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…]
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…]
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…]
Tonight’s album is Unfinished Symphony and Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat by Franz Schubert (1787-1828). So, I figured that this august recording deserved a tasty accompaniment: an ice-cold Schlitz, for example, one of the few remaining beers from the good old days when men were men and beer was beer. Schlitz – like Stroh’s, Carling … [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…]
I knew it was going to come to this, sooner or later. The Nutcracker. The most notoriously kid-friendly, syrup-sweet, Christmas-themed composition in the history of compositions has taken refuge in my earphones today. I took my wife to The Nutcracker ballet once, about 15 years ago. She told me that it was her favorite Christmas … [Read more…]
Everybody knows the name Van Cliburn (1934-2013). I knew it decades ago, even while I was listening to The Monkees. So when it popped up in today’s rotation, I was thrilled. Strangely, in all of my knowing the name Van Cliburn, I don’t recall ever hearing him play. Today’s the day I will rectify that … [Read more…]
I decided I needed a change of pace from my usual listening post of nut-squeezing, piped-in music and, thus, chose a local food store that also features a large dining area and a kiosk that serves famous caffeinated brews (hint: it’s named after “the scrupulous and steadfast first mate of the Pequod,” in Herman Melville’s … [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…]