Random Thoughts

Puebla, Mexico

That remarkable photo is of a convent that the Spanish built on a hill near the town of Puebla. In the background is the active volcano Popocatépetl. Hundreds of years after the convent was built, it was discovered that the hill it was sitting on was actually a huge pyramid, seriously overgrown. Here's another photo:

While we are on Mexico, this past Thursday was the day celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico who appeared to Juan Diego in 1531. Each year there is a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe outside Mexico City. This year over eleven million people visited the Basilica. When I saw that number I thought it had to be a mistake: 11 million! But I asked my friend and she said, no, this is normal, her parents took her when she was three years old. The tradition is to dress your child up in indigenous costume, put them on a burro and take pictures.

Some musicians that particularly impressed me this year

The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra whose performance of Verklärte Nacht by Schoenberg from memory was remarkable:

Patricia Kopatchinskaja doing almost anything:

Thomas Dunford and the Jupiter Ensemble with Lea Desandre:

The young French (Russian) pianist Alexandre Kantorow:

And still, Grigory Sokolov playing Bach with crystal clarity: