My office today is Red Hot Inn, legendary purveyors of some of the best chili dogs you’ll ever eat.
An order of fries and an ice-cold root beer are the perfect toppers to a meal that will surely give me heartburn later on.
Oh, not because the food isn’t good. It’s great. I’ve been eating it since I was a teenager, some 40 years ago. Back then, no food had an adverse effect on me. I remember eating burritos and tacos at 11:30pm just before bed – with no ill effects. Ditto for my nights of beer and Doritos with French Onion chip dip at 3:00 in the morning.
It wasn’t until I found myself in my 50s that I discovered my stomach wasn’t what it used to be. Acid reflux became a very real threat, nearly to my life. After a life-changing wake-up call, I cut way back on the greasy fried foods and eating at night.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy chili dogs at 11:30am, right?
Okay. I’m ashamed to admit that I was so looking forward to hearing Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) interpret Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor that I forgot the alphabet: Barenboim comes before Bernstein.
I only discovered my error after posting the days in which I’d previously experienced Maestro Bernstein’s interpretations. I noticed that I first listened to Maestro Bernstein on Day 3, which meant there was a Day 2 unaccounted for…Daniel Barenboim.
D’oh!
Rather than post this blog entry tomorrow as if I made no mistake, I’m going to eat my chili dogs, listen to Lenny today, and leave my mistake intact. I’ll listen to Daniel Barenboim tomorrow in place of Leonard Bernstein.
It’s all good.
I’ve enjoyed Leonard Bernstein four other times in this Beethoven project, on…
Day 3. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 21. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 39. Rating: “Huzzah!”
Day 57. Rating: “Huzzah!”
So what will today bring?
As soon as I finish my dogs (because I can’t eat a chili dog and type at the same time), I’ll let you know.
Beethoven wrote his symphonies in four parts (except for the Sixth, which is in five). The time breakdown of this particular one (Symphony No. 5 in C minor), from this particular conductor (Bernstein, at age 59) and this particular orchestra (Wiener Philharmoniker), at this particular time in history (September, 1977) on this particular record label (Deutsche Grammophon) is as follows:
I. Allegro con brio (C minor)………………………………………………………8:38
II. Andante con moto (A♭ major)……………………………………………10:20
III. Scherzo: Allegro (C minor)……………………………………………………5:23
IV. Allegro (C major)…………………………………………………………………11:16
Total running time: 35:37
My Rating:
Recording quality: 5 (crisp, clear, lots of top end)
Overall musicianship: 5
CD liner notes: 4 (intro by Bernstein, only one English essay – but a darn good one)
How does this make me feel: 5 (“Huzzah!”)
Just as I suspected, this is a superb performance of Beethoven’s Fifth.
And now, in Bernstein’s hands, I can hear the Scherzo: Allegro in all its glory. I know why I was so taken by it years ago when I first listened to Beethoven’s symphonies (once through, by one conductor, during my Beethoven project that required me to listen to everything he composed).
The Scherzo (Movement III), is clever, compelling, and a delightful follow-up movement to the slower second.
Also, Movement I seems to have the proper tempo. It’s ponderous without being morbid. The opening eight notes (the most famous in Classical music) seem to have their rightful weight.
The instruments are well recorded. The musicians sound inspired.
This is an exceptional recording of a powerful performance.
“Huzzah!”
Here, let me wipe the chili sauce off my hands so I can get to my keyboard with more efficiency.
‘HUZZAH!”
Highly recommended.
Finally, here’s an episode from the 1950s TV series Omnibus of Leonard Bernstein discussing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor. This is a wonderful documentar, about 30 minutes long. Well worth watching.