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Reposted by James

RSPB @rspb.bsky.social · Jun 9

New week, new Nature or No Nature!

Rachel Reeves: Your spending choices could be a turning point for nature.

Our 100k strong petition asked you to increase nature-friendly farming funding, which our research shows could reduce costs elsewhere.

So your question today is:

A digital graphic styled like a quiz show features Rachel Reeves standing behind a glowing blue podium labelled “NATURE OR NO NATURE.” Above her, the question reads: “Which of these annual costs could nature-friendly farming cut?” The multiple choice options are:
A) Water pollution (£1.3bn)
B) Ammonia emissions (£1.48bn)
C) Flooding (£1.3bn)
D) All the above.
The background is a vivid green with spotlight rings and sparkles, mimicking a high-stakes TV quiz show.

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 30

They’ll certainly be covered in shitake….

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 27

She was just plain Patti LuPhone then…

James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 26

#moviesky #filmsky I very much enjoyed this recent offering from #Dreamworks . Witty, charming and poignant, its eco message is whispered in your ear, and it deftly undermines its own sentimentality with some great wisecracks. The animation references both old #Disney and #studioGhibli . I think….

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 26

open.spotify.com/track/0Znlvx... #Gluck ‘s pared down drama (just the two lovers and the spirit of Love herself) moves swiftly through the story in around 90 mins. In that time Orfeo manages to lose her AGAIN and mood about it. Come on man! Mind you the music’s glorious. #opera #classicalmusic

Orfeo ed Euridice: Overtura

Christoph Willibald Gluck, René Jacobs, Freiburger Barockorchester · Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice · Song · 2001

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 26

open.spotify.com/track/2ZeiRB... #HowardHanson ‘s lush, heart-on-sleeve romantic style isn’t for everyone, but here he dials it down a bit in favour of a tautly constructed set of variations. It’s a 12 minute gem, always interesting, never outstaying its welcome. #classicalmusic

Mosaics

Howard Hanson, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz · Hanson: Symphony No. 2 - Lux aeterna - Mosaics · Song · 2011

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 26

open.spotify.com/track/5oxFuJ... #CharlesIves clearly familiar with Faure in this 1897 song but it still feels like a fractured version of something. He’s breaking some rules but not reassembling them into anything else - that’s a few years down the line #classicalmusic

Qu'il m'irait bien

Charles Ives, Leah Wool, J.J. Penna · Ives, C.: Songs, Vol. 5 · Song · 2008

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 24

open.spotify.com/track/0NBu2p... #classicalmusic #opera A terrific live recording of #Handel ‘s #Serse

Handel: Serse, HWV 40, Act 2, Scene 12: Duetto. "Gran pena è gelosia" (Serse, Amastre)

George Frideric Handel, Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Anne Sofie von Otter, Silvia Tro Santafe · Handel: Serse, HWV 40 · Song · 2004

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 24

open.spotify.com/track/0MNxx5... I love #PhilipGlass but I think he just phoned this one in. Great pianist though! #classicalmusic

Piano Concerto No. 3 (2017): Movement I

Philip Glass, Simone Dinnerstein, A Far Cry · Circles: Piano Concertos by Bach + Glass · Song · 2018

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 24

open.spotify.com/track/6Vh9cl... #classicalmusic I think this version of #SamuelBarber ‘s First #Symphony is the finest modern version on record, even with the #LSO ‘s occasional hiccups in ensemble! #DavidMeasham goes for the big gesture in this tightly structured romantic gem.

