Day 158: Symphony No. 9 in D minor (Monteux)

My listening post this morning, Christmas morning, is in front of the tree (now laden with presents to be unwrapped later today), with our cat sitting, ludicrously, in the middle of the floor, and the 1947 holiday movie The Bishop’s Wife on in the background. The Bishop’s Wife is a classic through and through. It … [Read more…]

Day 140: Symphony No. 8 in F major (Monteux)

My listening post this morning is way early – somewhere around 5am – with an episode of The Andy Griffith Show as background. The Andy G. episode is called “Andy and the New Mayor,” and it first aired on October 15, 1962. For my money, there’s no finer character ever written for TV than Barney … [Read more…]

Day 14: Symphony No. 1 in C Major (Monteux)

This morning’s conductor of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C Major is a fellow I had never heard of before, Frenchman (Pierre Monteux), on an Italian record label I’d never heard of before (Memories Reverence). And those two reasons are precisely why I chose this no-frills box set. And I do mean no frills. There … [Read more…]