I arose this morning, feeling a bit groggy and unsure about plopping my butt in a chair at the local eatery to which I hie myself at 6am most mornings, but then I looked at what today’s musical fare would be (whatever it was would surely beat what the local eatery would be playing over … [Read more…]
Now this is more like it. As I’ve mentioned, several years ago (July 21, 2018 – December 29, 2018, to be precise) I spent 162 Days with Beethoven “Evaluating Symphonies 1-9 from 18 CD Box Sets.” (Famed conductor Herbert von Karajan was in there twice, with two different box sets. If memory serves, he recorded … [Read more…]
Richard Strauss again. This project of listening to the 63-CD Fritz Reiner box set is good for me. I wouldn’t normally listening to Bartok or Strauss or Tchaikovsky were it not for this project. So I’m being exposed to different composers. Whether I like them or not. And, I must admit, I haven’t liked Richard … [Read more…]
There’s a funny scene in the classic movie Raiders of the Lost Ark in which Indy has just run away from his arch nemesis Belloq and a tribe of bloodthirsty natives. Making his way through a dense jungle, he barely makes it to the sea plane waiting for him in the river. He grabs hold … [Read more…]
I admit it: I don’t get Bartok. Oh, I can read who he was and what he accomplished. And I, like many others, am impressed by his credentials. In fact, to be honest, I just learned from his entry on Wikipedia things about him that I didn’t know: Béla Viktor János Bartók; 25 March 1881 … [Read more…]
My listening post today for two Mozart compositions is, actually, tonight. I didn’t get around to listening this morning because I just wanted to sit in a restaurant and eat, not eat while listening to music and writing. Sue me. As it turns out, it’s a good thing I didn’t decide to listen to the … [Read more…]
I cannot even begin to tell you how much I dislike the opening to Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Whenever I hear it, I immediately think of hokey music sold on TV, or played – in an appropriately flamboyant manner, with exaggerated hand movements and the use of way too many notes – by third-rate … [Read more…]
This morning, I return to Brahms, one of my least favorite Classical composers (second only to Haydn as composers I just didn’t get), although this time I am treated to the debut (to my ears, anyway) of Jascha Heifetz, widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest violinists. From his entry on Wikipedia: Jascha Heifetz … [Read more…]
Today’s listening fare is Beethoven’s Eroica (Symphony in E-Flat, Op. 55). Three years ago, I spent five and a half months (162 Days) listening to all nine of Beethoven’s symphonies, as interpreted by 17 different conductors (Herbert von Karajan appears twice) in 18 CD box sets. So I’m relatively familiar with Symphony No. 3. To … [Read more…]
Now, today’s listening fare is an interesting pairing: Rolf Liebermann’s Concerto for Jazz Band and Symphony Orchestra and Richard Strauss’ Don Juan. And what I find is a really big hoot is the copy on the back of the album. Headline (in big, bold letters): Long Hairs, Hepcats – Dig That Crazy Combo. Hepcats? Setting … [Read more…]