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

Monday, November 27, 2023

Programa 29 de noviembre Festival de Piano de Denia - Mihaela Manea tocará Scarlatti, Brahms, Enescu y Liszt

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Saturday, November 25, 2023

Pimchas Zukerman plays Elgar with Orchestra National de Lyon under Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider in ADDA Alicante

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When writing reviews, the pressure to express opinion often leads to overstatement. It is a position. I usually try to avoid, and I do so by...

Monday, November 20, 2023

Jesús Reina, Pierre Bleuse and ADDA Alicante in Ravel, Strauss and Mozart

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For the third time this season, Alicante ’ s ADDA audience heard a major piece by Richard Strauss. The Violin Concerto is an early work, wri...

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Programa 15 de noviembre Festival de Piano de Denia

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Monday, November 13, 2023

Orchestra of the Royal Capital City of Krakow under Katarzyna Tomala-Jedynak in ADDA Alicante

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Surprises come when least expected. On entering the ADDA auditorium, it was at least a shock to see so little of the stage occupied. So used...

Sunday, October 29, 2023

Antonio Pappano, Yeol Eum Son and the London Symphony in Kendall, Liszt and Strauss in ADDA, Alicante

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When it comes to star billing, in the world of so-called classical music, there is no bigger ticket than Antonio Pappano directing the Londo...

Monday, October 23, 2023

Congyu Wang - 24 Oct Denia International Piano Festival

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Congyu Wan's playing was explosive and at the same time tender. He has definitely thought about every phrase. But he does not over-s...

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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.

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