Identify Your Avatar

[Mirror Image]

Time for a change of avatar...

One of Fernand Léger's costume designs for La création du monde:

Très cool, Rafael. Love it.

[GioCar]

Time for a change of avatar...

One of Fernand Léger's costume designs for La création du monde:

Beautiful!

[kishnevi]

From the Szyk Haggadah: Abraham hosting the three angels, illustrating the "bread of affliction" passage ("This is the bread of affliction which our ancestors in Egypt ate.  Let him who is hungry come and eat..."

[NikF]

My current profile picture is an inkjet print of the Russian gymnast I lived with in Udmurtiya. It was taken with the first camera phone I ever owned. This is the same woman who featured in the short video I posted in which she sat on a statue's hand.



e: and I'd like to add that oor ritter and oor Jeffrey Smith are sporting particularly fine and interesting avatar images at the moment, both of which put my effort(s) to shame. 

[ritter]

My current profile picture is an inkjet print of the Russian gymnast I lived with in Udmurtiya. It was taken with the first camera phone I ever owned. This is the same woman who featured in the short video I posted in which she sat on a statue's hand.



e: and I'd like to add that oor ritter and oor Jeffrey Smith are sporting particularly fine and interesting avatar images at the moment, both of which put my effort(s) to shame. 

Great avatar there, NikF. And whatever you m,ay say, you are the king of avatars here on GMG. 

[NikF]

Great avatar there, NikF. And whatever you m,ay say, you are the king of avatars here on GMG. 

Thanks, ritter.

But do you remember a long, long time ago you had this as your avatar?



Back then I hadn't spoken with you before and so wouldn't be inclined to send a PM. But a reverse image search led me to Nicolas de Stael. In turn, that discovery opened a few new doors for me. 

[ritter]

Thanks, ritter.

But do you remember a long, long time ago you had this as your avatar?



Back then I hadn't spoken with you before and so wouldn't be inclined to send a PM. But a reverse image search led me to Nicolas de Stael. In turn, that discovery opened a few new doors for me. 

Of course I remember.  Seeing that monumental painting (which also has strong Boulezian connections) "in the flesh" at the Musée Picasso in Antibes last year was quite something... Very glad it opened new doors for you!

Cheers,

[NikF]

[NikF]

Kees van Dongen offers a peek into 1920s good times.

[Mirror Image]

Cool painting, Nik. I suppose I'll keep my avatar on Barber for awhile. He's really one of my favorites and now that I have a new appreciation for songs and piano music, his comet has skyrocketed even further --- such deeply felt music.

I'm still debating on what photo of Barber to keep as my avatar. What do you think, Nik? My current one or this one?

[NikF]

Cool painting, Nik. I suppose I'll keep my avatar on Barber for awhile. He's really one of my favorites and now that I have a new appreciation for songs and piano music, his comet has skyrocketed even further --- such deeply felt music.

I'm still debating on what photo of Barber to keep as my avatar. What do you think, Nik? My current one or this one?

I like them both.
It might be that of the two I prefer the shot of him reading the score, but then it might not make the best avatar. Still, you see the almost triangle of light at his hairline? And then another below his eye and on his cheek? Finally, another similar shape as part of the tip of his collar? Those are cool. Then again, I'm mostly only seeing then because I'm trying to find such things.
Ah, if I were you I'd stick with your current one.

And funnily enough, you crossed my mind last week. I was buying tickets for a few concerts, one of which features a work by Barber, and I remembered how a long time ago your recommendation of the Slatkin/Saint Louis SO led to me buying those recordings. Anyway, the concert I got tickets for includes Knoxville: Summer of 1915 - which will be a new piece to me to hear.

[Mirror Image]

I like them both.
It might be that of the two I prefer the shot of him reading the score, but then it might not make the best avatar. Still, you see the almost triangle of light at his hairline? And then another below his eye and on his cheek? Finally, another similar shape as part of the tip of his collar? Those are cool. Then again, I'm mostly only seeing then because I'm trying to find such things.
Ah, if I were you I'd stick with your current one.

And funnily enough, you crossed my mind last week. I was buying tickets for a few concerts, one of which features a work by Barber, and I remembered how a long time ago your recommendation of the Slatkin/Saint Louis SO led to me buying those recordings. Anyway, the concert I got tickets for includes Knoxville: Summer of 1915 - which will be a new piece to me to hear.

