This is Stefano Bertoncello's Blog (ステファノ・ベルトンチェッロ - トゥーグッドイアーズ − ブロガー、オーディオ＆ミュージック・コンサルタント) devoted to pacific topics like Music - live and reproduced - i.e. discs, audio, guitars - both vintage and new, concerts, workshops, and related stuffs. Furthermore: travelling - as a mind-game and real globetrotting, and books, movies, photography... sharing all the above et al. and related links... and to anything makes Life better and Earth a better place to stay, enjoying Life, in Peace.
Gustav Mahler, was known for his exacting standards and intense rehearsals. During his tenure as the director of the Vienna Court Opera, he was conducting a rehearsal when he suddenly stopped the orchestra and shouted, "Gentlemen, you are playing as if you don't care. You must play with passion, with fire, with life!"
One of the musicians, trying to lighten the mood, replied, "But Herr Mahler, if we play with too much fire, we might burn the house down!"
Without missing a beat, Mahler shot back, "Better to burn down the house than bore the audience to death!"
Mahler's fiery personality and quick wit often made his rehearsals as memorable as his performances.
Igor Stravinsky playing with Charlie Chaplin in one of those rolling hoop thingies.
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Ice making during the Persian Empire in the middle of the desert: the Yakhchal or “Ice Pit” is an architectural method that was used to produce ice and preserve food. The Persians were already making tons of ice and freezing food in the desert 2,400 years ago.
1- Design of the structure: The Yakchal had a dome shape with thick walls made of bricks and clay. This construction helped maintain a cool temperature inside the vault.
2- Water collection: During the winter, water was collected from rivers or from melting snow in the mountains. This water was directed towards the Yakchal through canals.
3- Freezing process: The water was distributed in small ponds or pools within the vault. During the night and in the coldest hours of the day, the water would freeze due to the low temperatures of the desert at night.
4- Ice storage: Once frozen, the ice was cut into blocks and stored in the lowest part of the Yakchal, where the temperature was coldest. The dome shape and natural insulation of the walls helped keep the ice frozen for many months.
5- Later use: During the summer, the stored ice was used to cool drinks, preserve food or even for medical purposes if necessary. In short, the Yakchal took advantage of the natural cold of desert nights to create and preserve ice, using simple but effective storage and thermal insulation techniques.
ON THIS DATE (76 YEARS AGO)
June 18, 1948 - In New York City, Columbia Records publicly unveiled its new long-playing phonograph record that turned at 33 1/3-RPM rather than the standard 78-RPM disc.
CBS Laboratories head research scientist Peter Goldmark (December 2, 1906 – December 7, 1977) led Columbia's team to develop a phonograph record that would hold at least 20 minutes per side. Research began in 1941, was suspended during World War II, and then resumed in 1945. The team included Howard H. Scott, who died September 22, 2012, at the age of 93.
The first vinyl LP to come off a press at the CBS laboratory occurred on February 27, 1946. It took two additional years for problems with mastering, cutterhead mechanics, corrective equalization for the inner grooves (where the same amount of information is packed into ever shorter spaces), and vinyl formulations to be resolved.
Columbia Records unveiled the LP at a press conference in the Waldorf Astoria on June 18, 1948, in two formats: 10 in (25 cm) in diameter, matching that of 78 rpm singles, and 12 in (30 cm) in diameter. Although they released 100 simultaneously to allow for a purchasing catalog, the first catalog number for a ten-inch LP, CL 6001, was a reissue of the Frank Sinatra 78 rpm album set The Voice of Frank Sinatra; the first catalog number for a twelve-inch LP, Columbia Masterworks Set ML 4001, was the Mendelssohn Concerto in E Minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 64, played by Nathan Milstein with the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York conducted by Bruno Walter. These two albums are therefore the first long-players.
In 1948, Columbia gained a formidable edge on its competitors with the introduction of long-playing 33-1/3 rpm records (in 10" and 12" formats), establishing a new industry standard that would hold for almost 40 years. The first 12" recording, released on June 28, 1948, and selling at a premium price of $4.85, featured violinist Nathan Milstein in the Mendelssohn Concerto in E minor with Bruno Walter conducting the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of New York; the first 10" 33-1/3 recording (selling for $3.85) featured Walter conducting Beethoven's Symphony No. 8.
This trio truly represented the azimuth of British jazz and a peak in whole ECM offerings…
Norma Winstone, Kenny Wheeler and John Taylor where so beautifully expressive and their music never sounded dull or calligraphic.
I was fortunate enough to experience them alive twice and their live performances were flawless and poetic.
My pal Sly let me choosing among his impressive collection…
Here is the results of my browsing:
Thanks, Sly 🙏
This man was paramount in my musical life as I used to shop at his awesome shop for 40+ years in a pre-WEB era and I sparingly collaborated on his magazines “Il Mucchio Selcaggio” and “L’Ultimo Buscadero”.
Paolo Carù was 77 years old and was found lifeless in his home, where he had recently lived alone. Emergency vehicles also rushed to the scene but it immediately became clear that there was nothing more that could be done. Via Postporta was closed and the carabinieri also operated on site to carry out the necessary investigations.
His life has always been linked to the vinyl and book shop that he inherited from his father at the age of twenty, in 1967, so much so that the shop in Piazza Garibaldi became a point of reference for enthusiasts from all over Italy and of Europe. Next to him, managing the bookshop, is his wife Anna. The Guardian listed it among the most famous indie vinyl shops in the world.
I talked with him at the phone a couple of months ago… I’m very sad and I’ll dearly miss him.
RIP to his family and close friends.
Interesting auction taking place online.
Syd Barrett’s painted floor boards which appeared on his “The Madcap Laughs” album!
https://bid.omegaauctions.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-293---pink-floydsyd-barrett-interest---the-original-painted-wooden-floorboards-from-madcap-laughs-album-cover/?lot=55480&so=4&st=pink+floyd&sto=0&au&ef&et&ic=False&sd=0&pp=48&pn=1&g=1&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2HYMUVjyziba-v70cc0srLuSDFFbpZEPWtmEw7hGA0SFjU2UEwBO56k5A_aem_AXWCjup09aBiRbEJTqUVZKh8rfwcnFWmmm3dRXCqjXfQf7LBj9ZeRldR6SkLmeywMksQHFygh1El1IARxNWwLYLA
“I think it's the land. The streams, the forests, the vast emptiness. The land created me. I'm wild and lonesome. Even as I travel the cities, I'm more at home in the vacant lots.
But I have a love for humankind, a love of truth, and a love of justice. I think I have a dualistic nature. I'm more of an adventurous type than a relationship type.”
[Bob Dylan]
"Take care
to meet
who is not in the middle.
Seek extreme beings,
the deliriums, the enchantments..."
Franco Arminio
Recorded in Switzerland in 1961… USA issued, but a Japanese production: amazing quality, from original master-tapes, originally issued by Decca in England 💎💫💎
At Smithsonian’s
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