Hello Joan!  I like that about Napoleon renewing Europe, restoring youth and energy -- it seems true.  He definitely inspired so many young men, even those who also felt disappointed in him like Beethoven and Pushkin.  Coulaincourt says Napoleon shocked him once.  After a battle he was walking over the field strewn with bodies.  He says Napoleon's entire staff, hardened soldiers all, felt sickened and ashamed by the slaughter around them.  Napoleon looked at them with amusement, and quoted the Roman saying, "There is no more beautiful sight than that of one's dead enemies."  Coulaincourt realized that Napoleon was cut of a different cloth than most of humanity.  Throughout the Russian expedition, in the midst of all the suffering, Napoleon showed no sign of compassion for the soldiers, just worry about the deteriorating situation.  I don't suppose lovingkindness is a proper quality in a military commander.
Newt reminds me of Napoleon a little -- a belief in his own destiny, fascination with himself and his own brilliance, willingness to shift whenever the winds of change require it.  It makes for an attractive personality, full of energy and surprises, even amusement, while remaining somewhat strange for people outside the immediate charm of his presence.
Does the Takacz measure up to the Guarneri?
My lovely atheistic and revolutionary Tsar, Alexander I, has fallen under the influence of a Christian mystic and now renounces his entire past, a prey to the superstition that upended the dynasty in Nicholas II.  Too bad; I imagine the strain of his reign, which began with patricide and went on to many years of war, was too much.  I hadn't realized how difficult the final defeat of Napoleon was after the Russian expedition -- Napoleon still raised several hundred troops, and only Alexander's firm resolve to defeat him and strategic gifts made it possible.  After the last battle, when Napoleon defeated a cavalry detachment but found it was not the advance guard of the main army but a diversion that opened the road to Paris to the Coalition, he said, "I would not have thought such a trick possible for their generals."  It was Alexander's idea.  Take care, Sidney

More dolphins

Hello Joan!  It's been many years since I listened to Toscanini; I remember I found his tempos "off" for some reason, too drawn out in the slow parts and too fast in the fast ones.
Napoleon is a riddle for me as well.  I sympathize with his projects, but he was clearly a monster of ego -- that comes out in all the writings about him.  At some point he decided that the only way to bring stability to French politics was to imitate Louis XIV and establish a court with all of Louis' formality.  This was largely successful, but the price was giving up many of the democratic ideals of the French Revolution.  We have to keep in mind the incredible difficulty of governing a country of such vanity as France.
Noah and Rivka are in 7th and 5th grades.  They don't have any extracurricular activities -- Noah loves video games and Rivka chatting on Skype with her friends at the computer.  They abhor the things Carolyn and I like to do -- going on hikes, visiting museums, so it's a challenge to keep them busy over the holidays.  Today Carolyn took them bowling while I work and bought them some hamsters, "Cookie" and "Skiddles."  They're both nice, affectionate children, and seem to be improving steadily in consideration for others and taking responsibility for their actions.  I'd like to inspire them with love for some activity, but don't believe in forcing them to do things they don't want to.  Noah was great at musical theater, but finds the practices boring (I agree); Rivka played clarinet for a while but says it hurts her mouth.  I haven't insisted that they continue.
The dolphins just seem to ooze affection and love for their trainers; maybe it's the smile frozen on their mouth by the shape of their jaws.  Still, I like to think that the love we experience is not our own creation, but a piece of a great cosmic love pervading the universe.  Since love just comes over me like an irresistible force, it seems reasonable to believe that it has its origin somewhere beyond myself, and that I'm part of a great system based on love.  It's a nice, comforting thought, and a reasonable one I think.  Take care, Sidney

Dolphins

Hello Joan!  The Takacs is the only recording l have of the Razumovsky quartets -- I like it a lot but can't compare it to other ones.  I almost always like recordings by anyone, even the most obscure performers, since even their technical ability astounds me.  The only conductor I never liked was Toscanini, I don't know why.  Michael Tilson Thomas here in San Francisco I sometimes find overblown, too loud and showy.  I've noticed that the recordings I listen to on our local classical station, KDFC, sound really superb these days, with many new and interesting interpretations of the classics.  I wonder whether the technology of recording has improved -- every instrument sounds so clear and distinct in its unique tone.
The story of Alexander I is engrossing -- such lows and highs, such a gulf between his well-developed democratic beliefs and his career as a victorious autocrat.  I had wondered why Napoleon retreated through the same devastated country he had advanced through, and consequently starved his troops.  Troyat loves Kutuzov, and says he blocked Napoleon from using his intended retreat route to the south with a battle at Maloyaroslavl, and cleverly forced him into his disastrous choice of route.
We had a great day at the Six Flags amusement park yesterday.  Rivka and I went on our highest roller coaster yet, terrifying and exhiliarating.  We watched a wonderful dolphin show -- dolphins really are the tenderest, most attractive creatures.  To see love and joy expressed in animals so different from us in form is inspiring.  Take care, Sidney

Troyat

Hello Joan! Good to hear from you -- I've been wondering how you are. I like your characterization of Jane Austen's writings -- it seems very true and insightful. I suppose that society became more individualistic later, so the often tenuous bonds that tie it together became less of a focus for writers. I've been trapped for some time in the works of Henri Troyat, an unfortunately prolific French writer of Russian descent and interest. He has written the life of every Tsar -- I've read Paul, Nicholas the First and Second, and Alexander the Second, all in Russian translation (our library doesn't have the original French). Now I'm on Alexander the First, and looking at the Third and Peter the Great which are awaiting me. They take a long time to read, but I find the grand sweep of the empire and the fateful string of events irresistable. It could have turned out differently at many points, but the luck wasn't good. The assassination of Alexander the Second, the Liberator, was really the worst piece of bad luck. He escaped the first bomb thrown at him, which killed several of his entourage, but he wanted to speak to the assailant on the spot, which gave his accomplice the opportunity to throw a second bomb at short range.
I'm listening to a lot of Bernstein lately, especially his songs. He is a congenial voice to me, of similar background (American Jewish), which I suppose brings his music close to me. I read delightful book on our current financial state, Boomerang by Michael Lewis. He's very funny and makes the innumerable economic errors the result of natural human biases. I'm also reading a book on symbolic logic by Douglas Hofstadter. Not much time for other books with all this, plus the entire New York Times every day!
Take care and keep writing!