Archive for April, 2009
Sometimes the Old is New
Last night I received a really fun box in the mail, a whole stack of Sony Broadway musical re-issues. Records I knew and loved as a kid—soundtracks to Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Company, A Chorus Line, Bye Bye Birdie—in slick space-saving cardboard packaging. I suspect I’ll be writing about them after listening—a thrilling, long-overdue [...]
Best of the Best: Vladimir Horowitz Edition
I had some bad information about Vladimir Horowitz, not being spectacularly familiar with his recordings (I prefer Claudio Arrau, but that’s just between us). One was that he was a heavy-handed player who opted for volume over nuance, which, as I listen to The Essential Vladimir Horowitz I discover the opposite is true. His aching [...]
Fleisher and Mozart
At my graduation, the distinguished speaker was Leon Fleisher, who was being granted an honorary doctorate that afternoon. He gave a speech, of the old standard “its-a-weird-world, you’re-on-your-own” commencement variety. But I remember thinking of his astounding trajectory—from his brilliant rise in the 40s to neurological problems that consigned him to playing with only his [...]
More on Mahler
More on Mahler
I have to confess I’ve had a pretty rough weekend. Like everyone, I think I am overworked and over-worried. Had some family time in Philadelphia, and brought along the Carnegie Hall Presents: Bernstein, Mahler box to loan to my father-in-law, an a brilliant cellist and inveterate Mahler fan. He immediately put on the [...]
Lenny’s Mahler (!)
Somewhere, from ages ago, I’ve a once-upon-a-time-purchased-with-my-first-substantive-paycheck boxed set of Leonard Bernstein’s Mahler Cycle, back when CDs were new, back when you taped things if you wanted to listen to them on the move or in your car. Somewhere, also, I probably have those well-worn tapes. Lenny, Mahler, always a perfect wedding of temperament and [...]
Best of the Best
I don’t know about you, but I tend to shy from anything called “Greatest Hits” or “Best Of” because, as a somewhat snobby purchaser of and listener to music, I feel I should go in for full statements—especially in pop music. I am that person that buys two records because he likes two songs (and, [...]