why i shouldn't introduce myself, and rach iii

Thought experiment: Suppose I meet a new friend for the first time but refuse to let him/her in on my background, e.g. the schools I attended and what I work as (with-holding my name therefore becomes necessary, in the age of the internet). How differently will the friendship work out?

In this corner of the world, it is common for people to ask new friends about their educational background, perhaps to find a connection or simply to keep the conversation going, and this irks me, because it lends oneself to existing stereotypes for people hailing from different schools. Instead of establishing connections, the social habit can set up barriers, as friends become classified according to the schools they came from. It takes effort to remove this biasing effect on first impressions. I'm not sure if I ever want to try this experiment. It sure sounds rather rude to refuse to oblige to a simple question. It can be refreshing to be recognised solely on the context of interaction rather than on one's background. I would prefer, for example, the introductory statements "Hi Peter, meet John. He's from " and "Hi Peter, meet John. He's a " to read more along the lines of "Meet John. He was playing the guitar at the party yesterday. He's a cool dude" or "Meet John. He is as interested in wakeboarding as you are."

Vladimir Feltsman performed Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto to a well-deserved standing ovation last night. Over here, standing ovations in classical music performances are hard to come by, and are reserved for the very best. This is the second time I see this happen here; the first was at Kremerata Baltica's performance at the same venue, to a smaller audience. For me, Feltsman's technique was flawless. Repeated passages were well articulated and differentiated --- the theme was never played the same way twice. Moments when the tempo slowed to a pause were heavenly. I felt I was lulled to a stop instead of being led to one. Some scenes (!) were endearing. Feltsman turned round to smile at the audience during a scurrying passage in the third movement. At a climatic turn during the same movement, he launched himself from the bench, to a few stifled giggles. The audience must have seen his more flamboyant moments last night.

I thought Collard, who performed the 1st Concerto two weeks ago, deserved a standing ovation too. I guess Rach 1 just doesn't arouse this much enthusiasm.

Rach 3 got me enamoured with classical music 12 years ago, when I was a teen, so thoroughly smitten. My eyes felt wet towards the end of the first movement, as I became aware of that fact.