Monday 29 December 2008

W. A Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 9 "Jeunehomme"


A Reading of Molière by Jean-François de Troy

1728

The atmosphere is comfortable, intimate. A couple of friends are closely seated around a man with a book in his hands (Molière). He has stopped reading for an instant to look at the ladies around him. One of them might have asked a question or laughed. The lady in blue is looking out of the portrait, revealing us as visible spectators. Another lady is leaning forward eagerly, wanting the reading to continue. Between them a lady is musing for a moment, or maybe she has also just noticed us.

My favourites are sitting to the left, those who are not listening to or interfering in the conversation. The man is perhaps slightly bored and is now resting his eyes on the woman in front of him, who silently returns his look, perhaps with a smile in her eyes; we don't know, because we can't see her face.

Henry Purcell: Music for a while shall all your Cares beguile - Accordone



"Io non mori e non rimasi vivo;
pensa oggimai per te, s'hai fior d'ingegno,
qual io divenni, d'uno e d'altro privo."
(Dante, La Divina Commedia, Inferno XXXIV, 25-27)

Music for a while,
shall all your Cares beguile;
wond'ring how your pains were eas'd,
and disdaining to be pleas'd,
till Alecto free the Dead
from their Eternal Band,
till the Snakes drop from her Head,
and the Whip from out her Hand.
Music for a while,
shall all your Cares beguile.
(John Dryden & Nathaniel Lee)

Sunday 28 December 2008

D. Scarlatti - Sonata K13 G major

D. Scarlatti - Sonata in A major, K. 208

D. Scarlatti - Sonata in G minor, K. 450

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Flute & Harp Concerto - Andantino

Women in Art II

If you liked Women in Art you will certainly enjoy these ones. By Urdivine.

Women In Art [The Original Artwork] [Part 1]




Women In Art [The Original Artwork] [Part 2]



Music:
Beethoven: "Moonlight Sonata"
Bach: "Air On The G String"
Debussy: "Clair de Lune"
Dvořák: "The New World" [from Symphony #9]

Friday 26 December 2008

Domenico Scarlatti: Sonatas K535 and K371

Beautiful, of course. Harpsichord at its best.

Marin Marais - Marche Persane Dite La Savigny (V Livre)

Some people think it sounds like torture, but I love it...

Thursday 25 December 2008

Jacques-Louis David (1748 - 1825)

...with Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, op. 13 ("Pathetique"), 2nd movement - Adagio cantabile.

Jean-Philippe Rameau - suite in G minor

Wednesday 24 December 2008

Tognina

The first time I saw this fascinating portrait was in the book On Ugliness by Umberto Eco. This is a portrait of a girl from the 1590's, by Lavinia Fontana. Her name is Tognina Gonsalvus or Antonietta Gonzales. She was daughter of Petrus Gonzales, a man whose entire body was covered with thick, soft hair. He married an average woman, but they still got many hairy children. They travelled to several courts of Europe, dressed in fancy clothes, and the rich people loved to see these "curiosities", and the princes ordered portraits of them.
Like this one...

Antonio Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in G Minor RV332 - Mov. 3/3

Women in Art

I will start with Eggman913's beautiful work, Women in Art.

Introduction

This is a blog about my personal interest in music and art. You will see lots of Youtube videos with music and also some portraits from the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo era.