De Europese Unie hield eerder de fusie tegen van treinenbouwers Siemens en Alstom; het bedrijf zou te machtig worden. Maar het concurrentiebeleid schuift. Interessante test wordt het plan van Airbus, Leonardo en Thales om hun ruimtevaartactiviteiten te bundelen en zo een grote concurrent voor SpaceX op te tuigen.
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Paul Watkins/Alessio Bax
Signum Classics
Cellist Watkins’ career-long immersion in the composer pays dividends in his pairing with Alessio Bax’s unfussy virtuosity
As cellist of the Nash Ensemble and the Emerson Quartet, Paul Watkins has immersed himself in almost all the chamber music Beethoven wrote. Now he brings those years of experience to his first recording of the cello sonatas. He approached the pianist Alessio Bax for this project after hearing him play the Moonlight Sonata, and his instinct was good: their playing here seems to come from a shared impulse, unflaggingly eloquent without ever seeming to strive for effect.
Together these five sonatas span Beethoven’s composing life. The earliest two date from around the time of his first piano concertos, and they find Beethoven breaking new ground in the way he writes for cello and keyboard as equal duet partners. Both sonatas have slow, serious introductions leading into extended movements showcasing the virtuosity of the pianist, to which Bax rises with a light, crisp touch. The expansive third, Op 69, which Beethoven worked on alongside the Fifth Symphony, centres on a perky middle movement akin to a symphonic scherzo; it’s nicely weighted here, the momentum continuing through all the changes in texture. The final pair of sonatas harness Watkins’s full powers of expression, in particular No 5, the only one of all these to have a full-blown slow movement. It begins in reticent, almost hymn-like style and blooms into something deeply felt; Watkins and Bax handle its closing passages with tightly controlled restraint, then gently clear the air with the introduction to the wrangly little fugue of the finale. It’s all beautifully done.
Continue reading...With widespread praise for Colin from Accounts and the release of Bad Company, Australian TV comedy is finally getting its flowers
Last week, Parks and Recreation star, and most importantly Megan Mullally’s husband, Nick Offerman, was asked on Amy Poehler’s podcast what he’s been laughing at recently. He revealed he has been loving the Australian comedy Colin from Accounts. A few days later, during promo for The Devil Wears Prada 2, award-winning actor and the Princess of Genovia herself, Anne Hathaway, also said she loves Colin from Accounts (maybe less surprising given it features her DWP2 co-star).
In both those instances, I felt an unfamiliar sense of national pride. I’m genuinely excited to see an Australian TV comedy getting its flowers like this. Not because it means it will get more American viewers, but because it’s external validation that the comedy we make in this country can be excellent. We can be world class – if we are given the chance.
Continue reading...Six dancers who made bold career pivots reflect on ballet’s transferrable skills, what they miss about the stage – and what they were glad to leave behind
Lana Jones, midwife, former principal dancer at the Australian Ballet
Continue reading...Hope that sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy could help soldiers fight longer by helping them process trauma
As the war on drugs approaches its end, a new doctrine could soon take hold: psychedelic drugs for active-duty soldiers suffering from PTSD.
In two studies funded by the Department of Defense (DoD), 186 service personnel with PTSD will likely next year undergo multiple sessions of MDMA-assisted therapy.
Continue reading...Jon Siegel has added a photo to the pool:
Very old mountainside traditional public onsen with no shower, but very nice water. Loved the red post box and ashtray outside the entrance. Quiet little old town with very few people, but surrounded by the most beautiful nature.
The great memory shortage is having yet another effect, pushing enterprises into the waiting arms of the cloud operators as they can't secure enough on-prem compute themselves.…
BUDEL (ANP) - Het asielzoekerscentrum in Budel wordt donderdag volledig ontruimd omdat in het gebied een grote natuurbrand woedt. In de voormalige kazerne zitten 1500 asielzoekers. Het is nog niet bekend waar zij naartoe worden gebracht en hoe lang ze daar moeten blijven.
