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

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Something special - Pablo González, Francesco Piemontesi and the Dresden Philharmonic in Beethoven and Strauss

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Something special was experienced by the ADDA audience last night. On the face of it, the concert was almost conventional, as concerts somet...

Monday, January 15, 2024

The Hallé Ochestra, Kachung Wong and Liza Ferschtman in Brahms and Shostakovich in Alicante

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The Hallé Orchestra has a very long history and tradition. Part of its tradition is to develop long and lasting relationships with its pri...

Monday, January 8, 2024

Fumiaki Miura, Josep vicent and ADDA Simfonica in Ravel and Shostakovich

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This was a concert of two halves, both superb, both contrasted, both within and between. Shostakovich in the first half and Ravel in the sec...

Monday, December 18, 2023

Gustavo Gimeno and the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana in Sibelius and Mahler

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Gustavo Gimeno conducted the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana in the latest concert of ADDA’s Pasions season. The program juxtaposed two...

Thursday, December 14, 2023

Josep Vicent conducts Beethoven and Montsalvatge in Alicante

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Beethoven ’ s Ninth Symphony is one of those works I can hear anytime I want. I play it to myself in my head - at least, I think I do. It ...

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Programa 13 de diciembre Festival de Piano de Denia - Tsisana Kikabidze tocará Beethoven, Liszt, Bartok y Rachmaninov

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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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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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