Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Hear the astonishing 

CONDOLEEZA RICE 

perform the First Movement of 

DVORAK's PIANO QUINTET in A -Major




Here is a TRUE American Success Story 
of the first magnitude made manifest.
HALLELUJAH!

I KNOW this music, and you can take it from me this remarkable woman plays astonishingly well.  Frankly, I had no idea. I am humbled –– as all of us should be.

It's too bad the string players are not quite up to her level, but they'll do nicely, even so.

18 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Great job from a Great Lady.
    On another note.

    I see that the Progressive One, the foul-mouthed blogger is getting her long needed justful day in the court of opinion. over at AOW's blog.

    As long as I am an American citizen and American blood runs in these veins I shall hold myself at liberty to speak, to write, and to publish whatever I please on any subject.” - Elijah Parish Lovejoy

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  3. Can't say that I have the trained ear of a musical connaisseur but even to my untrained ear I can recognize the musical talent of Ms. Rice. Can't say I could criticize the string section either, they were great along with the piano player.

    Have to wonder if deranged politics does colour every perception of Ducky, especially when he exhibits such a talent for quacking off key, almost always.

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  4. Or maybe the point Ducky is trying to make was: You can't be the piano player in a brothel and pretend you didn't know what was happening upstairs???

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  5. I see the Detestible Duck had to fly in and crap all over a nice weblog post that had nothing to do with politics.

    This is what grubby leftists do, folks. They shit all over everything, bacause they cannot create anything. They can only destroy, demean, deconstruct, and tear down.

    Bravo! You Bean Town Buffoon! Bravo!

    Your wit is beyond compare!

    ---
    From the weblog post:

    "Here is a TRUE American Success Story of the first magnitude made manifest."

    But she is mildly conservative, therefor she loses her status as a minority woman and earns nothing but obloquy.

    The communist keepers of cultural status have spoken!

    Harlan from LeftWatch (Somebody's gotta keep 'em honest!)

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  6. PLEASE do your best to address the SUBJECT of the daily post, and not let the stench from the LITTER juvenile delinquents drop into our midst distract us from our true purpose which is to examine, enjoy and analyze the contents of each POST.

    We are NOT here to criticize or irritate EACH OTHER.

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  7. Mr. FreeThinke,
    I apologize, sir, but when the foul stench of communism invades my nosrils, the retch is purely involuntary!

    I will try to refrain in the future, kind sir.

    Harlan from LeftWatch (Somebody's gotta keep an eye on 'em!)

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  8. Mr. Free Thinke,

    This was a delight, and I thank you for finding and posting it.

    I'm not able to judge as a professional, as you can, Ms. Rice's artistry, but I felt she played this with feeling. I don't know the music well enough to know if her technique matched its brilliance, so I defer to your judgement.

    Thanks for introducing me to this and for a lovely way to start the day.

    Brava to Ms. Rice.

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  9. The Garbage Detail overslept this morning, else the manure would have been shovelled off and hosed away.

    One must be forever vigilant to keep the vandals -- and the jackals -- at bay.

    I had so hoped readers would LISTEN to Condoleezza Rice.

    She has revealed herself to be a polymath. Piano playing is one of the few things I do know a great deal about, and the woman is astonishingly good at it. As good as many successful concert artists of the past -- and better than several I could name of the top of my head.

    I had read that she performed the Mozart D-minor Concerto with one of the symphony orchestras in Colorado at the age of 14. This is no small accomplishment, but I was skeptical about the quality of her playing even so. The proof of the playing is in the hearing.

    It was just yesterday that I stumbled across this highly respectable rendition of the Dvorak piano quintet, while searching for other chamber music by Dvorak at YouTube.

    Ms. Rice really ought to spend more time giving concerts and making recordings. Her musical ability deserves to heard and appreciated on its own -- NOT because she is black or because she achieved high office in government.

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  10. FT,

    Did you know that her parents were music afficionados, and her name derives from the musical direction, Con Dolcezza?

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  11. No, I did not know that, Kurt. I hope some decent,sensitive, non-ideologically driven author will write her biography one day soon.

    Ms. Rice has too much innate dignity and high quality to put herself forward by writing an autobiography. Her accomplishments, if she listed and described them accurately herself, would make her sound like a vulgar showoff.

    Frankly -- if we must think in terms of "race," as liberals are more wont to do these days than any other faction -- I think Condoleezza Rice makes an IDEAL ROLE MODEL for Negro Women everywhere. More than that her extraordinary self-discipline, high achievement, comely appearance, and dedication to sound accomplishment make an excellent role model for ALL people of EVERY race.

    I know she has been criticized for, apparently, not having what-is-politely-described-as "a love life."

    I neither know nor care about her sexual practices and predilections, if any. The public's preoccupation with things of that sort is frankly nauseating.

    Whatever she has or has not done in this area is no one's business but hers, but I can virtually GUARANTEE that her public persona is in no way an AFFECTATION.

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  12. Waylon, I'm glad you are able to realize, even without knowing much about music, that what you have seen and heard today is a solid accomplishment of real significance.

    As for the Putrid Pintail who likes to dive bomb these premises with copious expulsions of bird turd, let us credit him with no "point" whatsoever. I assure you his sole purpose is to derail honest dialogue and draw attention to his noxious self.

    Please don't pay him any heed in future. It only pollutes the blog.

    Thanks.

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  13. Very nice. The transition between video's is a bit rough, though.

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  14. Ms Shaw! I am so glad you stopped by to enjoy the performance. I should have acknowledged your remark earlier.

    But yes, the performance is more-than-adequate from every standpoint, though no doubt Menachem Pressler with The Emerson String Quartet or others on that high a professional level would give the piece a more incisive, dramatically dynamic account.

    One of "my things" in life is to try always to give credit where credit is due without allowing preconceived notions to cloud my judgment. That's not always easy, but I know it's a worthy goal.

    I hope you and others will soon listen to a full account of the Dvorak piano quintet in A-major. It's a piece well worth knowing -- one of the great monuments in the chamber music literature as a matter of fact.

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  15. Thersites, I couldn't agree more about the unfortunate division of the movement between two videos. It is awkward to say the least -- and should not have been necessary since YouTube permits works of extended length to be posted all at one.

    HOWEVER, those technical considerations have nothing to do with Condoleezza Rice or the very high quality of her piano playing. ;-)

    This performance was given in 2008. Where the lady ever found time to practice the instrument in the midst all the other demands on her time and energy I can't imagine. My respect for her instantly grew by leaps and bounds after discovering these videos yesterday.

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  16. Simply wonderful, more than adequate ? You bet it was, but I guess it's hard for some to admit it.

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  17. Perhaps if the transition were not so rough, it might encourage more "play". I'm not saying that the cut was "deliberate". Although I would not be surprised...

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  18. I have a great respect for those with the talent and discipline to play a musical instrument so beautifully.

    It's a shame that some allow their personal beliefs to prevent them from recognizing beauty.

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