Monthly Archives: March 2016

Porto, with Love and Squalor

Historic Porto, on the Portuguese river Douro, is clustered with townhouses dressed up in patterned, colored tile.   They are stacked up on the steep hills, perched beside each other, faces looking out over the river as if waiting, watching for … Continue reading

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Spain with a Bang

“Spain is different,” the old advertising slogan goes. It’s true – the country has its own way of doing things. There can be something delirious about it, unmoored, seemingly irrational. Don Quixote was written here – Spain isn’t a slouch … Continue reading

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Beam me up, Tavener!

This week I watched Community MusicWorks in rehearsal as the orchestra welcomed and was perplexed by its new strange piece – “The Protective Veil” by contemporary British composer John Tavener. Its form is so unusual that it was hard for … Continue reading

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WILDLIFE in the WHITE HOUSE

  You, candidate, can’t help imagining what it will be like to live there.   The fight isn’t over – hardly – but days of all days, on Super Tuesday, you can almost taste victory.   You let your eyes stray from … Continue reading

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