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

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Gregorio Nieto plays Saint-Saens Cello Concerto alongside Tchaikovsky in an ADDA concert that approaches perfection

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I normally start my concert reviews by focusing on the programme, then the performance and then the personalities. This time I want to rever...

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti – an authentic experience

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When writing a concert review when the pieces performed are as familiar as Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti, one concentrates ...

Sunday, February 15, 2026

The White Peacock by DH Lawrence

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It is said that Maurice Griffenhagen’s, painting, An Idyll, was the inspiration behind DH Lawrence ’ s novel, The White Peacock. In the pain...

Saturday, February 14, 2026

Claudio Constantini and Josep Vicent deliver surprises in music by Gershwin and Beethoven in ADDA, Alicante

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Sometimes a conventional concert program springs surprises when, as an audience member, you least expect it. This evening’s main surprise ...

Saturday, February 7, 2026

L’enfance du Christ. Op 25 by Hector Berlioz: Mark Elder conducts the Valencia orchestra and chorus in Castello - a surprising understatement

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Having just heard a performance of L’enfance du Christ. Op 25 , I realize how little I know about the music of Hector Berlioz. His Sympho...

Sunday, February 1, 2026

The Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra under Michael Waterman play Puccini, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky in a memorable concert

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Sometimes, not often, a concert program stands out as inherently interesting. I thought that when I saw the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra ...

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Rune Bergmann conducts the ADDA orchestra in Alicante in Mozart and Sibelius and a moment to reflect

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Last night ’ s concert in ADDA with our resident orchestra under Rune Bergmann, our invited director, was memorable for perhaps regrettable ...

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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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