“这次画的只是我的卧室，但色彩在这里起着关键作用——通过简化处理，赋予事物一种更宏大的风格，从而唤起人们对休憩或睡眠的联想。简而言之，凝视这幅画应当能让心灵得到安宁，或者更确切地说，让想象力得到安宁。（……）家具的稳重感，也应传递出一种坚定不移的宁静”
——文森特·梵高 (1888年10月16日)
如果我这次柏林之旅是一幅画，那幅画是梵高的《在亚尔的卧室》，仿佛去赴一场让身心灵好好休息的盛宴。
A Night at Sea is a concert in Bristol Cathedral. A sea-themed concert that contained the world premiere of Bright’s The Lighthouse, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, and Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony. Bristol, the harbour, the seagulls, and a sea concert—all fitting together perfectly. Besides being an audience member, I was also honoured to be a …
This post is a continuation of my previous reflection. Two thoughts came to me while listening to Mendelssohns Elijah at the Berlin Philharmonie on 8 March 2026. In my previous post, I discussed the essence of Elijah. In this post, I would like to share my thoughts on Baal worship. At first sight, it looks …
The Elijah I listened to at the Berlin Philharmonie on 8.3.2026 is the kind of version where Mendelssohn would be watching from heaven and smiling with utmost satisfaction. Having heard Benjamin Appls excellent and moving interpretations of Bachs St. Matthew and St. John Passions, I had been anticipating his interpretation of Mendelssohns Elijah. Personally, the …
“A white hand wavesFrom fairy tales of old,Where there are sounds and songsOf a magic land.” — Aus alten Märchen winkt es, Heinrich Heine The Liederabend was indeed an entry into a magical land of sounds and songs. Our guides for the evening were Benjamin (baritone) and James (piano), who led us through the poetic …
The CD I have been waiting for over 19 days finally arrived today, and I realised that I had never written a proper review of my absolute favourite Christmas album. Today, I am putting that right. If you are interested in reading this review, you are probably more interested in my personal thoughts than in …
In September 1710, ten-year-old Agata buried her mother. She was left with her frail grandmother and her incompetent father. Wanting Agata to be protected and educated, her grandmother entrusted her to the care of the Ospedale della Pietà — a convent, orphanage, and music school for girls. The second and third parts of the book …
I had fairly high expectations for this concert, Franz Schubert: Master Storyteller by Benjamin Appl and Sholto Kynoch, which was also the opening concert of this year’s Oxford International Song Festival, for three reasons. Firstly, I had heard their wonderful performance back in May in Heidelberg, Germany. Secondly, I have been a lover of Lieder …
The concert at Aula der Alten Universitt Heidelberg at 19:30 was the 100th anniversary commemoration of the singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. A significant figure who contributed greatly to the cultural landscape after the war, especially in the German cultural heritage of Kunstlied (Art Song). His last pupil, Benjamin Appl, curated the programme using Fischer-Dieskaus biography as …
In five minutes, the train was supposed to arrive at its destination. Suddenly, an emergency occurred, resulting in at least an hour of delay. This real-life travel experience mirrors my current life situation—filled with pauses and unexpected turns. The Malaysian embassy in Germany once told me, “Please be patient, your new passport is coming.” I …