Sunday, December 16
Pipi N Van
Came back from Adrian and Van's Wedding at Shangri-La. I don't know why it came across to me as one of the most touching and enjoyable wedding dinner I have attended in a long time. Everything was great, right from the food to the recitals by their friends and their friends testimonies and the dance floor at the end. Perhaps the most touching thing about it was the testimonies, or words of appreciation. I am not a faint heart, but it does get to me when I hear the appreciation people mention of their dads. Being a calm aviator and an introvert, I don't show my feelings easily. I think the biggest joy is most oft found in the family. I don't know what else to say. I think of Beethoven. One thing before I close, my dearest recognised the Roca Almond chocolate in the door gift, and more than mentioned that her mom really like this pretty rare and wonderful chocolate. Adrian and Van are so very generous to treat their guests such delicacy. Perhaps I should thank Van specifically, after all Adrian told everybody that everything good at the dinner was planned by Van and if there was anything bad, it was his fault. That's really a good step towards a happy and sustainable marriage... haha... the Lord blesses their union with joy, laughter, and an abundance of blessings and love, as I have written, in Jesus' name.
Wednesday, August 29
Ruggiero Ricci
He was my favourite recording artist ever since I first bought a superb coupling of his Tchaikovsky and Mendelssohn concerto back in 1995. I still remember that I bought it at the old Popular Bookstore in Toa Payoh, between college classes. I listened to it so many time, and he really stood out. His masterful expression even in such technical monster pieces of violin works are amazing. August had been a busy month, and i did see the news flash earlier this month about his demise, I could only afford a moment of reflection and grief at the moment. Now I'll share a write up on this prodigal American violinist maestro, quoting an impressive write up by Valerie J Nelson of LA Times.
...
Violinist Ruggiero Ricci held the audience spellbound when he debuted at the Hollywood Bowl in 1932, a "wunderkind" of classical music with marvelous showmanship and beautiful tone. He was all of 13.
What he accomplished in the ensuing decades is perhaps even more impressive: He made the rare leap from child prodigy to serious artist. He was regarded as one of the greatest violin virtuosos of his generation.
Ricci, 94, died of heart failure Aug. 6 at his Palm Springs home, said Shelley Bovyer, a violinist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic who regards Ricci as her finest teacher.
"He was a masterful technician on the violin," Brian Lauritzen, a producer and host at KUSC-FM (91.5), told The Times. "He could play anything. But he also had a lyrical expression that made his violin sing."
Some observers called Ricci "the Paganini of the 20th century" for his devotion to early 19th century compositions by Niccolo Paganini.
"He made the Paganini Caprices for Solo Violin — works that are little more than violin fireworks — interesting music. He owned those pieces," Lauritzen said, and "showed us it was possible to make substance from style."
The violinist was the first to record the Caprices in their original version, according to the "New Grove Dictionary of American Music."
Because of Ricci, the Caprices have an important place in the violin repertory, Lauritzen said.
Ricci always credited the years he spent as an "entertainment specialist" in the Army Air Forces during World War II with sparking his interest in solo violin repertoire because he usually had to perform without accompaniment.
He "remains a master of the bold outburst, the sentimental indulgence and the pyrotechnical flight," critic Martin Bernheimer wrote of his 1987 performance of Tchaikovsky with the Pacific Symphony.
Ricci's repertoire included about 50 major violin concertos. By his own account, he had given more than 5,000 concerts in 65 countries after first touring Europe in 1932. He gave his final U.S. performance at the Smithsonian Institution in 2003, the year he turned 85.
Prodigies were big business when 11-year-old Ricci made his New York debut in 1929 wearing a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit. Ricci's Italian-immigrant father was determined that one of his seven children would be a prodigy, Ricci later said.
"It was immediately apparent that the boy had something to say," reported the New York Times account of his performance, "that he was playing with a native fire.... It was the playing of one born to play the instrument."
Two siblings also became professional musicians. Ricci's sister Emma played the violin in the Metropolitan Opera orchestra and his brother George, who died in 2010, was a noted cellist.
Ricci was born July 24, 1918, in the San Francisco area into a poor family and named Woodrow Wilson Rich.
When young Woodrow's talent became apparent, he was given the stage name of Ruggiero Ricci to make him sound the part. His friends called him Roger.
From age 6, according to Ricci's official biography, he studied with Louis Persinger, a noted teacher who had experience with violin prodigies — Yehudi Menuhin was also a student.
At 10, Ricci gave his first public recital in 1928 in San Francisco playing the Mendelssohn Concerto. He was hailed as a genius.
"I was not a normal child, anyway," Ricci told the Washington Post in 1979. "The only way I could get attention was to show off, and I liked it."
At 12, he was at the center of a custody battle between his parents and Beth Lackey, a Persinger assistant who was serving as the legal guardian of Ricci and his brother, George. After a court battle, his parents regained custody.
Touring Europe as a teenager was lonely, Ricci later said. Tougher still was the criticism he began to receive.
"In
my teens, I was nothing," he said in a 2007 interview with
Violinist.com. "I wasn't a grown-up artist, and I wasn't a prodigy."
Yet at 15, Ricci decided to make the violin his life's career, certain he could improve on his 10-year-old self, he later said.
Mentoring the next generation of violinists was important to Ricci, Lauritzen said.
Ricci held posts at Indiana University, the Juilliard School and the University of Michigan, among other schools. He also taught at a conservatory in Salzburg, Austria, gave master classes and wrote two texts on left-hand technique.
