14 September 2008

safeguarding, figs + autumn settling in berlin



Spent all day in the recording studios at the Berlin Philharmonie working towards the SAFEGUARDING project.  


At midday, I saw Daniel Barenboim appear on the screen as he warmed up on the piano... so I took the elevator and sat in the hall to listen to him rehearse.  The moment connected a bunch of dots : I had organised the film shoot for the documentary film, THE ART OF PIANO : Great Pianists of the 2Oth century (1999 - directed by Donald Sturrock).  The documentary involved archives of great pianists throughout the 20th century and interviews with the best living pianists.    It took me 8  months to get the interview with Barenboim... my persistence paid as his interview saved the film: he spoke so articulately about the piano, its history and its performance. 

Then earlier this year a friend gave me PARALLELS + PARADOXES : conversations with Barenboim + Edward Said... which supported my thought process of the SAFEGUARDING MUSIC series +  the importance of music having its place within contemporary society.

Then, only yesterday I learnt about the book, EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED : THE POWER OF MUSIC by Barenboim... and today there I was giving my SAFEGUARDING catalogue to his assistant with whom I had organised the film shoot ten years earlier...

Barenboim's Reith lectures are worth listening to:







+ on the way home found that the autumn air was seeping in...so I bought one of the signs of late summer in Europe : scrumptious, sensual fresh figs... along with mango (summer) + persimmon (autumn) my favourite fruits mark a delicious space of season + location.

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