As I might have mentioned before, I’m not really a fan of Brahms. I realize his one of the big B composers (Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms). But I’m not that fond of Bach, either. So there. For a Living Stereo recording, this sounds unusually flat. Maybe my ears are getting old (and why not? since … [Read more…]
It’s a beautiful morning here in West Michigan. Temperature is a delightful 70 degrees under sunny skies and a relatively low humidity of 77%. By all accounts, it’s perfect. So, I decided to make the screened-in porch my office this morning. (Who wouldn’t?) My Sands Hotel Casino mug is beside me, as is the unmistakable … [Read more…]
I’m surprised and pleased! This morning’s CD is much more enjoyable than yesterday’s. The performances sound better to me. At least, they’re more robust than what I heard yesterday. Woo-hoo! There are a couple of items from Kenneth Morgan’s book Fritz Reiner Maestro & Martinet that I’d like to mention. First, this from page 214: … [Read more…]
Now this is more like it. Whenever I think of Classical music, I think of composers from the Classical period – Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, et al. Also, I think of Anton Bruckner, who straddled Classical and Romantic, but whose symphonies (to me) seem more Classical than Romantic in their construction. Essentially, I think of composers … [Read more…]
I’m not sure I can express how little I cared for this performance. I was bored from the first five minutes, and I didn’t hear an exciting note thereafter. Whatever this piece of music is (another one of Strauss’ “Tone Poems,” from that I gather), I didn’t get it. Some composers resonate with me. Deeply. … [Read more…]
I’m listening to a pianist today that I hadn’t heard of before: Byron Janis (1928 – ). Mr. Janis recently celebrated his 93rd birthday! He’s considered one of the great pianists of the 20th century. At one point, according to his entry on Wikipedia, he was even a student of famed Russian pianist Vladimir Horowitz. … [Read more…]
Okay. I’ll admit it. When I saw that today’s composer was Tchaikovsky, I cringed. Just a little. I’ve encountered Pyotr twice before in my Fritz Reiner project: Day 7, with his Piano Concerto No. 1, and Day 13, with his 1812 Overture In my first encounter, I compared Tchaikovsky to Swedish heavy metal guitarist Yngwie … [Read more…]
This morning’s fare is a hodgepodge of music from four different composers: Johan Strauss II, Carl Maria Weber, Josef Strauss, and Richard Strauss. The overall theme is Vienna. Since I’m not really a fan of Strauss, nor of waltzes as a general rule, I’m not sure I’ll dig today’s CD. But I’m a trooper. I’ll … [Read more…]
Arthur Rubinstein could play chopsticks and I’d sit up and take notice. I’ve developed a keen interest in Rachmaninoff thanks to this set of Fritz Reiner CDs. I never gave the Russian composer a second thought prior to this. But now I’m intrigued, hooked by Rachmaninoff’s ability to write multi-layered music, usually featuring complex piano … [Read more…]
The first thing I thought when I heard the second movement (Adagio Sostenuto) of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 was, “Gee, this sounds an awful lot like Eric Carmen‘s 1975 song “All By Myself.” So I looked up Carmen’s hit song and, sure enough, discovered Carmen lifted the melody from Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concert No. 2 … [Read more…]