Carlos Kleiber: Tribute to a Unique Artist

I recently picked up Carlos Kleiber: Tribute to a Unique Artist. I was excited about this recording because I have found that Carlos Kleiber was one of those great conductors, along with Otto Klemperer and Jascha Horenstein, whose work I really enjoy. I certainly enjoy other conductors but those three really stand out for me.

Kleiber lived from 1930-2004 and conducted some of the world's greatest orchestras. Kleiber was a perfectionist and considered by many the greatest conductor of his age but he never consented to take a permanent position with an Orchestra even though he was courted to replace Karajan when he retired. He also did not like to record, so there are only a few of his works that were recorded. The last a recording of the opera Tristan und Isolde in 1980. This is a tribute album and contains some great recordings that he did.

On the CD is Schubert's Symphony No. 8 "Unfinished" recorded with the Wiener Philharmoniker. It is a wonderful performance that I thoroughly enjoyed. Next is Brahms Symphony No. 4 also with the Wiener Philharmonkier. I love this symphony and this is an excellent performance. Both of these performances moved me, the sound is excellent, and you will be enriched by listening to them. The last pieces on the CD are from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde recorded with the Staatskapelle Dresden. This is opera, and I'm not a huge fan, but these pieces are enjoyable. I highly recommend this recording along with Kleiber's recording of Beethoven's fifth and seventh symphonies which are also considered classics.

5 stars out of 5

The English Puritans by John Brown

The English Puritans by John Brown is an excellent little work on the Puritans. The subtitle of this work is: "The Rise and Fall of the Puritan Movement." The subtitle is a bit of a misnomer as the book deals more with the rise of the Puritans and very little with their fall. In fact my biggest criticism of the book is that it seems too short by about 25 pages.

John Brown was a Congregational pastor who lived from 1830 to 1922 in England. As well as a pastor he was an accomplished author and historian. He wrote this little book (154 pages) to explain the origins of the Puritans and I believe he does a commendable job.

Brown begins his book by setting the stage for the rise of Puritanism by dealing with the English Reformation. He deals briefly with Henry, Edward, and Mary before he gets to Elizabeth. Brown spends most of his time dealing with the Elizabethan age, for it is here that Puritanism began and a major villain arises. This villain was surprising to me as it is Elizabeth herself. Growing up as I have with tales of heroic Elizabeth who restored Protestantism to England and withstood the Spanish and protected England it was a surprise to me about her enmity to the complete reformation of the Church in England. Elizabeth, as was the other Tutors and the Stuart that followed her were determined to be the head of the Church in England; and to that end they imprisoned and even executed those desired to have the worship, life, and government of the Church according to be in accordance with the scriptures.

In the first chapter Brown deals with the origins of Puritanism which begins with the English Reformation under Henry follows events up to the ascension of Elizabeth and her first acts as Queen and head of the Church.

In the second chapter Brown addresses the issue of vestments and ceremonies. Elizabeth insisted that her clergy wear the clothes and follow ceremonies that many of the protestants viewed as Roman Catholic and therefore anathema. In our day and age we often forget how deadly the contention between Protestants and Romanists was and how the Protestants were adamant about not having anything that smacked of Rome unless it could be shown from scriptures.

The third chapter discusses the struggle of the Puritans with the Archbishops, Bishops, and others in the Church hierarchy. Here we see the Puritans attempt to work within the system to bring about changes in the Church. There were many appeals to Elizabeth from within the Church and from Parliament, but all to nought. In fact, Elizabeth had pastors dismissed from their churches, some thrown in to jail and some of those executed. She had members of Parliament likewise jailed. All because they encroached on what she believed was her prerogative as head of the English Church.

In the fourth chapter Brown deals with the attempt of the protestants to change the hierarchy of the Church to a Presbyterian model. They failed and only set up more conflict within the Church.

