The Banks of the Seine

In 1991, Paris, Banks of the Seine was added to Unesco's World Heritage List, joining such famous sites as the Great Wall of China or the Taj Mahal in India. The area in Paris extends from Notre Dame in the east to the Eiffel Tower in the west. Along this longs route you can find many of the main treasures of the French capital. Notre Dame, the city's cathedral, is one of the oldest monuments and dates from the 12th century.
It is located on the Ile de la Cité, a little island on the Seine that is linked with the rest of the city via many bridges, of which the Pont Neuf is the most famous and oldest. In the middle of the route there are two major museums: the Louvre and the Gare d'Orsay, a former train station but now a museum of 19th and 20th century art.

The Louvre was originally built to defend the city from the Saxons in the 12th century and has even been a residence for the kings of France.

This is also the part of the route where Place de la Concorde is situated, with the Egyptian Obelisk in the centre. The square was originally designed in the 18th century and its centre held a guillotine during the French Revolution, responsible for the death of the king and queen, among others. The Egyptian Obelisk comes originally from the temple of Luxor and has hieroglyphics describing the achiviements of the Pharaoh Rameses II.

The end of the Banks of the Seine route is marked by the Eiffel Tower. Built in 1889 for the World Fair, it is still the number one symbol for Paris.

Poem: An Opera House

III

Within the gold square of the proscenium arch,

A curtain of orange velvet hangs in stiff folds,

Its tassels jarring slightly when someone crosses the stage behind.

Gold carving edges the balconies,

Rims the boxes,

Runs up and down fluted pillars.

Little knife-stabs of gold

Shine out whenever a box door is opened.

Gold clusters

Flash in soft explosions

On the blue darkness,

Suck back to a point,

And disappear.

Hoops of gold

Circle necks, wrists, fingers,

Pierce ears,

Poise on heads

And fly up above them in coloured sparkles.

Gold!

Gold!

The opera house is a treasure-box of gold.

Gold in a broad smear across the orchestra pit:

Gold of horns, trumpets, tubas;

Gold - spun-gold, twittering-gold, snapping-gold

Of harps.

The conductor raises his baton,

The brass blares out

Crass, crude,

Parvenu, fat, powerful,

Golden.

Rich as the fat, clapping hands in the boxes.

Cymbals, gigantic, coin-shaped,

Crash.

The orange curtain parts

And the prima-donna steps forward.

One note,

A drop: transparent, iridescent,

A gold bubble,

It floats...floats...

And bursts against the lips of a bank president

In the grand tier.

Amy Lowell, from Men, Women and Ghosts

¿Who was the best composer of all time? - Beethoven

All the People in the 'No' Column are Idiots! I have been listening to Beethoven for 24 years (my whole life). My exposure to him began at birth, when I was born 12 weeks prematurely. Attached to my isolet was a little radio, and the first piece I heard was 'Fur Elise,' (not one of LvB's best works, but for a newborn, who cares!). Since then, my love for Beethoven grew. At the age of 12 I acquired my first complete set of the Nine Symphonies, and over the years built up my collection with the Piano Concertos, Sonatas, String Quartets, etc. In 2006, when a junior in high school, I gave a 75 minute speech on the life, times, and music of Beethoven from memory. No notes were needed, just my love for the man and his music. It is too bad the class hated my speech; they found it boring. I have also had a dozen surgeries over a 17 year period, and Beethoven's story stirs my soul, and has helped me recover. I celebrate Beethoven's Birthday every year.

Another funny story occured in 2007. With all my fanaticism for Beethoven, I would play his works as I studied for tests. This annoyed the other guys on the floor, who only listened to rap, country, and other nonsense. They found me to be be "boring," because of the fact that I listened to "Beefoven" a hideous pun on their part that I later learned was slang for a disgusting sexual act. But they did not faze me, and I kept listening and loving the Master.

It offends me that some people do not consider Beethoven to be so great. I respond like Schroeder: "What do you MEAN Beethoven wasn't so GREAT!?" When I listen to any music by any other composer (and I have heard A LOT!) be it Gregorian Chant, Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474), Dietrich Becker (c. 1623-1679), Leopold Hofmann (1738-1793), Cesar Franck (1822-1890), or Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001), I get so very BORED! Their music does not move me like Beethoven's does. Music before Beethoven was purely for entertainment; music after Beethoven was purely atonal nonsense. So it is safe to say that Beethoven is the greatest composer who ever lived. I respect J.S. Bach and Mozart, but they don't move me like LvB does!