Thanks for the feedback, Nik. I'll take your suggestion and leave the one I have currently up. I'm so JEALOUS! You get to see one of my favorite works from anyone: Knoxville: Summer of 1915. What a remarkable work this is and it must be one of the first Barber works I heard. I was watching a documentary on Barber titled Absolute Beauty (which I haven't finished yet) and one of the commentators mentioned something that was quite interesting to me and I'm paraphrasing here: "Throughout every strand of Barber's music there's a purpose and a direct expression. Also, the element of melancholy is found in every work from beginning to end." This certainly crossed my mind when I listened to his Dover Beach earlier tonight, which was composed when he was 21 yrs. old. What a feat for such a young composer!

[Undersea]

I decided to use some images from the Hubble Space Telescope as Avatars for a while.
I think I will probably change the Avatar every week/month or so as ther's so many nice images to choose from.
Currently Im using the Orion Nebula.

[NikF]

Thanks for the feedback, Nik. I'll take your suggestion and leave the one I have currently up. I'm so JEALOUS! You get to see one of my favorite works from anyone: Knoxville: Summer of 1915. What a remarkable work this is and it must be one of the first Barber works I heard. I was watching a documentary on Barber titled Absolute Beauty (which I haven't finished yet) and one of the commentators mentioned something that was quite interesting to me and I'm paraphrasing here: "Throughout every strand of Barber's music there's a purpose and a direct expression. Also, the element of melancholy is found in every work from beginning to end." This certainly crossed my mind when I listened to his Dover Beach earlier tonight, which was composed when he was 21 yrs. old. What a feat for such a young composer!

You're welcome.

That documentary sounds interesting. I've had a quick look and found I can stream it - so I'll need to check it out.
The Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is in the middle of a programme starting with Bernstein's Three Dance Episodes from On the Town and ending with Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 3. It's one of those afternoon midweek concerts, so it'll be lunch somewhere pleasant and then a stroll along to the venue. There's a concert before that featuring Barber's Second Essay for Orchestra (another I don't think I've heard) but I don't know yet if I can make it to that one.

"...the element of melancholy is found in every work from beginning to end."

Yeah, there are some who carry that kind of weight clearly and conspicuously from an early age - and the way their burden manifests can often be of interest and insightful to the rest of us.

[Mirror Image]

You're welcome.

That documentary sounds interesting. I've had a quick look and found I can stream it - so I'll need to check it out.
The Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is in the middle of a programme starting with Bernstein's Three Dance Episodes from On the Town and ending with Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 3. It's one of those afternoon midweek concerts, so it'll be lunch somewhere pleasant and then a stroll along to the venue. There's a concert before that featuring Barber's Second Essay for Orchestra (another I don't think I've heard) but I don't know yet if I can make it to that one.

"...the element of melancholy is found in every work from beginning to end."

Yeah, there are some who carry that kind of weight clearly and conspicuously from an early age - and the way their burden manifests can often be of interest and insightful to the rest of us.

Sounds like a great program! Do check out Barber's Second Essay. All three of Barber's Essays are most certainly worth your time. The Third Essay is the last orchestral work he composed (in the late 70s). Unfortunately, for us, his composing activity slowly diminished after the failure of his opera Antony and Cleopatra (definitely check out this opera's disastrous history whenever you get a chance). He basically ended up becoming a heavy drinker and cancer was to claim his life in 1981. There are some remarkable works in this late period that I think you would enjoy: Third Essay, The Lovers (a superb work!), Three Songs, Despite and Still, and A Fadograph of a Yestern Scene. His late works have been an interest of mine since I got into the composer many years ago. Of course, I love his entire oeuvre, but it's always fascinating listening to these later works because it seems they are even more introspective and inward-looking than the early works. Of course, Dover Beach and the Cello Sonata (a work Barber seemed to have disliked himself) have plenty of introspection, but I look at the later works as being much darker in tone.

[NikF]

I'll check those suggestions out. Cheers mate. 

[Mirror Image]

I'll check those suggestions out. Cheers mate. 

You're welcome.

[Undersea]

Well, my idea of using images of outer space did'nt last long.
I have returned to using characters from British Sci-Fi/Fantasy Comic 2000AD again.

[NikF]

My current avatar is the lining of my new jacket. 

[LKB]

Mahler... probably won't be changing it, since l feel unworthy of Beethoven and don't identify with any other composer nearly as much as these two.

o7,

LKB