Word: florid
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...paradises as there are Buddhas. Each enlightened being has his or her own heaven, a concept probably borrowed from Hinduism, in which gods and goddesses inhabit a series of heavens. The primal heaven, however, was probably the one called Sukhavati, which may itself have borrowed some elements from the florid paradises of Zoroastrian Persia (whence the word pairi-daeza, or enclosure, the origin of our word paradise). As Sakyamuni, the Buddha of our cosmos, teaches, if the denizens of Sukhavati "desire cloaks of different colors and many hundred thousand colors, then with these very best cloaks the whole Buddha country...
Faithful to what she describes as her philosophy of "fusion-style," Ms. Robison dared to couple Vivaldi's florid 1725 orchestration with booming, modern instruments and techniques. She described many contemporary instrumentalists as drooling over and fantasizing about playing early pieces by the likes of Vivaldi, Bach and Haydn, yet often restraining themselves from such performances out of (often sanctimonious) respect for "authenticity." A musician in the most untarnished sense, Ms. Robison aims to paint the liveliest and most colorful musical experience possible with as many wideranging techniques available, seemingly saying, "Oh phooey" to purist stalwarts. In a mildly Machiavellian...
...there and think. And that is a lot to ask of a delegate surrounded by guys in elephant hats. But the most interesting part of the speech's bravery was its high moral seriousness; it attempted to address what really ails America. And it did so while rejecting the florid optimism of political speeches and asserting instead that America is in trouble because of the way modern Americans have been living their lives. He scored the small corruptions of our lives, of ambition and unthinking selfishness that damage first individuals, then a whole society...
Helprin's novels are not clearly political and at their most florid are, though much admired, in fact not clear in any direction. Winter's Tale, for instance, is an obscure and very long fantasy about an annoying magical horse. His most recent, Memoir from Antproof Case, is marvelous, brilliantly written bosh about an elderly maniac who fulminates obsessively against coffee. Coffee? Sure...
...distinct, even clarinet-like sound of the first movement gave way to a more florid, sweet tone in the last. Elkies was a theatrical accompanist, his elbow flying up and down with almost alarming force. If anything, he seemed too passionate, edging the saxophone into a louder range than was probably necessary. The enthusiasm of the audience, of about 50, was well merited...