Visiting the Louvre

Visiting the Louvre is a special experience, but you need to know where to start. The first thing to recognize is that it's huge and you can't hope to see everything in a day - so don't try. You get a handy map of the museum with your entrance ticket and it highlights the main attractions, such as the Mona Lisa.

You can't visit the Louvre and not see the Mona Lisa, but my tip would be to see it first - though you may have to run to avoid the crowds ! When you've done that, use the plan to look for the galleries that sound most interesting to you, and spend the morning visiting them, when you have plenty of energy. Then have some lunch at one of the reasonably priced cafés, and spend the afternoon relaxing and finding surprises without looking at your map. The beauty of any museum or gallery is personal discovery.

On a practical note, there are toilets located on all floors, and several shops selling really good books, guides, postcards, and souvenirs. Photography, surprisingly, is permitted.

You can borrow an audio guide for a fee, which is very useful and worth the money. You have to leave a credit card or passport or similar as security. There are several stalls offering audio guides, so you need to remember which one you got it from, as you must return it to the same one to get your credit card or passport back. The Louvre is organized into "wings" with names (Denon, etc.) and the audio guides are at the entrance to each wing (under the glass pyramid).

Finally, the easiest way to enter the Louvre is via the Metro entrance, rather than for the street, as the queues are shorter.

Have a wonderful visit !

The Nutcracker Ballet Synopsis - Act II

After their magical journey through the snow forest, they come to their destination in the Land of Sweets. Clara can’t believe her eyes; ladyfinger mountains topped with whipped cream whiter than snow, sweetly glazed flowers and butter-cream frosting everywhere she looks. Upon their arrival, they are greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy. As they reenact the night’s events, the Sugar Plum Fairy becomes impressed with Clara’s bravery and the Nutcracker’s heroism. In their honor, the Sugar Plum Fairy takes them inside the Candy Castle and throws a lavish festival. They are treated like royalty and presented with every imaginable sweet. Shortly thereafter, the dancing begins.

Hot coco dances to the lively music of trumpets and castanets of the Spanish fandango. The women of coffee dance in veils and move their bodies like rising steam to an Arabian song, while Mandarin tea dances to an exotic Asian flute chorus. Matroishkas (Russian dolls) follow the Mandarin tea leaping and dancing to an invigorating Russian Trepak.

To Clara’s enjoyment there is still more to be seen. A giant gingerbread house, known as Mother Ginger, dances onto the Sugar Plum Fairy’s court. She opens her skirt and eight little gingerbread children come dancing out circling around her. After the Mirliton dance is over, the children quickly file back into the large gingerbread house and Mother Ginger leaves the room. Soon after Mother Ginger exits, the dancing flowers enter to the tune of the harp. Perhaps the most beautiful waltz she has ever heard, Clara and the Nutcracker Prince watch with amazement. The flowers dance in beautiful mesmerizing patterns as a single Dewdrop floats above them.

Silence quickly follows the end of their dance. Clara doesn’t know what to expect next. A handsome Cavalier enters the scene and escorts the Sugar Plum Fairy to the center of the room. They dance to the most recognizable song in the entire work. The captivating pair dance lighter than air. This beautiful dance completes Clara’s most perfect evening. The festival concludes when everyone comes together on the court and bids Clara and the Nutcracker Prince farewell. She tells the Nutcracker she wishes the adventure would never end and he tells her it won’t for those who have an eye to see it.

Clara wakes up the next morning under the Christmas tree with her Nutcracker still in her arms.

The Nutcracker Ballet Synopsis - Act I

It’s a cozy Christmas Eve at the Stahlbaum’s house. Their house is decorated with Christmas ornaments, wreaths, stockings, mistletoe and in the center of it all, a majestic Christmas tree. As the Stahlbaum’s prepare for their annual Christmas party, their children, Fritz and Clara, wait anxiously for their family and friends to arrive. When the guests finally appear, the party picks up with dancing and celebration. A mysterious guest arrives dressed in dark clothing, nearly frightening Fritz, but not Clara. Clara knows he is Godfather Drosselmeyer, the toymaker. His surprise arrival is warmly accepted and all the children dance and carry on with laughter. The celebration is interrupted again when Drosselmeyer reveals to the children that he has brought them gifts. The girls receive beautiful china dolls and the boys receive bugles. Fritz is given a beautiful drum, but Clara is given the best gift of all, the Nutcracker. Fritz grows jealous, snatches the Nutcracker from Clara and plays a game of toss with the other boys. It isn't long until the Nutcracker breaks. Clara is upset, but Drosselmeyer fixes it with a handkerchief. Drosselmeyer’s nephew offers Clara a small make-shift bed under the Christmas tree for her injured Nutcracker.

