Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 23, 2021 9:07:17 GMT -8
Carnival of Animals was pretty decent. And, of course, Danse Macabre is nothing less than spectacular.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 23, 2021 10:09:37 GMT -8
Also listened to Dvorák: Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 - Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33. It was pretty good.
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Post by kungfuzu on Dec 23, 2021 10:13:47 GMT -8
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 23, 2021 10:17:37 GMT -8
You do realize I will have to pause Elvis singing a Christmas song in order to listen to that. Oh, what the hell.
Yes. Very nice. And they must have certainly cleaned that up. Sounds good for something from 1913. He's a pretty good piano player as well.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 24, 2021 9:57:25 GMT -8
Biting the bullet and eating my Wheaties this Christmas Eve. I'm listening to J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium, BWV 248 (Jordi Savall & Le Concert des Nations). Don't understand a god damn thing they are saying. But I figure it's gotta be good for the soul. Maybe better than Elvis singing Silent Night. Maybe.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 24, 2021 13:27:12 GMT -8
I'm about 70% into Vienna Secrets. There are about the usual four or five plots or subplots going on. One of them involves Liebermann getting himself professionally into some difficulties. There are also some unusual murders that intersect on Jewish folklore and mysticism.
There is political corruption which also includes several interested Catholic parties who wish to stir up antisemitism. Is that related to the murders? I don't know.
Not the best of the stories of the ones I've read but certainly interesting enough. Damn there are a lot of tasty desserts in this one too.
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Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 24, 2021 13:34:53 GMT -8
Don't think too poorly of me. But I had to give up on the J.S. Bach. Good god, this one bored me to tear. But it's Bach! That means there must be something wrong we me.
I moved onto Licht der Welt (A Christmas Promendade) with Christiane Karg & Gerold Huber. A sample:
I really like this album.
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Post by kungfuzu on Dec 25, 2021 11:09:45 GMT -8
Here are a number of Viennese desserts which might interest you. Frankly, this is just a small sample of what can be had in the haunts of the old Hapsburg Empire. Schmeckt wunderbar |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 25, 2021 11:23:50 GMT -8
Oh my god. That is dessert overload at that site. (I'll take the Zwetschkenfleck mit Haselnussstreusel.) The author goes into a detailed description in Vienna Secrets of the punschkrapfen.  When Googling (actually, DuckDuckGo-ing) images for this, there were dozens of variations, although the pink frosting (and the cube shape) seem to be commonalities. The description by Oskar in the book makes me very much want to try one. |
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Post by kungfuzu on Dec 25, 2021 11:38:44 GMT -8
Here are many different types of Mohnkuchen (poppy seed cakes) which might interest you. They do not look as fancy as some other desserts, but I fondly recall having this with strong coffee a number of times at friends' homes. I particularly recall the mother of one friend making this regularly and he and I sitting down at the kitchen corner table to enjoy it. Mohnkuchen Here is a real apple strudel
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Post by kungfuzu on Dec 25, 2021 11:51:07 GMT -8
To add a little variety to the discussion, in the book I just finished Vienna Twilight inspector Rheinhardt also stops in some cafe for a Tafelspitz which is a type of boiled beef. Believe me, it tastes great. It is one of the favorites of my friend in Austria who has lung cancer. He sent me a short email today and it sounds like he is staying strong. |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 25, 2021 12:03:08 GMT -8
Reading these damn books could wreck my diet. The poppy seed thing looks amazing.
Herr Lieberman just got done visiting The Cafe Central. This would appear to be a somewhat Bohemian establishment: "The favored haunt of writers, poets, and freethinkers." Sounds like a bit of a dive. But many of the places that Max and Oskar frequent sound like quite glorious establishments. I would love to visit some of them.
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Post by kungfuzu on Dec 25, 2021 12:26:07 GMT -8
Anything but. Cafe Central I did not spend much time around that area. I spent more time around Schottentor which was one terminus of the street car I regularly took from the dorm to school. I vaguely remember visiting the establishment once. And that only because of the ornate interior with columns. I believe I have mentioned this before, but this is the Cafe I spent a lot of time in. Cafe Haag The owners appear to be so old-fashioned that they don't appear to have a website. Great. This is the most prestigious "Cafe" in Austria. Cafe is perhaps too humble a word. It was appointed "Court" baker to the "Emperor and King" long ago. I have only been there a couple of times. It is devilishly expensive. But the food, drink and atmosphere is fantastic. Demel |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 25, 2021 12:41:08 GMT -8
Wow. The Central Cafe looks wonderful. I think the description just falls short in the book. But then, who knows what it was like a 120 years ago. The author mentions Liebermann going down some dark-dive alley to get there.
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Post by kungfuzu on Dec 25, 2021 12:50:03 GMT -8
One has to understand that Vienna had undergone huge change over the last 50 years, before the stories take place. The Cafe Central is in the old inner city which had been surrounded by a wall until about 1860. I am sure that all the many problems which old cities had before modernization were well represented in the Vienna of that time.
Just for historical purposes, understand the Ringstrasse (Ring road) which Tallis is often mentioning is where the old city wall of Vienna once stood.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 25, 2021 13:25:03 GMT -8
Yes, the Ringstrasse is a central part of these stories. One fellow just said in Vienna Secrets that a bottle of magnetized water and a stroll around the ring each day is what kept him fit.  |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 25, 2021 13:53:44 GMT -8
I found this 1860 map to be interesting:  |
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Post by kungfuzu on Dec 25, 2021 14:09:38 GMT -8
You will note the scale in the upper-left-had corner which says 0.5 miles. Just to the right of that is a darker grey line coming down from the north west to the south east. That is Waehringerstrasse. I rode the tram on that road from my dorm to the Schottentor Station everyday.
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 25, 2021 18:32:34 GMT -8
Yes. You can see that station highlighted on this map. |
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Brad Nelson
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Post by Brad Nelson on Dec 25, 2021 20:44:22 GMT -8
Rheinhardt opened his drawer and produced a paper bag full of wiener vanillekipferl biscuits.  |
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