My office today is a nearby Barnes & Noble, a place I haven’t spent much time in lately because they don’t have what I like to buy: CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and books that aren’t the latest NY Times Bestseller pablum.
I used to love going to B&N when it was in its old location. Parking was easy. The CD section was huge. And it had a friendly vibe.
Once they moved to a different location, they cut their CD section by 80%, eliminated their Used Book section, and cut way back on DVDs and Blu-rays. They don’t even have a Media Department Manager any more!
Plus, the prices at B&N are full-on MSRP. Nobody pays MSRP these days – especially for CDs and DVDs. Even with the so-called B&N Membership discount of 10% they’re still higher than anywhere else on the planet. Even the occasional 15% off coupons PLUS the 10% Membership discount STILL presents a price that makes me balk.
It’s really too bad. I don’t think B&N has been managed well. They’ve botched their eBook business, for sure – starting with producing crappy eBook readers.
Plus, their belief that vinyl is going to replace CDs is shortsighted at best. Vinyl was replaced by CDs for a reason back in the 1980s. I lived through the heyday of vinyl. It was a crackly and poppy and fuzzy needley. The albums wore out. And, even at $5 or so, it was no fun to replace them. Plus, they had to be recorded to cassette to play them in the car.
I was so glad when CDs entered the market and quickly overtook vinyl as the music medium of choice.
Hipsters have no idea the drawbacks vinyl possesses. Nowadays, especially. A CD of, say, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon – according to the Barnes & Noble web site – costs $11.99. The vinyl album of DSOTM is $30.39.
Are you kidding me?!?!?
Who would pay nearly three times more for the same music – and on a medium that wears out to boot!?!?!
Vinyl albums are a crock. And the record labels know it. I think their ultimate goal is to force music buyers to streaming services and digital downloads. Once they do that – Check Mate! Game over, man. We’ll own nothing but 1s and 0s. And we could lose our music library with the first hard drive crash.
(Psst. Did I mention that it takes a barrel of crude oil to produce just 50 vinyl albums? And that doesn’t count the packaging – which uses trees at four times the rate of CDs – the plastic wrap, the fuel needed to schlep the products to the stores, etc. Vinyl is an environmental nightmare that uses precious natural resources.)
Anyway. Don’t get me started on vinyl versus CDs.
Today is all about Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink (1929- ), the London Symphony Orchestra, and Beethven’s Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major.
I first encountered Maestro Haitink on…
Day 8. Rating: Between “Meh!” and “Huzzah!” The performance lacked enthusiasm.
Day 26. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 44. Rating: “Huzzah!”
What will today bring – “Meh!”? or “Huzzah!”?
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this particular one (Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major), from this particular conductor (Haitink, at age 77) and this particular orchestra (London Symphony Orchestra), at this particular time in history (April 19-29, 2006) on this particular record label (LSO Live) is as follows:
I. Adagio – Allegro vivace…………………………………………………………………11:19
II. Adagio………………………………………………………………………………………….9:05
III. Allegro molto e vivace – Trio. Un poco meno allegro………………..5:37
IV. Allegro ma non troppo………………………………………………………………..6:47
Total running time: 32:08
My Rating:
Recording quality: 4 (SACD 5.1 multi-channel recording, rich, lush…but lacking excitement)
Overall musicianship: 4 (seemed a little “safe”)
CD liner notes: 5 (big booklet with lots of pertinent information and essays)
How does this make me feel: 4 (strangely, not engaged with the performance)
I was hoping for good things from this performance.
However, as Dread Pirate Roberts (Westley) in The Princess Bride said, “Get used to disappointment.”
Something was off about this performance and/or recording. Haitink and the LSO played it stately, reverentially, somewhat safely. I think it had to do with a lack of percussive moments. The recording seemed consumed by violins. But no real emphasis on tympani or other percussive instruments to punctuate the flow, to give the performance a kick in the ass.
I don’t even know how to explain this.
In other recordings of the Fourth I’ve heard recently, there’s a light/dark, soft/hard, quiet/exuberant feeling. From the quiet comes a big CRASH! and then the tempo picks up, or the cobwebs are shaken off and stuff gets real…and interesting.
I didn’t feel that with this recording. Even the Scherzo sounded too subdued, rather than boisterous, off the rails. No movement of the four seemed to really click, to take off, to sound anything other than by the book.
I was going to conclude this was in between “Meh!” and “Huzzah!” But after giving it 2-3 listens, I can only give it a “Meh!” rating.
I can’t recommend this performance.
NOTE: The photos on the cover of the CD sleeves are intriguing. They’re body parts. On this particular CD (which is Disc 3 in the set) is of a clenched fist. I’m not sure what LSO Live was going for with these unique CD sleeve photos. But they are noteworthy, that much I can say.