He continued to give private lessons into his 90s, teaching his students to savor their individualities, to take chances just as he had.
Ricci's survivors include his wife of 37 years, Julia; his children from two previous marriages that ended in divorce, sons Gian-Franco and Roger, daughters Riana Muller and Paolo Hopp; and several grandchildren.
...
Violinist Ruggiero Ricci held the audience spellbound when he debuted at the Hollywood Bowl in 1932, a "wunderkind" of classical music with marvelous showmanship and beautiful tone. He was all of 13.
What he accomplished in the ensuing decades is perhaps even more impressive: He made the rare leap from child prodigy to serious artist. He was regarded as one of the greatest violin virtuosos of his generation.
Ricci, 94, died of heart failure Aug. 6 at his Palm Springs home, said Shelley Bovyer, a violinist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic who regards Ricci as her finest teacher.
"He was a masterful technician on the violin," Brian Lauritzen, a producer and host at KUSC-FM (91.5), told The Times. "He could play anything. But he also had a lyrical expression that made his violin sing."
Some observers called Ricci "the Paganini of the 20th century" for his devotion to early 19th century compositions by Niccolo Paganini.
"He made the Paganini Caprices for Solo Violin — works that are little more than violin fireworks — interesting music. He owned those pieces," Lauritzen said, and "showed us it was possible to make substance from style."
The violinist was the first to record the Caprices in their original version, according to the "New Grove Dictionary of American Music."
Because of Ricci, the Caprices have an important place in the violin repertory, Lauritzen said.
Ricci always credited the years he spent as an "entertainment specialist" in the Army Air Forces during World War II with sparking his interest in solo violin repertoire because he usually had to perform without accompaniment.
He "remains a master of the bold outburst, the sentimental indulgence and the pyrotechnical flight," critic Martin Bernheimer wrote of his 1987 performance of Tchaikovsky with the Pacific Symphony.
Ricci's repertoire included about 50 major violin concertos. By his own account, he had given more than 5,000 concerts in 65 countries after first touring Europe in 1932. He gave his final U.S. performance at the Smithsonian Institution in 2003, the year he turned 85.
Prodigies were big business when 11-year-old Ricci made his New York debut in 1929 wearing a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit. Ricci's Italian-immigrant father was determined that one of his seven children would be a prodigy, Ricci later said.
"It was immediately apparent that the boy had something to say," reported the New York Times account of his performance, "that he was playing with a native fire.... It was the playing of one born to play the instrument."
Two siblings also became professional musicians. Ricci's sister Emma played the violin in the Metropolitan Opera orchestra and his brother George, who died in 2010, was a noted cellist.
Ricci was born July 24, 1918, in the San Francisco area into a poor family and named Woodrow Wilson Rich.
When young Woodrow's talent became apparent, he was given the stage name of Ruggiero Ricci to make him sound the part. His friends called him Roger.
From age 6, according to Ricci's official biography, he studied with Louis Persinger, a noted teacher who had experience with violin prodigies — Yehudi Menuhin was also a student.
At 10, Ricci gave his first public recital in 1928 in San Francisco playing the Mendelssohn Concerto. He was hailed as a genius.
"I was not a normal child, anyway," Ricci told the Washington Post in 1979. "The only way I could get attention was to show off, and I liked it."
At 12, he was at the center of a custody battle between his parents and Beth Lackey, a Persinger assistant who was serving as the legal guardian of Ricci and his brother, George. After a court battle, his parents regained custody.
Touring Europe as a teenager was lonely, Ricci later said. Tougher still was the criticism he began to receive.
"In
my teens, I was nothing," he said in a 2007 interview with
Violinist.com. "I wasn't a grown-up artist, and I wasn't a prodigy."Yet at 15, Ricci decided to make the violin his life's career, certain he could improve on his 10-year-old self, he later said.
Mentoring the next generation of violinists was important to Ricci, Lauritzen said.
Ricci held posts at Indiana University, the Juilliard School and the University of Michigan, among other schools. He also taught at a conservatory in Salzburg, Austria, gave master classes and wrote two texts on left-hand technique.
He continued to give private lessons into his 90s, teaching his students to savor their individualities, to take chances just as he had.
Ricci's survivors include his wife of 37 years, Julia; his children from two previous marriages that ended in divorce, sons Gian-Franco and Roger, daughters Riana Muller and Paolo Hopp; and several grandchildren.
Friday, August 24
Blank Bridging
In the past one year, many things have happened. End 2011 was probably one of the most wonderful time of my life.
A new chapter begins. The Lord had blessed my family, and had also prepared our new home by early 2012. The road ahead was rocky and there were challenges along the way... yet He was with us, and I could see my feet and my path... one step at a time though.The picture shown is what I took with my iPhone last year before Christmas... God is amazing. He really IS.
I remember there was an old Christmas TV commercial by Metro with a lovely melody. And the ending lyrics were "... Metro lights up your Christmas..." What I am getting at is, a shopping outlet cannot brighten my Christmas like one Man could. The One who paid it all for me. Hallelujah.
So in a nutshell, life for me personally had been truly busy and trying, both at work and at home. Chess games are on going, but lessen in quantity and probably quality... however from time to time there had still been some really delightful checkered moments in some of them. And I'll be sharing these retroactively from now on, since blogspot does not allow backdating of posts anymore, apparently.
Til then... God bless you!
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