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

Sunday, February 16, 2025

Beethoven, Bruch and Mendelssohn in ADDA Alicante with Max Bragado-Darman - a concert of surprise and excellence

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This was a program that seemed so middle-of-the-road that attendance might mean getting hit from both directions, from both predictability...

Friday, February 7, 2025

Esther Yoo, Lahav Shani and the Munich Philharmonic in Mendelssohn and Bruckner in ADDA Alicante

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What new observations might one have of an event featuring Mendelsohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor and Bruckner’s Symphony No9 ? These are ...

Saturday, February 1, 2025

Historias de la Guerra - Josep Vicent, Yol Eum Son and ADDA Simfonica play Gershwin's Piano Concerto and Shostakovich Eight

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This was a concert of two very unequal halves, at least in length, let alone style. The two parts were equal when it came to their standard ...

Saturday, January 25, 2025

Cappella Andrea Barca and Sir András Schiff play Bach and Mozart in Alicante

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CAPPELLA ANDREA BARCA SIR ANDRÁS SCHIFF, DIRECTOR Y PIANO Johann Sebastian Bach, Concierto de Brandemburgo nº5 en Re Mayor (BWV 1050) Wolf...

Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Josep Vicent directs ADDA Simfonica in Rimsky-Korsakov and Bizet, Scheherazade meets Carmen

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When you go to concerts regularly, there are works that tend to appear frequently. After the first few times in the concert hall, there is...

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Denia International Piano festival, Programme 17 December Prodigios

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Prokofiev, Romeo y Julieta en ADDA Alicante

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ADDA·SIMFÒNICA ALICANTE JOSEP VICENT, director titular ASUN NOALES, dirección escénica y coreografía Rosanna Freda, asistente de coreo...

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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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