Alejandra de Argos by Elena Cué

BOOKS, MUSIC...

  • Three Paths To The Lake by Ingeborg Bachmann
    "The most intelligent and most important poet our country has produced this century has died, in hospital in Rome, as a result of the burns she suffered, apparently, at home in her bath according to the Italian authorities' investigations. I have travelled with her and during our travels, she shared many of her philosophical opinions as well as her concerns about the way the world was heading and about the course of history, both of which frightened her throughout her whole life." With these words, Thomas Bernhard summed up the death of his dear friend, Ingeborg Bachmann. Bachmann died on t...
  • The Spirit of Sils Maria
    Contributor: Dr. Diego Sánchez Meca,
    Lecturer in History of Contemporary Philosophy,
    Universidad de Madrid (UNED), Spain  
                 
    She got out of her car, knees together, showing off her elegant high-heel shoes, her skirt cut and her printed silk blouse with a cleavage that left the smooth skin of her neck in full view. This image of Isabelle merged with the other images that were still in my memory, jumping around and crashing into one another over and over again, obstructing the truth and pulling me towards that world of memories previously alive, idealized or simpl...
  • 1913: The Year Before the Storm (Florian Illies)
     Contributor: Maira Herrero, 
    MA in Philosophy.
           
    German historian and journalist Florian Illies’ 300-page book is a humorous, fleeting look at the main cultural events in Europe just before the Great War. Illies’ book is neither novel nor essay — it is simply an account of the key creative and cultural happenings in those twelve months of the year and their effects on society and culture, moments before the advent of the bloody massacre that would subsequently rock the very foundations of Western thought.          It’s an attractive read for anyone interested i...
  • Chekhov: Painter of words
    Author: Marina Valcárcel.
    Art Historian
     
           
          
    Chekhov and his wife, actress Olga Knípper.  
    "Give me a wife who, like the moon, will not appear every day in my sky." (Chekhov) Throughout 2013, after Alice Munro was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, it was impossible not to hear someone saying that Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) is "the father of modern literature". So a few weeks ago I decided to sit down and re-read "The Steppe", and I found myself once again with a strange, uneasy feeling inside me, as if something had remained there, deep down, undige...
  • Music, Nothing But Music
    Contributor: Dr. Diego Sánchez Meca,
    Lecturer in the History of Contemporary Philosophy,
    University of Madrid (UNED), Spain  
           
     
      Art is a pleasing, entertaining, educational trick of the imagination. In and of itself, a piece of art, a creation, is nothing more than the physical outcome of life’s primal creative energy. Ultimately, creating art and living life are one and the same activity, life being the continuous creation of a world of appearances being continually produced and destroyed, playfully, exhilaratingly. Hence, for art to exist, there must be an...
  • The Mysteries of Laughter
    Contributor: Dr. Diego Sánchez Meca,
    Lecturer in History of Contemporary Philosophy,
    University of Madrid (UNED), Spain
           
    This article is about the theatrical release in Madrid of "The Name of the Rose". Jokes, word play, irony and a good sense of humour have always been key elements in human relations. The various forms of comedy performances, or the jokes that find their way into our daily conversations, contribute to our moments of laughter, a mechanism with a clear relaxing and therapeutic function, helping us cope with life's worries, anxieties and struggles. ...
  • Tristan und Isolde. Wagner and Bill Viola.
     Author: Elena Cué
     
    Wagner’s magnificent opera, performed at the Teatro Real, saw the composer’s intensity and passion merged with Bill Viola’s beauty and subtlety, greatly enhancing the work. Of particular note were Marc Piollet’s music direction, the Lithuanian Violeta Urmana’s powerful voice (in the role of Isolde) and Franz-Josef Seling’s masterful performance as King Marke. Bill Viola's video-art played a prominent role, thanks to director Peter Sellars' understated scenery and the seamless integration of his video-art into the opera. Love, desire, emotion, drama, all...
  • THE HISTORY OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY
         
    Greek civilization laid the foundations of our contemporary Western culture - it is in Ancient Greece, specifically in Miletus, where the origins of philosophy are to be found.
    The book begins with the Seven Sages of Greece and with Thales of Miletus, the first man to attempt to explain natural phenomena through science rather than myth.
    Among other things, he earned his fame for having predicted a solar eclipse, discovering Ursa Major and its importance in circumnavigation, and for his theory on the existence of a primordial entity from which all things originate. Until Thale...
  • Man's Search for Meaning.
     
      The big question : What is the meaning of life for humans ? According to Viktor Frankl , author of the book "Man 's Search for Meaning " , the answer would be that there is no meaning of life , but many , as many as people inhabit the Earth. No need to look for an abstract meaning of life , but the meaning that you give to life in every stage of your personal development ; These will be determined by a mission, a mission to carry out at all times. The author tries to help answer these and other existential questions through their knowledge and experience in Nazi concentration camps ....