The party grows late and the children become sleepy. Everyone generously thanks the Stahlbaum’s before they leave. As Clara’s family retires to bed, she checks on her Nutcracker one last time and ends up falling asleep under the Christmas tree with the Nutcracker in her arms.

At the stroke of midnight Clara wakes up to a frightening scene. The house, the tree and the toys seem to be getting larger. Is she shrinking? Out of nowhere large mice dressed in army uniforms, lead by the Mouse King, begin to circle the room while the toys and Christmas tree come to life. Clara’s Nutcracker groups the soldier toys into battle formation and fights the mouse army. The Mouse King traps the Nutcracker in the corner, but the Nutcracker can’t overcome the Mouse King’s strength. Clara makes a desperate move to save her Nutcracker from defeat and throws her slipper at the Mouse King. She hits him directly in the head! The Nutcracker is able to overcome the stunned Mouse King and claims victory. The mice army quickly carries away their King.

Clara falls onto the Nutcracker’s bed, over-whelmed by the moment. As angels and delightful music hover over their heads, the bed turns into a magical sleigh, floating higher and higher. The Nutcracker is transformed into a human prince (who looks strikingly similar to Drosselmeyer’s nephew). He gets on Clara’s sleigh and drives through a snowy forest where the snowflakes turn into dancing maidens.

Major Scales - The Sharp Keys (PART II)

Here are the seven sharp key Major Scales, written out for one and two octaves for pianists, along with piano fingerings.

The imagery of the scales on the keyboard is particularly important for any pianist wanting to master the instrument.

By learning and mastering each scale, you develop a picture in your mind of each key and how it lays on the keys. This image, along with the fingerings will help you feel at home in the key, whether you are memorizing a piece of music or reading in that key.

The mastering of all major and minor scales will benefit your piano skills in countless ways. Your knowledge of keyboard geography and confidence in the feel and shape of each scale will help in reading and memorizing music, as well as understanding the structure of the music you play. Chords and chordal structures will make much more sense to you and you will see relationships and patterns which would not occur to you without proper knowledge of the scales. Also, your technique will grow and your ability to solve and master fingering issues will expand greatly. The pianist who has all the major and minor scales firmly in his head and in his hands will be much more confident and comfortable with all areas of piano playing then one who does not. So master the scales... all of them. Learn the fingerings for all, develop speed and dexterity using the metronome, rhythms and links. Play the scales in octaves, play the scales in thirds, in sixths, in tenths. Play them hands-separately, hands-together. Play them parallel and in contrary motion. Play them loud, play them soft, play them with musical shaping and touch. Play them in your pajamas, play them in your work clothes, play them in your football uniform... Play them, play them, play them. Oh yeah... don't forget to enjoy them! Scales can be lots of fun. You should never be bored when the scales are on your mind and in your fingers.

Quote of the day

"Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend."

Ludwig van Beethoven

Setting up a Blog

Do you want others to read what you write online? Try setting up a blog with my guide to getting started.

Short for "weblogs", blogs began as online diaries, but these days many are useful and entertaining sources of news and information. A blog is really a kind of mini-website, but with one big difference: it costs nothing, or very little, to run. What makes blogs different from most websites is that they are updated regularly and they are interactive - readers can comment on what you write.

No technical knowledge is required to blog. You type your text as if it were any article and the software of the blog company does the rest. Each time you add another piece of text, "known" as post, that gets published at the top of the page and everything else moves down.

More than 130 million blogs have been started on the web and around a million blog posts are written every day. Every blog is different: some have only one author, some are the work of two or more people, some are streams of nonsense about nothing in particular. Many, though, are clever, informative and well written. These are often the ones that attract most comments.

People blog for different reasons. Some blogs are platforms for the writer's own opinions, some bloggers write to promote themselves and show off their skills, some even sell stuff on their blogs. Other bloggers write to get in touch with people who have similar views, while some blog to share their knowledge. Teachers, for instance, often blog to help students to catch up when they miss a class. Blogs can be password-protected so that they can only be read by those are allowed to view them.

The best blogs are those that specialise. If you cover too wide a topic area, you'll find difficult to attract a loyal audience. People go to their favourite blog regularly, as they know they'll always find something of interest there.  They don't want a wasted visit, so stick to your own particular subject. You'll come across as knowledgeable and others with the same interest will visit regularly.

