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…]
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…]
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…]
Full disclosure: I’m a huge fan of Arthur Rubinstein. More disclosure: I’m not a huge fan of Brahms. I could listen to Mr. Rubinstein all day long; and, in fact, I bought the Arthur Rubinstein Complete Album Collection box set in November of 2013. I paid a little over $100 for it. I just checked. … [Read more…]
This morning, my “office” is a nearby Panera, a restaurant known for its Asiago bagels, Light Roast coffee, loud-talking fellow diners, and truly awful piped-in music. The bagels require toasting twice (sometimes, they actually do that, too), the Light Roast requires that someone makes sure the urn is filled (sometimes, they actually do that, too), … [Read more…]