I was thinking about the Morton Feldman interview with Peter Gena where Feldman said that Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony should be played at least once every three years or so. I rarely have a burning desire to listen to Beethoven these days, but when I do, I usually find the experience exhilarating and not at all academic. I don’t know what accounts for this, but at least some of it comes from the exuberance with which musicians play his work. (Ralph Shapey said that Beethoven’s music has an indestructible architectural structure that is impervious to bad performance. I agree.)

Anyway, when my friend and colleague William Kempster recommended a new recording of all nine Beethoven symphonies conducted by David Zinman and performed by the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, I had mixed feelings. I already own three performances of these pieces conducted by Furtwängler, Hogwood, and Gardiner.
More here musicandmiscellaneous.blogspot.com

What have I learnt from travelling this year: Always look at where your hotel is, and whether the reception is open, HRS.de is very friendly and helpful when you want to change hotel (need to have their phone number, mobile phone is a must), Never take a taxi from the airport to the hotel (it is too expensive).

56 Swiss Francs to be exact. Taxi from Flughafen Zurich to Hotel Leoneck. In the evening. Yep. Walked a lot in order to “save” money.

So tuesday 7th: late flight with Swiss from Oslo to Zurich. Wednesday: first finding the way from hotel to opernhaus to collect my ticket, then going to Hauptbahnhof (HBF, main train station) and so back to my hotel. Breakfast at McDonald’s. Lunch/Dinner at Chinese Take Away in HBF. Stomach ache, why? I didn’t eat too much.. Any way, I had to take some pain killers (only one).
More here operaduetstravel.blogspot.com

Zurich baby! We took a 2.5 hour train from Lausanne and arrived in Zurich in early afternoon, then took a cab to our hotel (the Continental, highly recommended). Our hotel was actually only a 5 minute’s walk from the train station but we got a cab anyways.

Anywho, it began to rain really hard so we just chilled in our room for awhile. I had really low expectations of Zurich before arriving – I thought it would be boring frankly. I was obviously wrong and realized it the moment we headed out to the Niederdorf for dinner. Zurich is freaking awesome.

The following day, we headed out to the Swiss National History Museum – located directly across the street from the train station. The exhibits spanned from the pre-historic age through contemporary Swiss history. My favorites were the rooms from an old castle that were disassembled, then re-assembled into the museum. Recommended.

Then we had lunch on the Bahnhofstrasse and went back to the Niederdorf and relaxed for the rest of the day. Zurich is pretty walkable, but not condensed in the slightest. With the Limatt River running straight through the middle of the city and with its pedestrian bridges and cobblestone streets, its just a really beautiful city.
More here wetravelworld.com

I was having a late dinner Friday evening. The location was a government subsidised, graffiti covered venue in greater Zurich. Called Rote Fabrik (Red Fabric), this alternative enclave was fitted with several function rooms, restaurant/bar and a lovely view of Lake Zurich.

It was early evening, I was feeling a little lonely, the night before became morning too soon and I was physically drained (a recovering sprained arm and a tense 10km late night bike ride). My usual social tendencies were fragile on this 2nd day, intimidated even. I thought about the nature of traveling alone, about making conversations with new people for need, for the feeling of being part of a whole; when in fact you were a stranger, strange to all around you. As I pondered the ups and down of attending a festival by myself (which I have done numerous times before) a smile arrived at my table. He was the physicist guy that caught my eye earlier among the late afternoon crowd already soldering despite hangovers and the humid summer heat. Hooded in bright green, he had meticulously twisted and turned the knobs of a DIY tupperware housed noisemaker.
More here mog.com/LadyC

Hey everyone.
Me and My husband have moved from the UK some time ago and we are loving being in Zurich. The only thing we seem to be missing here is a social life/friends.

Wondering if any social events are happening in the weekends that we could join?

We are both in our 30s and looking forward to meeting new people.

Fezza
More here englishforum.ch

Binding: Hardcover
Manufacturer: Wisdom Publications

Product Description:
Deities of Tibetan Buddhism is an extraordinary encyclopedia of Buddhist icons. The images, presented in the book at full scale, were originally created by a master artist in the early nineteenth century to serve as initiation cards. The original tsakli were woodblock prints, hand colored at the request of a Ch’ing Dynasty nobleman who had received the initiations. Such cards are used in ceremonies to introduce the practitioner to the deity and his or her practice. The paintings are housed in the Ethnographic Museum of the University of Zurich.
More here asianarthistorybooks.co.cc