RobsHouse.net

Hello Everybody,

Animals

If you like animals, especially elephants, there’s some good stuff for you this month. First, make sure and check out the amazing video of an elephant painting. This blows my mind because one of the things that is supposed to set humans apart from the rest of life on this planet is the ability to process visual abstractions (pictures and language symbols, for example). I don’t know if you can train an elephant to paint without him seeing anything in the final product, but I doubt it. I get the sense from watching the video that the elephant knows he’s painting an elephant.

Then, elephants, sea lions and giraffes are all part of what you see when you go to the zoo, and that’s exactly what Kimiko and I saw yesterday at the Kölner Zoo. We always go when it is cold and raining so that we don’t fight the crowds. It was a nice way to remove ourselves from the stress of the past weeks.

Books

I’ve managed to read two books of fiction since the last newsletter. This is somewhat unusual. For a long time the only books I read were computer books. The first was Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett. Thanks to Geoff Butterfield for the recommendation! I enjoyed it but I don’t recommend it. Perhaps Pratchett appeals more strongly to you than to me (I’m looking at you, Jam), but I like my reading to be more than just entertainment. This book seemed a bit trivial.

Then, in response to Rachel and Antony starting a book club on Facebook I read Philip Roth’s “Everyman”. This is a short novel about death. It’s not trivial, and it is very well structured and written. I’d strongly recommend it, except that it is depressing. Don’t read it if you are already depressed, this will just dampen your mood even further.

Music

Kimiko and I attended a house concert where her brother, Danjulo, played a recital. Danjulo played like a god, as usual. The idea of a house concert is something that doesn’t get discussed much, though, and I’d like too draw some attention to it. The concert took place at the house of Rudi and Gudula Neidert. They have a very nice house, though not particularly big for American standards. I say that not to diminish their house, but rather to emphasize that a mansion isn’t a pre-requisite for having a private concert. They also have a baby-grand piano which they keep well tuned. 46 people were in attendance, and the atmosphere was wonderful. Bringing people together to focus on live music in small settings is the very reason chamber music was ever written. I wish that the practice of house concerts was more widespread. This was the 10th house concert that the Neiderts have had in conjunction with the Ishizaka family over the years.

The rest of my musical life right now is focused on Franz Schubert. I am having an extended love affair with his music. Schubert never became one of my favorites while I was a horn player. Perhaps it is because of the paucity of his music for horn. If so, that was a lame excuse. His music is nothing short of miraculous. I have strongly recommended the 4 CD collection of his 4-handed piano works (Eschenbach and Frantz on piano), and will do so again here. More recommendations will come.

I’ve decided to collect Schubert’s entire opus on CD over the next year. To date I have the complete string quartets, the complete 4-handed piano works, the complete piano sonatas, the complete dances and waltzes for piano solo, his complete secular choral works, songs sung by Fischer-Dieskau, a piano trio, the Trout Quintet, three of the nine symphonies, the oratorio “Lazarus”, the opera “Alfonso and Estrella”, and perhaps some more that I’ve forgotten. This is around 40 CDs worh of music right there. When I went into the record store recently to investigate a complete collection of his Lieder (songs for voice and piano), I was shocked to see that they alone involve another 40 CDs. What a spectacular achievement for a man who never saw his 33rd birthday.

That’s all for now. Best wishes from Bonn!