Today is the last day of my latest musical journey! To my ears, a little Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) goes a long way. Whereas Haydn seems very staid and “by the book” to me, Bach seems busy, percussive, and, like a very rich chocolate, capable of giving me a stomach ache if I ingest too … [Read more…]
I was hooked from the first few seconds of this captivating piece of music. Some musicians, like some compositions (and some recordings), touch me immediately. Pianist Byron Janis is one of those musicians. And this is one of those compositions. And one of those recordings. The Objective Stuff For more about pianist Byron Janis (1928 … [Read more…]
After listening to yesterday’s (Day 60) compositions from Falla and Berlioz, today’s album is a breath of fresh air. And I’ve never been one of Haydn’s biggest fans. But this is filet mignon compared to yesterday’s Big Macs. Not that there’s anything wrong with Big Macs. Sometimes – especially when one is in the car, … [Read more…]
Right out of the chute, I can tell that the first composition is an opera. I didn’t know that ahead of time. But a woman is serenading me within the first two seconds of the first movement. Today’s album offers two compositions, one from Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) called El Amor Brujo and one from … [Read more…]
Ahh, Ludwig. You never let me down. Today’s album is Ludwig van Beethoven‘s Symphony No. 6, aka “Pastoral.” This gorgeous piece of music was composed between 1802 and 1808. Beethoven (1770-1827) was between the ages of 32 and 38. During the course of listening to 58 prior albums, I’ve been introduced to new composers, new … [Read more…]
This album holds the distinction of being “Fritz Reiner’s last recording with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.” According to the web site Stokowski (which includes what purports to be a complete list of Fritz Reiner and CSO concerts here), informs us that Fritz Reiner’s last performance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra occured on April 20, 1963 … [Read more…]
Another repeat performance, with the one major difference being a different pianist this time: Van Cliburn performs on Day 57 instead of Arthur Rubinstein playing on Day 14. Either way, I think of Eric Carmen’s 1975 hit “All By Myself” whenever I hear Movement II (“Adagio sostenuto”). So what am I supposed to be thinking … [Read more…]
In addition to some strange spellings and a few glaring omissions (both having to do with the album-replica CD sleeves), there’s also a fair bit of repetition going on with this Fritz Reiner box set. Case in point: Today’s performance is a repeat – 55 days later! – of the first CD in this set. … [Read more…]
Ahhh, now this is more like it. Pure, unadulterated Beethoven. I realize life requires variety, even experiencing/tasting/seeing/hearing things we don’t particularly like, just so that we’ll appreciate the things we do like. And I totally get that if all I listened to was Beethoven, I’d eventually get sick of Ludwig’s creative endeavors. As much as … [Read more…]
Today’s CD is another double – with nothing on the back cover and nothing on the gatefold inside. I put up with that before. But I’m not going to this time. There’s no excuse not to provide information – especially when I know the original album release contained an entire booklet inside the box that … [Read more…]