Friday, January 22, 2010

Thursday With Ted and Mike



Today was just a great day. As many of you know, I work part time for my friend and very, very talented pianist, Michael Dulin. Well today Mike asked me to tag along with him and photograph his good friend Ted Haddin. Mike has a new website and it includes a blog. Guess who does his blog each week? Well our visit with Ted is Mike's featured post for tomorrow, and I decided rather than reinvent that wheel, I'd just let Michael Dulin do the talking here today as well. That works for me!

"On Christmas morning, I received a delightful phone call from a dear friend of mine, Ted Haddin. As a Christmas greeting, he read a Christmas poem that he had written, then dropped the phone and played the beautiful Coventry Carol for me on his 250-year-old violin.

Ted's a true Rennaissance man, with an astonishing range of talents and interests. He is a published author and poet, a former professor at UAB, he taught not only English literature, but Russian, German and French literature as well. He is also a very fine musician and gifted raconteur.

So, bright and early Thursday morning, Virginia Jones ( my new photographer-in-residence, remember?) and I set out to pay Ted a visit at his home. He serenaded us with some old standards, a little Fritz Kreisler, and at Virginia's request, a lovely rendition of
La Vie en Rose. I even accompanied him in a performance of a Corelli sonata."

May I add a big thank you to Ted for opening his home to us today. I was the lucky girl to hear both he and Michael play together! He let me rearrange his furniture for a better photo op and was so dear to play the loveliest version of La Vie en Rose on his pricelss violin pour moi. Merci Ted!

And for my Birmingham readers, if you're very lucky you might be at Nabeel's in Homewood on a Friday night have the pleasure of hearing Ted play!

Mike accompanies Ted on the piano

15 comments:

Olivier said...

magnifique contre jour avec ce violoniste, superbe

Judy - So California said...

Oh V - You know I love Michael but I am greedy - I want to hear the music here too - not just see them. Thanks for sharing this much!

TheChieftess said...

What fun!!! I love talented musicians!!!

Bergson said...

j'aime le contre jour de la première

Leif Hagen said...

Olivier also has a violin play on his CDP posting today! I play violin, too! Wonderful photos of Mike en piano and Ted avec son violin! Rock on Vivaldi, rock on!

Thérèse said...

Thanks for the sharing Virginia.
Have a nice weekend!

Thérèse said...

J'aurais bien aimé être une petite souris pour vous accompagner...
:)

Daryl said...

I always forget, not sure why other than mt brain is seeping info, how fabulous your portraits are ..

Anonymous said...

I have a recurring dream that I can play the violin. And it feels like this.

Saretta said...

Dramatic b&w portrait!

Louis la Vache said...

What a fine monochrome image, Virginia!
And La Vie en Rose for accompaniment... Oh, my!

Lowell said...

What fun and what a lucky person you are! Very nice portraits, V!

Tash said...

I bet he's overjoyed with that portrait! Marvellous.
So, you'll have to be interviewed to see how it feels to be a "photographer-in-residence" - I have a new aspiration!!!

Virginia said...

Tash, I am also VP in charge of Shipping and Handling and DIrector of Worldwide Tours. My job description is whatever we can make up! HA

Jacob,
I am a lucky girl and I know it!

Judy, we are working on getting some of Michael's songs on Youtube. You can also go to his website and listen! :)

Olivier,
I enjoyed your fine concert images today as well.
Bon weekend!

Thanks everyone. Your kind comments mean a lot and help make me try harder every day!
V

Bob Crowe said...

Were you and Olivier conspiring on the subject today? The silhouette works well. Even with the strong backlighting, he looks a lot like Tennessee Williams to me.