It is very easy to set up a blog. You can be online within a few minutes of opening an account, Start by looking at as many blogs as possible to get the ideas. Most blogs publish a "blogroll", or list of links to other blogs, so click on those to view more examples. Next you need to select a blog company. The biggest and most user-friendly are free, although they all offer slightly different features, so make sure you investigate and choose the one that provides what you want.

You can write as much or as little as you like but you must add posts regularly. It is best to write every few days, but it doesn't matter if you do so only at weekends or a couple of times a month, so long as your readers know when to expect posts. It is frustrating to visit a favourite blog only to find that it hasn't been updated as expected. You won't always have the time to write long blogs. On those says, refer your visitors to another blog, something in the press or a video clip on the Internet.

Blogging about items in the news will help increase your readership, as more people will be searching for that topic. However, blogging is not necessarily about gaining a wide audience. It is often more satisfying to attract regular readers who interact with you, so write about what you know, check your facts and don't be afraid to say things people may disagree with - it's a good way of attracting comments. You'll soon have a loyal audience who will spread the word about your blog.

Luciano Pavarotti (Biography)

As a boy, Pavarotti enjoyed local fame as a member of the town's soccer team, and first sang in the chorus with his father, a fine amateur tenor and devoted opera buff.

When the chorus won first prize in an international competition, the young singer’s career began.

His solo debut came in 1961, portraying Rodolfo in a performance of 'La Boheme' at the opera house in Reggio Emilia. Early success led to engagements throughout Italy and eventually Amsterdam, Vienna, Zurich and London.

Pavarotti's American debut came in February 1965, in a Miami production of 'Lucia di Lammermoor', but the Pavarotti phenomenon began in earnest in 1972, during a performance of 'La Fille du Regiment', at New York's Metropolitan Opera. After his effortless completion of an aria containing nine high Cs, the audience erupted in prolonged applause, and his stardom was secured.

In 1977, Pavarotti reprised the role of Rodolfo for the premiere episode of the long-running 'Live at the Met' television series, going on to appear in over a dozen broadcasts from the Lincoln Centre. His entire stage repertory has been recorded, and he has sold millions of copies of his solo albums of opera arias, traditional music, and holiday favourites.

Pavarotti's live performances have included many stadium dates, as well as other attention-grabbing spectacles. Some of his greatest success has been achieved in the company of Placido Domingo and José Carreras, performing as the Three Tenors. Their most famous collaboration must surely be 'Nessun Dorma', the theme for the 1990 football World Cup in Italy.

However, his career had not been without occasional difficulties. He earned a reputation as "The King of Cancellations" by frequently backing out of performances, and his unreliable nature led to poor relationships with some opera houses. In 1989, the Lyric Opera of Chicago severed their 15-year relationship with the tenor after he cancelled 26 out of 41 scheduled appearances at the venue over eight years.

Arguably no other opera singer in music history has achieved the same level of international celebrity as tenor Luciano Pavarotti. He received Kennedy Centre Honours in 2001 and currently holds two Guinness World Records: for receiving the most curtain calls - 165 - and for the best selling classical album.

However, the performer was also been beset with a number of health problems. In 2005, he underwent neck surgery to repair two vertebrae, before he contracted an infection a year later while in the hospital receiving back surgery.

Pavarotti was then diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2006, five months after his last performance. He had not made any public appearances since then. In 2007 he started chemotherapy treatment, but was then admitted to hospital in August that year with a fever.

He died at his home in Modena on 6 September 2007. He was 71.

Major Scales - The flat Keys & C Major (PART I)

Here are the seven flat-key Major Scales plus the C Major, written out for one and two octaves for pianists, along with piano fingerings. Mastery of these scales benefits all musicians. Instrumentalists gain a higher working knowledge of their instrument and of the music they play. Know your scales!!

For pianists, start with just one octave and master the fingering and the notes for each scale, hand separately, and then hands together. Practice slowly, using a metronome to help establish a steady tempo. Only go faster as the fingerings and notes become easy and flow naturally.

Once you have mastered the major scales in single octave scales, try extending each scale to two octaves. This will be easier if you put a stop in after the first octave, giving your brain a chance to start the pattern over for the second octave.

