Candid Calculations

On Passion and Reason

Rostropovich: The Genius of the Cello (BBC)
 

No-one has done more for the cello than Mstislav Rostropovich, or Slava as he was widely known. As well as being arguably the greatest cellist of the twentieth century, he expanded and enriched the cello repertoire by the sheer force of his artistry and his personality and composers lined up to write works for him.

In this film by John Bridcut, friends, family and former pupils explore the unique talents of this great Russian artist, and listen to and watch him making music. Contributors include his widow Galina Vishnevskaya and their daughters Olga and Elena; the eminent conductors Seiji Ozawa and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky; and cellists who attended his famous classes in Moscow, including Natalya Gutman, Mischa Maisky, Moray Welsh, Elizabeth Wilson and Karine Georgian.

The film traces the development of Rostropovich’s international career amid the political tensions of the final years of the Soviet Union.

For some reason, my cello smells like bacon, which is weird, because she’s a vegetarian… #Elgar

For some reason, my cello smells like bacon, which is weird, because she’s a vegetarian… #Elgar

Late Friday night turned into early morning… now the 1717 Italian cello is out and songs are being written with chianti. I love this… Wish you were here. can’t wait to see you on the road!

Late Friday night turned into early morning… now the 1717 Italian cello is out and songs are being written with chianti. I love this… Wish you were here. can’t wait to see you on the road!

Been traveling quite a bit these past few days, almost to the point where I feel like I’m allergic to airports… or babies on planes… is that a movie title? if not it should be… “there’s muthaf****** BABIES on this PLANE!”… Ok, I think the altitude and weather shifts are getting to me… Ironically enough, I now find myself in a remote location, secluded from human contact with no cell phone access, and it’s the SUPER slow internet connection that is helping me find my Zen… I would meditate, but I can sit here and wait for this post to upload instead. The inner workings of a technology-ruined head. That being said, a little Cello in the morning never hurts…
Meanwhile, from the middle of nowhere, may our love be unfurled;FBP.S. We’ll be announcing release dates for the new record, “Everything Falls Into Place” soon… I promise.
P.P.S. Someone DVR Breaking Bad, Entourage, True Blood, and whatever else I’m missing for me, and I’ll bake you cookies. 

Been traveling quite a bit these past few days, almost to the point where I feel like I’m allergic to airports… or babies on planes… is that a movie title? if not it should be… “there’s muthaf****** BABIES on this PLANE!”… Ok, I think the altitude and weather shifts are getting to me… Ironically enough, I now find myself in a remote location, secluded from human contact with no cell phone access, and it’s the SUPER slow internet connection that is helping me find my Zen… I would meditate, but I can sit here and wait for this post to upload instead. The inner workings of a technology-ruined head. That being said, a little Cello in the morning never hurts…

Meanwhile, from the middle of nowhere, may our love be unfurled;
FB
P.S. We’ll be announcing release dates for the new record, “Everything Falls Into Place” soon… I promise.

P.P.S. Someone DVR Breaking Bad, Entourage, True Blood, and whatever else I’m missing for me, and I’ll bake you cookies. 

Updates, randomness, direct from my webcam… Acoustic version of “Someone Like You” going on the upcoming record, ‘Everything Falls Into Place’.  Apologies for the Sync issues! This was a very non-planned direct to youtube upload…

Cliffnotes: Check out “Something Real” on itunes. Get excited for the new record coming out… Deej - @DeejHofer on Twitter, and give @FrankBellMusic love on twitter.

Got some good quality cello time in today… It felt refreshing to say the least! Me ten years ago, and me today. I wonder how much has changed… Music lives. Love,

|FB|

Inspiration: photo log of back when…

i wrote this exactly 4 years ago today, in a private myspace (remember that site?) blog, and the past week i’ve been feeling the exact same way as 2006 me… maybe it’s something to do with september… either way, thought i’d repost and share.  warmest! ~fb

my oldtime buddy james perry {RG} aka spottieottie is making me all reminiscent with memories of an innocent past where we always wore tuxs:

when the only thing of importance between my legs was this:

that is a gofriller cello by the way hehe, i coulda bought a ferarri or two with that…

when staying in looked like this:

this one is a montagnana… i coulda bought a few condos in nyc and a house with this…

when the outside of my home window looked like this:

when going for a ‘dip’ looked like this:

when enjoying the view looked like this:

back when work looked like this:

backstage at a concert looked like this:

when shooting the shit with old pals looked like this:

when the only professional photo i had of myself was this:

allthough one of them (sadly) feels very neglected - my true lovers to this day, remain:

when you see me next, i may look like this:

or even this:

but if you don’t actually know me (few do), i think it’s important to know that i’m actually this:

and that my friends, if you have managed to get this far, is the true meaning behind this:

who knows what the future holds for any of us? honestly, who cares… yesterday aside, i still love today, and if tomorrow is just as awesome - then rock n’ fuckin roll. plus some classical and soul of course ;-)

i miss you all!

|frank bell|