A tribute to Georges Prêtre - A Mature Maestro

In this age of adulation of youth it is always heartwarming to see or hear elderly people excel. That is one of the reasons why I enjoy watching mature maestros conducting classical music. One of my great favourites is the French Maestro Georges Prêtre (born in 1924). 

Prêtre seems to have such a wonderful relationship with the musicians. When conducting his body and  face radiate the experience, wisdom - and I dare say humanity - acquired during a long career. All this leads to beautiful music, which of course is the purpose of a concert. 

But I have found that even only watching Prêtre conduct, with the sound turned off, is a treat! 

The pictures shown here are from a concert with the Wiener Symphoniker in 2009. 

A lone bather at the Laröd bathing platform

A lone bather at the Laröd bathing platform this afternoon:

On the upper left side you can see the Kronborg castle

The water in Øresund is still warm enough for bathers

An "olympic" bulk carrier approaching Helsingør

This is the Liberia registered bulk cargo ship London 2012 (229 x 32m) approaching Helsingør on its way from Tyne to Gdynia in Poland. This "olympic" ship was previously called Beijing 2008. Soon it will probably be renamed Rio de Janeiro 2016 ....

The London 2012 approaching  Helsingør on September 6, 2012

The London 2012 a little bit earlier

Birds enjoying windy day in Øresund

The cormorants and the gulls seemed to enjoy the windy weather this afternoon at the Hittarp reef in Øresund:

The demolition of a home

This old house, beautifully located right on the seashore, had been empty for some time. It was not a particularly beautiful or otherwise very interesting house, so one expected that the new owners would tear it down and start building a new home on the site.

Still, when I saw the demolition men at work this morning, I felt a little bit sad. I did not know the people who had built and lived in the house, but there must have been a time, when they were thrilled about moving into their new home on the beach. For them the modest house probably was a small piece of paradise on earth.

Those people are now gone, and the house of their dreams joined them today.
A reminder of the transience of life ...

Hopefully the new home, soon to be be built on the now empty site, will be a nice one.

The Ocean Countess on its way to Aalborg

This is the classical cruise ship Ocean Countess in the Sound tonight. The ship entered service as the Cunard Countess already in 1976, but after several renovations it is still quite popular, particularly among elderly cruise guests. Due to its fairly small size, the Countess is able to visit many ports, which are out of reach for the large cruise liners.

The next destination after Helsingborg and Copenhagen is Aalborg.

A tanker and a schooner in windy Øresund weather

This day has been a reminder of the stormy weather in store for us later on in the autumn here in the Øresund region. According to marine weather reports gale force winds are expected in the northern part of the adjacent Kattegat area, this afternoon.

The chemical tanker Bit Oktania (134 x 22m) was today around noon heading north against the wind in the Sound. Her destination is Brofjorden in Norway:

Somewhat later this three masted tall ship was also on its way northwards, but much more slowly. The presumably rather modest size engine seemed to be struggling just a little bit in the brisk northwesterly wind. The schooner (?) was sailing without AIS signals turned on, so I was not able to identify it. If someone recognizes the ship, please let me know: