Condoleezza Rice Plays Private Piano Recital For The Queen

LONDON — Live from the palace _ Condi Rice on piano!

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice performed in a piano quintet Monday night for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

Rice played Brahms' Op. 34 with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's wife, Louise, on violin, and three members of the London Symphony Orchestra.

The queen gave Rice an audio recording of the performance as a gift.

Rice is a classically trained pianist who had expressed a wish to play at the palace.

She was making her final trip to Britain before President-elect Barack Obama takes office next month. On Tuesday, she gave a farewell speech to NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

Comments

[MagisterLudi]

Ehhh, Russian Prez Medvedev invited Deep Purple to Kremlin as his favorite band. True story. How things change. American leaders plays Brahms and Russians play heavy metal...

[NYCIC]

Deep Purple? Not bad. But they're irrelevant. Should've had Meshuggah come over.

[rektruax]

"But they're irrelevant"

Because you say so?

[mcantwell]

I didn't know that Condi Rice was a classically trained pianist. I think that's wonderful and quite an accomplishment for anyone. She was given a once in a lifetime opportunity to play for the Queen of England, I see nothing wrong with that. As a woman, I say "You Go Girl!"

[theborg]

Job audition, perhaps?

[roshni]

She asked to play there........

[MagisterLudi]

My fave government musician is former German Kanzler Helmut Schmidt. He can play Rice under the table with a left hand hand. I heard his Mozart CD--- impressive. And he's a cool chain-smoking guy AND a REAL socialist. Not what passes for mealy-mouthed liberalism in U.S.

[MagisterLudi]

To be fair , this is a pretty challenging piece. Both technically and expressively. Especially the first movement, while in typical sonata form ( 2 themes+ development +recap), it has some rather interesting Romantic bits. While Rice ain't no Clara Schumann, it takes ballz for non-pro to attempt this in front of an august audience. Still I dislike most of Brahms' music ( except First symphony).

[SwingVoter]

what?

[MagisterLudi]

eloquent... very eloquent. Swingvoter.

[All4ME]

We paid for this, you know.

How many of you know how expensive and time-consuming these rockstar gov't tours are? How many personnel hours are expended every time a CoDel or official visitor steps onto foreign soil?

If print or broadcast press wanted to do some actual work, they could get someone in the Gov. Accounting Office or State Dept. to leak some numbers. You all would be surprised what we pay for.

I'm happy for Sec. Rice that she got to do her Make-A-Wish Farewell Tour on our dime. Sec. Rice cancelled actual work at the U.S. Embassy scheduled for her visit, so I heard. However the Embassy worked for weeks on visit preparations. That happens a lot.

Let's hope Sec. Clinton will run a tighter operation in terms of cost-effectiveness.

[glorialovelace]

How did we pay for it? Explain please.

[OrganOfThought]

As the SoS, she travels on government planes, with government staff escorting her and 24/7 government security.

But, I am actually fine with her doing this since it means she is not doing her regular job of starting wars and killing innocent civilians. This is the least harm she can do. Go Condi go! more piano please!!

and I think we should all be smart and strategic about this. We should start a new non-profit fund. We'll take donations from everyone. The fund will be to pay for a special prison cell for her that will fit a piano. How much do you think it would take $300k? I'm willing to chip in.

[janinei]

ah, your taxes dollars at work! duh!

[MIvoter1231]

Ok, enough with the war criminal stuff. She's on her way out. Leave it alone.

As far as her playing for the Queen, I think it's great. While I despise many of her policies, I do respect the woman. She is highly intelligent, accomplished and a beautiful woman. She's the kind of woman I want my daughter to look up to, all politics aside. She's a great example of how brains AND beauty are not mutually exclusive.

It's a shame that the GOP couldn't her, or someone more like her, as VP instead of the embarrassment they selected. I still wouldn't have voted for them, but at least she makes women proud.

We need more women like her in top positions and in the White House! Just, give them a less neo-con, more progressiv­e/moderate agenda and I'll consider voting for them every time. Where are the rest of us?? Honestly, I have no interest in political life for myself (or to drag my kids through), but I know there are so many of us out there that have brains, are accomplished, and look pretty darn good and would be an asset to this country. Time for us women to stand up and take charge of more than just our jobs and families. We need to get out on the campaign trail and show how capable we are. And no more of the insulting choices like SP.

[OrganOfThought]

Leave it alone? ... tell that to the families of the million dead civilians she is responsible for

and how about the families of all the people in Nigeria she decided were getting in the way of making oil profits

What does being a woman have anything to do with it? You brought up the topic. You are either a good person or bad person, you either do good or do evil, it has nothing to do with your sex.

[grizhead63]

Excuse me while I go hurl a big one.

“I Think I think, therefore I am not.”

[IllinoisTexan43]

Um, care to explain to your daughter exactly HOW she got her appointment? Think about it. A very intelligent, attractive woman, who, in the past 15 years or so has not been linked romantically with anyone but has been v e r y close to Bush I and II. A person should earn a job based on their merits, not as a se*ual favor.

[maori]

hmmm...

wonder if you'd be saying that she's essentially a prostitute if she were white?

[GoogleMaster]

Let's see Hillary pull that off.

HILLARY: For my next number I'd like to play Chop Sticks. If I could PLAY Chop Sticks. How about if I just hum the Star Spangled Banner instead? No? Tough crowd tonight. Sorry Queen but I CAN do shadow puppets if somebody can dim the lights.

I'm glad Mz Rice has a marketable skill to get her through the hard times after Jan 20th. As far as Mr Bush they say that he's a fence mend'n demon so who knows. I'd hate to see his ranch get repo'd.

[OrganOfThought]

I doubt she will get her true just punishment, which is going to prison. Whatever "hard times" she goes through from now on, she is getting off lightly.

The day she gets convicted for the murder of a million civilians, I'll buy her a piano to play in her prison cell.

[dissanayake]

Hillary would never stoop this low, as to go entertain the white -lady at Buckingham palace.

[MizLiz]

I would have loved to have been there.

[AndrewInToronto]

I still prefer former Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau's pirouette:

http://pages.infinit.net/histoire/trd-elis-2.jpg

[Rog49Thomas]

Once again proof that even Marx was half right ...

From each according to his ability ...

USA #1!

[Ajita]

Breaking: William the umpteenth just danced a river for his highness Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu

[Canuknotusa]

It's nice to see some musical talent in political leaders - I can't help but think such artistic abilities show a balanced perspective.

Too bad Rice seems to be the exception that proves the rule.

[tablogloid]

In fact, her name is an anglicization of the musical term "con dolcezza" which is Italian for "with sweetness".

[roshni]

A misnomer if I ever heard one.

[tablogloid]

Play, minstel girl, play

[Ajita]

my thoughts exactly

[cheflette]

I'm sorry, did I miss something? Is there a problem with an accomplished AA pianist playing for the Queen? You know, she's played at the White House with Yo-Yo Ma too. Or is classical music only for while people?

[OrganOfThought]

I don't think the word minstrel has any race connotation.

I voted for and fully support Obama. I think Rice is a war criminal. Almost any insult is too nice for her.

[RedNane]

Ah, well at last she found something she was good at doing... unless she said I never would have believed a piano made music.

[OrganOfThought]

Actually, she was good at her job too. We just have to admit who she was really working for. It wasn't us, the American people. She was working for the oil companies. She did a fine job for them. Their profits have soared the last few years.

A million dead Iraqi civilians, 4000 dead American soldiers, 60,000 injured Americans, 1 trillion dollars spent, our shattered economy are all just collateral damage. None of it cost her or her oil bosses anything they value.

[PeteSake]

What does any of this have to do with anything? She is an almost-pro piano player, and that's her hobby. Don't we all have one? That she's better at her hobby than some of us are at ours, such as throwing darts in a bar, or playing foosball, shouldn't be mocked.

I can't stand the Queen, or any royalty, or even Condi. But this story was about her playing an instrument, not the war. Stupid comments like she should be in India,not shopping, is dumb. She can't spend every waking moment on any one thing, nor can any of us. Had she gone all Sarah Palin, and spent $150,000 on clothes, that would be one thing. But she simply made a final trip to Britain, and got this honor.