My listening post today is overlooking the lake on a bleak, cold, snowy early November. The temperature is 28° (that’s -2°C to all my overseas friends). It may not be the coldest November in Michigan history. But it ranks right up there. This winter is going to be a bitch. Thankfully, it’s the perfect day … [Read more…]
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 … [Read more…]
In this Beethoven project, I first encountered Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink (1929- ) on Day 8, and then again on Day 26. On those two days – as it will be for the next six times I hear Haitink conduct – the orchestra is the London Symphony Orchestra. The back of the liner notes tells … [Read more…]
This morning, as I munch on my Asiago bagel (toasted dark!) with plain cream cheese, and sip my quickly cooling Light Roast coffee at a restaurant-chain-that-must-not-be-named, I listen to Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink wave his baton before the London Symphony Orchestra, inwardly smiling smugly to myself knowing that I will be ticking off an item … [Read more…]
I like Bernard Haitink. A lot. I remember Amsterdam-born Maestro Haitink (1929- ) from my Bruckner projects a year or so ago (see My Year-Long Project page). That’s why I chose him for my Beethoven project. There was something about Haitink that stood out from almost all other conductors to which I listened. Could have … [Read more…]