In the fifth chapter Brown deals with the absolutist claims of the crown against that of the scriptures and religious toleration. There was a truce in the last couple of years in Elizabeth's reign because everyone knew that James would become King and they believed that he would be of the Presbyterian persuasion. They were wrong. James came in and picked up where Elizabeth left off. The history of the Stuarts (James I, Charles I, Charles II, James II) showed that they were masters of playing to the Protestants to gain power and then persecuting them once in power.

The sixth and last chapter deals in rapid secession the tyranny of Charles I, the English civil war, the short lived triumph of the Presbyterians, their errors, and the return of the Stuart Kings. This is the most disappointing chapter. Brown has shown himself to be an expert at a brief yet full overview of events but here he falls down. This chapter is too brief.

All in all this is an excellent little book and worth the time spent with it. You will get a real sense of the issues facing the English Church and how our forefathers and mothers responded, often giving of their livelihood, liberty, and in some cases their lives.

4 out of 5 stars

Ansel Adams: The Camera

Ansel Adams is considered one of the great American Photographers. And he is, and he is also a master teacher. Toward the end of his life he wrote a trilogy on Photography: The Camera, The Negative, and The Print. I recently completed The Camera and hope to read the other two books in the series soon.

The Camera is the introductory volume and it is about the equipment of photography but Adams also begins to teach about composing and taking the picture. But as that topic will occupy much of the second volume he just briefly touches on it here.

This is an excellent book and well worth the time to read it. Now, you may ask yourself, what can a book over 25 years old teach me about cameras? Aren't we in a digital world now. Well, yes we are, but the fundamental design of cameras and lenes haven't changed. Now, instead of film you shoot on sensors, and instead of sending out your pictures to a lab you download them to your computer. And then the fun starts...but that's another story. Also, much of the world has gone to digital, but not all the world. As you read this book you might be encouraged to try other formats of cameras besides the digital 35mm or maybe dust off your old 35mm film camera and give it a try again.

A bit of background that I didn't know before I read this book is that the 35mm is considered a small format camera. There are also medium and large format cameras (and some specialty cameras like a panorama camera). The 35mm camera produces a negative that is 24x36mm in size. Medium format cameras can produce negatives in several different sizes; some popular ones are 4.5x6cm, 6x6cm, and 6x7cm. Many professional photographers use a medium format camera for their work. For example Annie Leibowitz uses a medium format Mamiya camera. Then there are large format camera. They produce negatives typically 4x5inches and 8x10inches. If you remember pictures of a camera with the photographer under a dark cloth or have been to a portrait studio then you most likely have seen a large format camera. They have little changed in 100 years but still produce spectacular pictures. There are many more adjustments you can make with a large format camera (also known as a view camera) than you can make with any other type of camera.

Ansel Adams has a chapters on each camera type, on what he calls visualization, which is looking at a scene and visualizing what the finished photograph will look like. He also has a long chapter on lenses, basic image management and using camera in different situations, such as handheld or on a tripod. He has a chapter on view-camera adjustments, and here you learn of the power and flexibility of the large format camera. This chapter engaged me so much that I would like to eventually get a large format camera and see what I can do with one. Throughout the text Adams explains the mechanics of taking good pictures as he talks about the different cameras, lenes and other equipment. Adams talks about how to compose pictures, camera position (near and far, how would the image look if the camera were shifted left or right, etc.), depth of field and hyper-focus. I found his discussion of depth of field very clear and I believe I understand this important photographic concept much better. Adams encourages you to think of the photographic possibilities where ever you are, even if you never take out your camera.

Another great thing about this book is that it is filled with Adams's pictures that illustrate the text. All in all this is a wonderful work.

Where to get the books: I initially borrowed the set from a friend of mine but I saw that it would be useful for me to have my own copies. New in hard back these are $40-$50 a piece. Now there are also paperback versions for about half that. I went to the used book market and got the hardback books from 3 different vendors for $29 total including shipping so I recommend that route.

I highly recommend this book, it will give you a solid grounding in photographic equipment and the basics of taking a good pictures...even in a digital world.

5 out of 5 stars