Friday, December 28, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Mind over Matter Experiments
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Raid on Entebbe - 1976 (Full Movie)
Operation Entebbe was a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by commandos of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on 4 July 1976. A week earlier, on 27 June, an Air France plane with 248 passengers was hijacked, by terrorists of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the German Revolutionary Cells
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Vladimir Horowitz The Last Romantic
Vladimir Horowitz was the youngest of four children of Samuil Horowitz and Sophia Bodik, who were assimilated Jews. Samuil was a well-to-do electrical engineer and a distributor of electric motors for German manufacturers. Horowitz's grandfather Joachim was a merchant (and an arts-supporter), belonging to the 1st Guild. This status gave exemption from having to reside in the Pale of Settlement. Horowitz was born in 1903, but in order to make him appear too young for military service so as not to risk damaging his hands, his father took a year off his son's age by claiming he was born in 1904. The 1904 date appeared in many reference works during the pianist's lifetime.
In 1933, in a civil ceremony, Horowitz married Toscanini's daughter Wanda. Although Horowitz was Jewish and Wanda Catholic, this was not an issue, as neither was observant. As Wanda knew no Russian and Horowitz knew very little Italian, their primary language became French. They had one child, Sonia Toscanini Horowitz (1934–1975). It has never been determined whether her death, from a drug overdose, was accidental or a suicide.
Despite his marriage, there were persistent rumors of Horowitz's homosexuality.Arthur Rubinstein said of Horowitz that "Everyone knew and accepted him as a homosexual." David Dubal wrote that in his years with Horowitz, there was no evidence that the octogenarian was sexually active, but that "there was no doubt he was powerfully attracted to the male body and was most likely often sexually frustrated throughout his life." Dubal observed that Horowitz sublimated a strong instinctual sexuality into a powerful erotic undercurrent which was communicated in his piano playing. Horowitz, who denied being homosexual, once joked "There are three kinds of pianists: Jewish pianists, homosexual pianists, and bad pianists."
In the 1940s, Horowitz began seeing a psychiatrist. According to sources, this was an attempt to alter his sexual orientation. In the 1960s and again in the 1970s, the pianist underwent electroshock treatment for depression.
In 1982, Horowitz began using prescribed anti-depressant medications; there are reports that he was drinking alcohol as well. Consequently, his playing underwent a perceptible decline during this period. The pianist’s 1983 performances in the United States and Japan were marred by memory lapses and a loss of physical control. (At the latter, one Japanese critic likened Horowitz to a "precious antique vase that is cracked.") He stopped playing in public for the next two years.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Rostropovich: The Genius of the Cello
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE (Russian: Мстисла́в Леопо́льдович Ростропо́вич, Mstislav Leopol'dovič Rostropovič, March 27, 1927 -- April 27, 2007), known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of all time.
In addition to his outstanding interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works which enlarged the cello repertoire more than any cellist before or since. He gave the premieres of over 100 pieces, forming long-standing friendships and artistic partnerships with composers including Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Prokofiev and especially Benjamin Britten.
"We drink alcohol much better than violinists, or pianists" - Mstislav Rostropovich