becoming

Enough about Mozart (and other stuff). Here is a list of books I recently purchased (and/or are reading):

• The Second Epistle to the Corinthians (New International Commentary on the New Testament)
  by Paul Barnett (A good alternative of Thrall’s ICC series, a bit more update than Furnish’s, and less technical than Harris’. The commentary argues for the unity of 2 Cor. with a pastoral focus.)
  
• The Theology of the Later Pauline Letters (New Testament Theology)
  by Andrew T. Lincoln (A good summary of Lincoln’s Word Commentary on Ephesians)
  
• Paul: In Fresh Perspective
  by N. T. Wright (A good preview of his forthcoming book on Paul in his COQG series)
• The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology
  by N. T. Wright (A classic and a more technical discussions on 2nd Temple Judaism)
  
• The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul As Interpreter of Israel’s Scripture
  by Richard B. Hays (A discussion on his rationale behind Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (aka. the book everybody is quoting from in their thesis). A good read if you are tired of hearing those semi-learned accusing the NT writers quoting the OT with no respect to its context)
  

Where is everybody this Sunday morning?

Well, I think my mom is protesting by sending me this email in regard of not asking her to attend the Requiem concert last week:

The dangling jewels are suspended from contact lenses and is supposed not to affect your sight. From Eric Klarenbeek.

All I want to say is: Good luck (and trust me, you are going to need it).

And if you think this is crazy, take a look at this.

Lord, there are so many things happening at the same time! While I am swamping in this ocean of troubles and challenges, remind me once again that You are the one that calmed the sea and the wind; You are the one that walked on water in order to be with us.

Let me be who I am because of who you are.

Amen. 

Since 2001 release of the Complete Mozart Edition under the Philips label, no one thought another edition will make available in distant future. Surpisingly, Brilliant Classics dare to take up the task and produce another Complete Mozart Edition! And unlike the Philips’ edition, most of the pieces under the same musical category are recorded by the same group of musicians, hence interpretation are more consistent and stable.

Another good thing about this edition is the price! Arkiv is selling the whole thing for $250US for 170 CDs! That’s less than $1.5/CD! But of course, there is a catch: the featured performers are relatively less well-known than those top-guns you know of. But as far as I can tell, most of them are rising stars from the Europe Classical scene. Take for example the CCE and Nicol Matt, I think their Complete Scared Music is just as good as (if not better) than any major choir/orchestra I have heard of. Yes, their strings can never match the freshness of ASMF, but their choir is well-balanced and the words are crystal clear compare to many muddled and echo-y recordings from the well-known choir/orchestra (one complain I do have is that the soprano uses too much vibatro consider the period which the music is written).

So for those of you working in Downtown Toronto, go to HMV or Sam and listen to them. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised by them!  

剛從音樂會回來。時間不早了，還是明天才寫10年來再次聽音樂會的經驗。

update:
———————-
本來就沒有帶甚麼祈望，始終這是個免費音樂會，演出的也不似是正規樂團。去是因為想聽K.626，沒有其他原因。

演出可說是中規中矩。值得一讚的是Choir的女聲部，及獨唱的女高音和中音。我得別喜歡女中音那位，聲線十分圓潤，沒甚麼做作。女高音的清澈和她十分配合。

版本是Sussmayr的那個，整個演譯用了比一般快的tempo。不明的是男聲部份，是甚麼關係男聲部這麼少人，並且是安置在左面的一角，女聲部卻滿了右面和整個後排？如此缺乏男聲，Confutatis的震撼便大減。另外男聲獨唱的兩位也不是十分穩定。男高音的聲線若嫌微弱，高音區也見牽強。男底音那位其實應屬Baritone，聲線不足亦不厚。合上那兩位出色的女音實在遜色得很。

樂團部份woodwind是比較好的， strings（尤其是viola）不時出現拍子不準，常常好像聽見echo一般！Brass中規中矩，雖然偶然也有錯音。

整體來說，consider這不是一隊正規樂團，這已經相當不錯，特別奏的是Requiem，非一般曲目。合唱團比樂團出色，相信是因平日的合作性比較好。

對我來說，能聽見K.626已經夠興奮，這些缺點沒有甚麼大不了。

K.626的魔力在於你永遠不知道在Mozart腦中的安魂曲全貌是怎樣的。每次聽見現有的版本，就只會叫你慨嘆說：「可惜他活不過35歲，單聽這樣的殘本已經如此驚人，真不能想像在他腦海裡的那完整的版本是怎樣的不得了。」

Annie你的評價如何？

敢問今日信徒，為甚麼你們不再（在教會裡）發問？

Update:
Anson points me to an excellent article which says: 

…..上述手法潛移默化地教導人們，這些才是思考典範。弊端之一，是癱瘓了輿論。輿論空間本是較量各方意見的好地方，但因為讀者大都習慣了思考不嚴謹，又有選擇 性認知，以致不懂認真評核別人論點，你一言我一語，貌似理性分析卻粉飾著很多權力和慾望，當很多人都是如此，便會造成大多數人的暴政，一種高明的暴政。 （請勿簡單地以為我在支持任何建制外的人批評建制，我認為喜歡批評主流也可會是一種受社群因素影響的傾向。）

Update (April 29, 2006): Here is part 2 of the same series.