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Oh no… Horowitz is dead… :(

pigeon — Sun, 07 Aug 2005 05:27:18 +0000

For most people, Vladimir Horowitz has been dead for the last 16 years or so. For other piano and pianist lovers, he might have been living in our heart and in his piano playing. As for me, he’s pretty much alive for the last couple weeks, till only a few days ago, as I have been reading the book Evenings with Horowitz by David Dubal.

Regardless of the critics on the book and how people not being happy about what David might have written and described, I enjoy it very much. It’s almost like I’ve been visiting Horowitz myself when I’m reading it. Especially when there are things mentioned which I have actually watched or heard, such as the concert in Moscow, and the Last Romantic. I truly feel the presence of Horowitz within all the words in the book.

At the same time, it was a great thing to fill my brain everyday with music and piano materials. In the morning I found out what Scriabin and Chopin were like in those days. Later on I learnt about how Horowitz picked his cadenza for his Mozert concerto No. 23 in A Major. And then read about how aristocratic Rachmaninoff is and the the difficult time he had.

The conversations between Horowitz and David are the kind of conversations that I lack these days. I remember I have done similar things with my last piano teacher, Claudia. Despite the fact that her musical and piano knowledge is at a much higher level than mine, we do have the same level of passion towards the piano. We could talk about and share a lot of things we know, all the time. Those were really great times I had.

I also did feel sympathy for David in a lot of ways. It’s certainly not easy to accompany with someone for a long time. And anyone could imagine it would even be harder with the Horowitzes. And I have to say I appreciate this book and David for sharing his experience with the maestro of the piano.

Next, I guess I’ll get more books on piano, and I’m sure I’d enjoy as much.

Digital Fortress…

pigeon — Sat, 26 Mar 2005 06:53:06 +0000

IIDTENTDHSIASDYAAHNLSICMVEGFATOAEDDONPOZFRIRDRLIIEGTFEANNAIRITNG

Da Vinci Code…

pigeon — Tue, 15 Feb 2005 10:48:31 +0000

Just finished reading the Da Vinci Code few weeks ago. Apart from all the thrilling adventure and puzzles, hidden secrets and codes, I also found a couple bits that I actually enjoyed and laughed on the spot…

Potential spoilers if you haven’t read the book yet, but here is some of the quotes that I found amusing…

“We lost them for the time being,” she said, “but we won’t last another five minutes if we stay in this car.”

So steal a different one, Langdon mused, now that we’re criminals.

* * *

“My point exactly,” Langdon said. “Religious allegory has become a part of the fabric of reality. And living in that reality helps millions of people cope and be better people.”“But it appears their reality is false.”

Langdon chuckled. “No more false than that of a mathematical cryptographer who believes in the imaginary number ‘i’ because it helps her break codes.”

* * *

“These books can’t possibly compete with centuries of established history, especially when that history is endorsed by the ultimate bestseller of all time.”Faukman’s eyes went wide. “Don’t tell me Harry Potter is actually about the Holy Grail.”

Oh well, and now I’ve moved onto another Dan Brown’s book, the Digital Fortress.