Philip Spires commonplace book

I have kept a commonplace book for many years. It's a place where scraps of impressions are filed for future reflection. It's not a diary, it's just a mental scrapbook, concentrating on book reviews, concert reviews, visual arts and some occasional pieces on travel. It is also a place where I occasionally reflect on what I write. Details of my books can be found at http://www.philipspires.co.uk

Showing posts with label josep vicent. Show all posts

Monday, April 22, 2024

ADDA Simfonica and Trio Vibrart in Beethoven

›

Again the program looked familiar. The only thing that appeared not to be predictable was the playing. And on that score, the ADDA orchestra...

Friday, March 1, 2024

The Desconstruction of Mahler: ADDA under Josep Vicent with Patrick Messina in Adams, Brahms and Berio

›

This was a very special concert. It will live in the memory for as long as breath continues. It was nothing less than a triumph of artistic ...

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

We got rhythm – Josep Vicent and the ADDA orchestra in Ravel, Adams and Reveueltas

›

Concert programs nowadays are often themed. Sometimes the idea is obvious, sometimes trite, but even attempting to present such a program is...

Friday, February 3, 2023

Scriabin’s Divine Poem and Manuel de Falla played by Judith Jauregui is a revelation

›

Josep Vicent, artistic director, and conductor at ADDA, Alicante, decided to entitle the whole season of concerts ‘Divine Poem’. One must co...

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Costa Blanca Arts Update - Josep Vicent, Julia Gallego perform Dvorak, Joan Albert Amargos and Holst's The Planets

›

Dvorak’s Carnival Overture provides a stunning opening to any concert. It ’ s exuberant, tuneful, spectacular and exciting. It ’ s all the...

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Costa Blanca Art Update - Alicante's ADDA Symphony Orchestra begins a new season

›

A new season of orchestral concerts in Alicante’s ADDA opened with a blast, rather than a bang. The blast in question came at the end of the...

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Costa Blanca Arts Update - Going down with a bang - Amsterdam Percussion Group in Altea

›

Percussion ensembles often try to raise the macho to an art form. Loudness and aggression often predominate, usually to the detriment of mus...

Sunday, July 15, 2007

An orchestral concert 14 July 2007, Festival – Nits de la Mediterrania, La Nucia - Twentieth Century Ballets

›

The final concert of the inaugural La Nucia arts festival took place last night. Starting at 10:30pm, it was staged in the town’s recently c...

›

Home

View web version

About Me

philipspires: I was born in Wakefield and was brought up in Sharslton, a mining Village. I went to London University and then became a maths teacher, working initially as a volunteer teacher in Kenya. I spent sixteen years in London, in Balham and Islington. In 1992, I left Britain for Brunei and then Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. I currently live in La Nucia, near Benidorm in Spain. I am interested in the relationship between nature and nurture, birthright and experience. Themes of culture and identity and their relation to economic and social roles underpin my writing. What we are born into relates to what we become, but we are rarely in control. What others do, our interests and intellects and the way we choose to earn a living, all of these shape us into what we become. It may be that culture is the sum of all assumptions that others make on our behalf, whereas identity represents our reactions to them. I did a PhD on the effects of education in economic development in the Philippines. I was President of Alfas del Pi Music Society for twelve years.

View my complete profile