Nyårskonserter Tvåtusenälva

Divine.
Foto: Hans Nilsson

Årets nyårskonsert med UAK repeteras för fullt!
På programmet står musik av Jean-Philippe Rameau och Henry Purcell. Som solister har vi bl a Divine, en trio som startat eget inom operabranschen och nu turnerar runt på olika scener.
Kören kommer även att framföra en koreografi som symboliserar solen och dess strålar. Det finns alltså all anledning att gå på detta, på nyårets första två dagar!
Biljetterna är uppdelade i tre kategorier (och placeringar): 275 kr, 200 kr, 100 kr. Om man går på den andra konserten så finns det mer plats och då kommer koreografin att sitta som bäst. Förköp ordnas enkelt. Välkomna!

New Early Music Website

Just from the oven, with a rich and golden aroma. Today we're publishing the new website for Englunds Tidig Musik (Englund's Early Music). On it you can read about upcoming concerts and music courses that they offer. I've been to their summer courses in Provence quite a few times, as you probably have read on this blog.

Apart from the new and refreshing design, the new website is very fast and light-weight. The editing is handled through CushyCMS and is incredibly easy. Differently from Joomla, for instance, this system doesn't obstruct you from designing the website as you want it, but only gives you tools to edit your code at the places you select. And it works!

Winter Wonderland

From Uppsala

Just a picture from this morning.

Alexander

The sunlight is retreating from these latitudes, setting the stage for the season of ice and snow. Unsuspectingly, the mallards of the swan pond waggle and splash around. The seasonal change is gradual and today is, at least to their memory, no different from other days. In their midst is the pond's only permanent resident, Alexander. He is, though dressed in white, a sombre swan and the regent of this miniature kingdom. Compensating for all the dignity lacking in his sloppy subjects, he steers through the water in a singular majesty. Singular, for his last "Queen", Fanny, past away in pneumonia three years ago. Since then, a new marriage has not been arranged, since wing clipping swans has become unethical. It seems he will be the last of his kind in the pond. And although he is always surrounded by his feathered companions, he might have asked himself - will I be remembered, or will I vanish from memory like seasons past?

Sacred Pearls

Stefan Parkman directing Uppsala Kammarorkester

You know those compilation CDs, where popular classical music has been ripped from its context and mixed together in a way no composer would have liked? Well, that's what Sunday's concert is all about. The program consists of excerpts from the following works: "Förklädd Gud" (God in Disguise) by Lars-Erik Larsson (thanks Magnus!), "Magnificat in D" and "St. John's Passion" by J S Bach, "Mass in c minor" and

"Requiem" by Mozart, and the finale is Händel's famous Hallelujah chorus where the audience will be invited to sing along - in the respective voices, of course. The audience will even be allowed to rehearse in separate rooms (bass, tenor, alto and soprano) in the break. The orchestra, Uppsala Kammarorkester, is truly well-sounding and to make music with them is a privilege. Don't miss this opportunity! Details on the side --->

Another Photo of the Fall

From TelePano

Morning sun on Odinslund. Between these trees, planted by Linnaeus in mid 18th century, lies the oldest promenade of the city. Can you spot the dog?

Autumnal Observations #1

From TelePano

A spot of tranquility, in the middle of the morning traffic. These are 93 pictures stitched together. It's probably a bit over-the-top.

Perceptions of the Fall

University Park

On my stroll towards the new office (a subject for another post) I cross University Park. Today, I paused for a few moments and it was impressive to actually hear the rustling of the falling leaves and the occasional hard thomp from chestnuts hitting the ground. This makes me think that a place can be perceived in different ways depending on if you are riding a bicycle, walking by or standing still. Also, as in the case of the park, there is much more going on above our heads than we usually care to look at. As ground-dwellers, we easily miss the vertical aspect of our surroundings. So, note to self: Remember to stop, and to look up.

Filming in Uppsala

From Filminspelning

One of Uppsala's main streets is the stage for a scene in an upcoming big budget movie. The scene in question shows a Children's Day Parade in the 60's - with plenty of extras, vintage cars and all the scenery of that time. Strolling by, I joined many curious and delighted spectators who followed the cinematic events. It is great to see the filming taking place just around the corner from the cinema where Ingmar Bergman went to the movies as a child. Click the picture to see more pictures.

View of the River

Just another view of Fyrisån. It is currently carrying 13,6 m³/sec at 12,5 °C. The water is still quite warm, at about the same temperature as in the air. At its peak in April this year, it carried 70 m³/sec, and the water level was about one metre higher. In some parts of the city, that is dangerously high. Before the high walls were built in the 19th century, the streets were regularly flooded. The Linnean garden, for instance, was vulnerable to the river and the university's botanical garden was moved to its current location thanks to a donation by the king. I might do another post about the river, stay alert! :)

Democracy's Finest Hour

Only a few days remain before the general elections take place and political forces are on the move more than ever. On Thursday, it was time for the xenophobic party "Sverigedemokraterna" to speak to the public on a square in central Uppsala. As in other cities, people had gathered to protest against them. Despite police restrictions (the vuvuzela "orchestra" on the picture wasn't allowed any closer than 100 m.), the party members were completely drowned in a cacophony by protesters.

It seemed like a good idea, taking stands against racism and religious intolerance. But in recollection, I'm not sure. Isn't the point of a democracy to let people speak? Acting like this, how could we, the majority, accuse them of being undemocratic? It seems, we are losing an important argument in our rethoric. Instead of muffling the counterpart, we should prove that we are different with our own words. After all, the voters are at the centre. In our enlightened age, they should know exactly what the options are.

"Solo Songs and Piano" CD is out

I've finally finished the CD with solo songs! When I finished the course in "Solo song interpretation" in May, I felt I wanted to save the songs from oblivion. I also found them very good, and worthy to record. So I asked Susan Yondt, who taught piano interpretation at the course, if she was able to record them with me.

Said and done, the CD has arrived and features 7 songs, spread out from the early baroque to the early 20th century. Consider it a demo, or a (rather fancy) documentation of an academic course. Thanks to Martin Nilsson and my brother Martin for helping me out with the recording!

Go to this page to listen to a couple of tracks and, if you like to, order the CD.

The Fountain

The fountain at the entrance to "Stadsträdgården", the City Gardens. To the left you see the ships Linnéa and Sjösala, that travel up and down the river. Contrary to what you may think, this photo was taken quite recently, today even. But I converted it to black-and-white since it brings out so much more from such a picture. I've used a red filter, so the red flowers closest to the camera really stand out. This is actually a huge picture, some 90 Megapixels, and would, if shown here in it's real size, be more than 2 meters wide. See this outtake, which is at 50 % of original size.

Pictures of August

The "Picture of the Day" idea turned out quite fun and spurred me to take a lot of photos. I hope you have enjoyed it, too. Here are all the pictures of August collected. If you want to see these pictures larger, click here.

Picture of the Day #24

Observatory Park. The new student housing in the center and Ekonomikum to the right.

Picture of the Day #23

Symbiosis.

Picture of the Day #22

Large and small.

Picture of the Day #21

The visual sound of Green, in its many intonations.

Picture of the Day #20

A result of the rainy days we've had in August. But puddles offer light a new path, turning the ground into a mirror, a portal to the sky. Not all bad, is what I mean!

Picture of the Day #19

The annual dramatization of the history of Uppsala, on the steps of the cathedral, involves many actors, both human and animal. Update: I straightened the photo and removed the hand rails, by popular demand.