johnson & Andrew Mellor–notes so informative and well written, you actually learn something new and can enjoy the music all the more because of them. Thank you!🙏

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 20d

My 1st non-Prom concert of the new season! ♥️
The virtuosic Seong-Jin Cho made the fiendishly difficult Prokofiev Piano Cto no.2 seem like child’s play. But for me it was the final piece–Beethoven’s Fifth–w/ LSO & Antonio Pappano that blew the roof off the Barbican tonight! Simply exhilarating! 👏 👏

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 20d

Oh Dio…I have the “E lucevan le stelle” aria playing in my head in a loop, and it’s not helping me focus on work! I keep wanting to bellow out a tenor part I couldn’t sing, even if I was facing an execution!
“Oh dolci baci, o languide carezze…” 🎭🎶🎤 #Tosca #Puccini

Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 21d

Dare I ask you how you know this? 😅

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 21d

As "Lin" of Duolingo always says, "Remember, I'm always listening."
Looks like she was also spying my socials because they just magically switched the new battery system to *add*, not deplete more "energy" with correct answers. 😆

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 21d

This!
#Duolingo

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Reposted by Chie

Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 22d

Mandelson Crisis
Starmer Acts!

The new Private Eye is out now.

A photo of the front cover of issue 1658 of Private Eye magazine with the caption "on shelves now." The cover headline reads "Mandelson Crisis Starmer Acts!" and shows two images of Keir Starmer waving outside Number 10. In the first, he says “Goodbye, Peter – we can’t have anything to do with a friend of a paedo.” In the second, he says “Welcome, President Trump!”

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 24d

“As a conductor, you have to have a strong moral backbone. It’s like running a company — you have responsibility. You’re in the public eye. Maybe nobody cares what you say, but it has some influence. It’s important to do whatever we can to stop the cycle of helplessness.”~ Ilan Volkov

Respect!

Fred Reibell @fredreibell.bsky.social · 25d

Very thoughtful article by @jessicaduchen.bsky.social
"Conductor Ilan Volkov: Why I had to condemn Israel at the BBC Proms"
www.thetimes.com/culture/clas...

Conductor Ilan Volkov: Why I had to condemn Israel at the BBC Proms

After speaking out from the podium at the Royal Albert Hall, the Israeli maestro says he will no longer perform in his home country, in protest against the war in Gaza

www.thetimes.com

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Chie @chienakano.bsky.social · 25d

My Saturday pancake bruch attempt turned out quite well!
First one was a disaster, as I flipped it before the batter had cooked. But by the end of 7 baby pancakes, I finally nailed it!

Great metaphor for everything in life: keep going, however imperfectly. It’s the doing that creates perfection.

Reposted by Chie

Chris Brooke @chrisbrooke.bsky.social · 25d

Here's a good Soviet joke from tehgraun that I hadn't seen before.
www.theguardian.com/news/ng-inte...

There has been a joke going around Labour MPs over the past week about three envelopes in Soviet Russia. “Whenever you run into trouble, open them in order,” the instructions go. Envelope one says: “Blame your predecessor.” So he does – and it works. The party officials are satisfied. A year later, problems arise again. He opens envelope two. It says: “Restructure the organisation.” He does a big reshuffle, changes some titles, and again buys himself some time. Finally, another crisis comes. He opens envelope three. It says: “Prepare three envelopes.”

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