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

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

The Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen

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I was unaware of Veblen’s ideas until a recent edition of In Our Time on BBC Radio 4 devoted an hour of discussion to his life and work. So ...

Sunday, March 24, 2024

The Stavanger Symphony Orchestra with Andris Poga and Behzod Abduraimov in Matre, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky

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Orchestras on tour often take some of their home repertoire with them. In the case of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra under the direction o...

Saturday, March 16, 2024

St John Passion in ADDA Alicante with Ruben Jais and Coro Labarocco de Milano

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It is at least forty years since I heard a concert performance of a Bach Passion. It is probably a decade since I heard a complete performan...

Friday, March 1, 2024

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

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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 ...

Sunday, February 4, 2024

Manuel de Falla's La Vida Breve in Alicante with Sandra Fernandez and Miguel Ortega

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La Vida Breve by Manuel de Falla is a problematic work. Its problem stems mainly from the fact that it is an opera that lasts just over an ...

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...

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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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