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…]
This is just the kind of music I needed this morning to broom the cobwebs out of my mind. Well, a better verb would be jackhammering. Because some of this is really, really loud and busy. On second thought, maybe I’d better turn down the volume a little. I’d like to leave few cobwebs behind … [Read more…]
It’s funny how a person associated with someone negative can taint the person. Sort of like the old saying, “one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.” When it comes to Richard Wagner (1813-1883), his antisemitism and, later, musical appropriation by Hitler sort of taints everything for me. Whereas some of these composers made me … [Read more…]
Today brings another musical discovery for me. I’d never heard of Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) before this morning. Therefore, I’d never heard of these two compositions – Pines of Rome and Fountains of Rome – either. But I’m hearing one of them (Pines of Rome) as I type these words. And it’s not bad. Not generally, … [Read more…]
The spelling of Sergei’s name on this Frtiz Reiner Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Complete RCA Album Collection box set is starting to bug me. Nowhere else do I find his last name spelled “Prokofieff.” It’s always “Prokofiev.” What’s up with that? I first noted this discrepancy on Day 22. His name on the album cover … [Read more…]
Ahhh. This is more like it. Not even Van Morrison’s unique voice (also an acquired taste) could rattle me as I walked into the bagel-and-coffee restaurant this morning to purchase my usual Asiago bagel (toasted twice!) with plain cream cheese and a mug of Light Roast coffee. (It’s so usual that the person at the … [Read more…]
If I didn’t like these Asiago bagels (toasted twice!) with plain cream cheese and this bottomless Light Roast coffee so much, and if this particular eatery didn’t open at 6am, I’d pick another listening station for my daily adventure through the Fritz Reiner box set. Alas. Here I am again. What I don’t particularly care … [Read more…]
Now this is more like it: Beethoven. I’m a huge fan of Ludwig’s. In fact, my top three Classical composers are Bruckner, Beethoven, and Mozart – in that order. (Or, maybe Ludwig and Anton are tied for first. I can’t tell. Both offer some of the greatest music I’ve ever heard in my life.) Whatever. … [Read more…]
On this rainy, muggy Thursday morning in July, I’m at my usual spot at the local eatery – the one that features god-awful music, Light Roast coffee, and an Asiago Bagel (toasted twice!) with plain cream cheese – this time listening to Antonín Dvořák New World Symphony. It’s not bad. All of it. Even the … [Read more…]
Great. Just what I needed when I already had a case of the Mondays (on a Tuesday, no less): a “solemn” or “emotive” symphony. What I really need to get my peepers to stay open is Grand Funk Railroad’s We’re An American Band, or Frank Zappa’s Roxy & Elsewhere, or Dream Theater’s Images and Words … [Read more…]