Symphony No. 1, Op. 9

Samuel Barber, David Measham, London Symphony Orchestra · Barber: Knoxville Summer of 1915, Symphony No. 1, Essays Nos. 1 & 2, Night Flight & Music for a Scene from Shelley · Song · 2022

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 24

open.spotify.com/track/6vtFRm... I knew nothing about #GloriaCoates and had never heard a note of her music until now. This #stringquartet blew me away - both ethereally beautiful and unsettling. This last movement is so strikingly original I have no reference point for it. Profound. #classicalmusic

String Quartet No. 5: In The Fifth Dimension

Gloria Coates, Kreutzer Quartet · Gloria Coates: String Quartets Nos. 1, 5 And 6 · Song · 2002

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 24

open.spotify.com/track/1E4MPG... This is quintessential #PhilipGlass He’s completely at home with the eccentric scoring - and there’s both charm and raucous energy throughout this piece. #classicalmusic

Concerto for Saxophone Quartet & Orchestra: Movement I

Philip Glass, Dennis Russell Davies, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet · Philip Glass: Symphony No.2 · Song · 1998

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 24

open.spotify.com/track/3FlRAQ... #classicalmusic The thing about early #CharlesIves is that you think you’re in the world of the Victorian parlour song but then he does something a bit off. He knows it breaks the academic rules but he doesn’t really care.

The Love Song of Har Dyal

Charles Ives, Jennifer Casey Cabot, Douglas Dickson · Ives, C.: Songs, Vol. 3 · Song · 2008

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 22

Bar lines. 17th century. Just sayin’…

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 18

Good Lord! 😬 #filmsky #moviesky

Movies Silently @moviessilently.bsky.social · May 18

Margaret Gibson plays a rootin' tootin' six-gun shootin' wild west heiress sent to finishing school in ROWDY ANN (1919).

She fails Classical Dance but excels at Ropin' the Criminal Polecat Tryin' to Seduce Her Roommate

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 15

It speaks for itself….

Reposted by James

🦋FightForDemocracy!🦋 @budahsbaker.bsky.social · May 13

320 3.3K 17K

James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 14

Looks about right….

depths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · May 14

James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 14

open.spotify.com/track/4I3aB6... #classicalmusic #opera This recently revived corker from #GaspareSpontini (no me neither) bored the crap out of me in Act 1 then utterly gripped me from Act 2. High drama, fabulous singing, electrifying playing. Well worth a listen.

La vestale, Act II: Trio avec chœur et Récit. Ah ! Si je te suis chère

Gaspare Spontini, Marina Rebeka, Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Tassis Christoyannis, Flemish Radio Choir, Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset · Spontini: La vestale · Song · 2023

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 13

#filmsky #moviesky #KindHeartsAndCoronets Never get tired of this - Ealing’s deliciously dark comedy of the English class system. #AlecGuinness got the praise but for my money #DennisPrice steals the show as the murderous interloper bent on revenge. Total classic.

James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 13

#filmsky #moviesky Blown away all over again by this pivotal western. A commentary on toxic American politics (surely not…), courage, moral choice, agency. An inspiration for #SergioLeone et al. Where the hell is #GaryCooper when you need him? A silvery, b&w masterpiece. #HighNoon

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 12

open.spotify.com/track/2z83sm... #classicalmusic Of all the beautifully polished songs of #SamuelBarber this lovely, lyrical setting of #JamesAgee ‘s poem is surely one of the most affecting. Just gorgeous.

4 Songs, Op. 13: No. 3, Sure On This Shining Night. Andante

Samuel Barber, Samuel Sanders, Robert White · Sure on This Shining Night: The Romantic Song in America · Song · 1997

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 12

open.spotify.com/track/2OJHed... #classicalmusic I just love this! #CharlesIves revelling in the sheer strangeness of 2 pianos tuned a quarter of a tone apart. The editor of the score warns against tuning one piano UP as per Ives’s instructions, but to tune the other one down! Tension apparently…

Three Quarter-Tone Pieces for Two Pianos: I. Largo

Charles Ives, Donald Berman, Stephen Drury · The Unknown Ives, vol. 2 · Song · 2004

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James @aspiring2adequacy.bsky.social · May 12

open.spotify.com/track/49yN8t... #classicalmusic What a truly great dramatist #Tchaikovsky was. This tale of haunted obsession is given a magnificent performance by the supremely talented, if politically repulsive, #ValeryGergiev

Pique Dame (Pikovaya Dama), Op. 68, TH.10 / Act 1: "O poshchadi menya!"

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Gegam Grigorian, Maria Guleghina, Mariinsky Orchestra, Valery Gergiev · Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame · Song · 1993

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