The mastering of all major and minor scales will benefit your piano skills in countless ways. Your knowledge of keyboard geography and confidence in the feel and shape of each scale will help in reading and memorizing music, as well as understanding the structure of the music you play. Chords and chordal structures will make much more sense to you and you will see relationships and patterns which would not occur to you without proper knowledge of the scales. Also, your technique will grow and your ability to solve and master fingering issues will expand greatly. The pianist who has all the major and minor scales firmly in his head and in his hands will be much more confident and comfortable with all areas of piano playing then one who does not. So master the scales... all of them. Learn the fingerings for all, develop speed and dexterity using the metronome, rhythms and links. Play the scales in octaves, play the scales in thirds, in sixths, in tenths. Play them hands-separately, hands-together. Play them parallel and in contrary motion. Play them loud, play them soft, play them with musical shaping and touch. Play them in your pajamas, play them in your work clothes, play them in your football uniform... Play them, play them, play them. Oh yeah... don't forget to enjoy them! Scales can be lots of fun. You should never be bored when the scales are on your mind and in your fingers.

Piano Scales (Introduction)

Piano scales lay the foundation for a pianist’s keyboard skills and understanding of music. Mastering the music scales on the piano will not only help you know your keyboard, it will also provide you a knowledge base for learning piano music and even composing your own music.

Many piano teachers avoid teaching the scales because they are concerned their students will get bored. I have not found this to be true. Most piano students enjoy playing the scales and chords and related exercises. For the practicing piano player, the scales keep the fingers and the mind on the keys. As you learn and master the 12 major scales, and the 36 minor scales (natural minors, melodic minors, harmonic minors -3x12-) you will find pleasure in playing them all, or just focusing on one or two and doing "in depth" exercises. A piano player could easily spend several hours just exploring the possibilities with the scales. Piano scales help the pianist develop fingering awareness, keyboard familiarity and confidence, technique, understanding of music composition including melodic concepts and harmony, and just an overall comfort and mastery of the piano. This all has a huge effect upon the piano player's abilities to read music, to learn and memorize music, and to compose music. Without a high level of scale proficiency, you will struggle to achieve high level piano skills.

Anna Netrebko (Biography)

Anna Netrebko is no longer just the darling of the opera world: she is enchanting audiences around the globe while continuing to cultivate the respect and admiration of opera’s most devoted and demanding fans. Her beautiful, dark, and distinctive voice, together with her elegant and alluring stage presence, have prompted critics to hail the Russian soprano as “Audrey Hepburn with a voice,” and “a singer who simply has it all: a voice of astounding purity, precision, and scope, extensive dynamic and tonal range, imagination, insight, and wit – all combined with a dazzling charisma that makes it all but impossible to look away when she is performing.

Since her triumphant Salzburg Festival debut in 2002 as Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Anna Netrebko has gone on to appear with nearly all of the world’s great opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera, London’s Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, the Berlin State Opera, and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera. She also frequently returns to the Kirov Opera at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg (where she began by cleaning the floors during her conservatory days and later, in 1994, made her stage debut as Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro) to collaborate with her longtime mentor, conductor Valery Gergiev.

Anna Netrebko made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2002 as Natasha in Prokofiev’s War and Peace, a role she has also sung at London’s Covent Garden, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, and Madrid’s Teatro Real. Ms. Netrebko’s other signature roles include Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème; Giulietta in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Elvira in his I puritani, and Amina in his La sonnambula; Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Susanna in his Nozze di Figaro; Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Adina in his L’elisir d’amore, and the title role in his Lucia di Lammermoor; the title role in Massenet’s Manon; Juliette in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette; and Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata.

String Quartet no.1 in A - Borodin

Borodin wrote this quartet in two years, and published it in 1879 with a dedication to Rimsky Korsakov's wife. Though overshadowed by his more popular second quartet, the musical resources employed by Borodin in it's composition were novel in 19th century Russia.

It full title is String Quartet on a Theme of Beethoven, and it employes a variation of a melody from Beethoven's Op. 130 quartet. Upon hearing it, a critic stated that Borodin had produced Russia's first great piece of chamber music.

About the author

Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin (12 November 1833 – 27 February 1887) was a Russian Romantic composer and chemist of Georgian–Russian parentage. He was a member of the group of composers called The Five (or "The Mighty Handful"), who were dedicated to producing a specifically Russian kind of art music. He is best known for his symphonies, his two string quartets, and his opera Prince Igor. Music from Prince Igor and his string quartets was later adapted for the US musical Kismet.

Quote of the day

"An opera begins long before the curtain goes up and ends long after it has come down. It starts in my imagination, it becomes my life, and it stays part of my life long after I've left the opera house."

Maria Callas