JS Bach Air on G String BWV 1068

This is a classic example how the son became more famous than the father. You see, JS Bach did not compose Air on G String. The piece was taken out of the second movement of his third orchestra suite which was keyed in D major.

Somewhere along the line, someone discovered that if the this second movement were to be transposed from D major to G major, the entire piece could be played on a single G string on the violin and there comes the name Air on G String.

To bring further insult to JS Bach, Air on G String is normally played without any reference to its original composer nor his original intent.

Air on G String is an absolute lyrical piece and I would urge those that enjoy explore further by listening to the entire third orchestra suites in its original key in D major. There are only a total of 5 movements and it will be worth it.

Last but not least, I believe that G String panties which some would like to associate the piece Air on G String was furthest from JS BACH thought when he first composed it in D major. :)

Sibelius Violin Concerto Op. 47

Was listening to Sibelius Violin Concerto and really am surprised that the concerto conveyed so much emotional warmth for someone that lives in the Nordic countries where the weather is mostly cold. The versions that I have are as follows. All versions are of the final 1905 versions except the one Leonidas Kavakos for which I have both the original 1903/04 versions and the 1905 versions.

1.Hilary Hahn with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra(DG)

2.Kwung Wha Chung with Andre Previn conducting London Symphony Orchestra(DECCA)

3.Itzhak Perlman with Erich Leinsdorf conducting Boston Symphony Orchestra(RCA)

4.Leonidas Kavakos with Osmo Vanska conducting Lahti Symphony Orchestra(BIS)-Both the 1903/04 original version and the 1905 final version

5.Jascha Heifetz- with Walter Hendl conducting Chicago Symphony Orchestra(RCA)-Old recording that is almost technically faultless and some say lacking in depth.

Of which only the Kavakos is of Nordic stock. If you get to compare the various interpretation, let me know your preference. I like the version by Perlman which was recorded when he was younger as a child prodigy for its technical interpretation. Perhaps his later recording might encompass more emotional maturity having walked more of life experiences. This is my normal findings when comparing earlier and later recordings by child prodigy that like wine, their later recordings are better. My next review would likely be about Bach Violin Concertos.

Cheers,,, Pete

British Conversations

The brits are generally more gentry in their ways as well as speech. Sometimes, it gets so diplomatic that both the speaker and the audience end up confused especially if both sides are brits. I really meant both. The speaker in his quest for form over matter has forgotten about the matter altogether. The poor audience is of course left to distill the facts out of the speech. And of course also to preserve a sense of self-respect, the audience, if they are brits as well, would be too proud to clarify as always.

©An original joke by Peter Lye

Mstislav Rostropovich

He is not only a great cello master but also very passionate about his beliefs. He lost his Soviet citizenship for his actions but was re-instated later. He died peacefully in his homeland which shows he has a great love for it. He was there playing his cello by the Berlin Wall when it came down to show his political affinity in-spite of the risks. A great man.

My NOL Story

I bought some NOL share last week and sold out today. Following is an edited excerpt of my emails with my friend in Jakarta. No conflict of interest as I do not hold any position in NOL now. I am not always that accurate...Cheers,, Pete

7 August 2008 12:38am

I did sometime in LCL shipping at Votainer which was one of the largest LCL carrier worldwide but was acquired Air Express and now is part of DHL. My dissertation was about LCL business.

I was tempted to think that the market has priced in the share dilution with the forthcoming hapag lloyd acquisition if NOL is successful.

With world trade possibly thinning out and a directionless oil price situation and a possible over capacity on the carrier market, NOL does have an uncertain future. It was partially brought down by the bad showing of its competitor OOCL.

Actually, what I am looking for is a formidable management team to steer clear this cycle and it would be ready to ride the next. One of my bets is that most yards have converted to oil based vessels and with a limited built out of container carriers, the over capacity is likely to be shorter term. If an up turn in trade happens within next 18 months, the capacity over hang could turn into a shortage giving the carriers better pricing power.

APL's largely trans pacific and trans atlantic routes which are highly regulated by tariff filing by FTC in US could make the price adjustment slower than on un-regulated routes. The OOCL bad showing does worry me a bit as it is largely intra asia with good chinese political support and tung chee wah behind it did not help much. Hmmm.....

Actually, I am tired of trading in and out of market and looking for medium term place to park funds.....

My last caveat is that nol is largely a temasek cornered play and market price transparency is more opaque. 

7 August 2008 7:50pm

After writing such a long story on NOL to you. I decided to buy NOL today when it broke record low of 2.51 but I landed most lots at 2.52 which is OK. There is a .04 dividend payment soon so not so bad.

11 August 2008 12:42pm

My trading instincts have the better of me and I sold my NOL shares at 2.68 this morning which I bought at 2.52 last week for a good profit. I am back to looking for investment opportunities again. My sell rationale is AXA which is one of the funds that has majority stake has started accumulating from about 5% to 7% and I think the buying pressure will ease once they have gotten what they wanted. Secondly, the war in Georgia could cause an increase in oil prices which will affect NOL.