Yesterday’s concert music

in a today’s  music hall. In less than a few hours, Johann Strauss’ son Operetta “La Chauve-Souris” (The Bat or Die Fledermaus) will be presented in a totally different auditorium as it was first shown in 1874.

FRI-SON is a self-managed multicultural  complex usually dedicated to all kinds of contemporary music styles. The sounds that you can hear today and maybe the artistic trends of tomorrow.

Little by little these industrial buildings were transformed into the happy looking hall that has welcomed so many musicians and groups from here and abroad.An entrance door  still closed in the afternoon. Tickets for the Strauss’ operetta were sold out for today’s performance. I got some for next week though.A quick visit inside the concert hall: a modern equipment and old posters of previous concerts.

The empty bar that will be crowded and noisy in a few hours.

On my way back, a bus from the Czech Republic had just arrived. The members of the Philharmonic Orchester from Praha were unloading their musical instruments and getting ready for their “première” in “FRI-SON” (one of its meanings is “shiver” in French 😉 )

And now, just for a change and if you feel like it, here is the Ouverture of “The Chauve-Souris” as played by the Vienna Philharmonic, directed by H. von Karajan in 1987.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHF5LP53LZY&feature=related

Times change but music remains !

A doll in the Spring

She arrived with a heart as big as her maker’s. A red and soft heart of felt, arms wide open for me to welcome her and eyes bright and cheerful as her dress. Who was that ? “Mara”, the cutest doll I ever received, she was created by  Marie’s talented hands. A gift from her heart. http://ancientcloth.blogspot.com/

Ever seen such a pretty hairdo ? Mara also came with her arms full of presents, fabrics of all sorts, reproductions of antique materials that I cannot wait to use in a quilt, just for me. Thank you so much Marie ! For having lived several years in Africa, this adorable little doll touches my heart and brings back many memories of people, places, events. A time never to forget.  

My little doll from the South arrived at the same time as Spring does in the mountains. Not many colours yet to brighten the landscape but for the catkins on some trees.  Patches of snow remain in the cooler areas and green grass barely starts growing on the pastures. Still, walking along those tracks in a new Spring makes you feel good, it gives you energy and joy. It makes you feel grateful too.The new Season gives you inspiration for whatever you need or plan to do, or so I feel. No greenness outside yet ? No problem ! I can deal with it and create my own palette of colours. I did so in sewing (of course) a heart of “Forty Shades of Green” for Irish   friends of mine brought together by destiny. A happy quilting, I assure you. There were really forty different scraps of green fabrics for those who might wonder;)I thought this fresh and green quilted heart would be nice to send you my best wishes for a Happy Easter. Green like the hope and light that we all need, at any time. A renewal in nature as in our life. A promise of better times ahead in a troubled world. I do wish you all the best.