I don’t really have a listening post this evening. Well, I do. But it’s the same as they have been for awhile. So why subject anyone else to my rut? I’m just listening to German conductor Gunter Wand (1912-2002), North German Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor. I’ve encountered Maestro … [Read more…]
My listening post this evening is in front of the TV, the Christmas tree (sans presents), and with an egg nog laced with Captain Morgan Rum beside me. On the TV is the series Blue Bloods, starring the one and only Tom Selleck (who will forever be Magnum, P.I to me), as Police Commissioner Frank … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning is with a cup of coffee from Bagel Beanery to my left, just above a gingerbread cookie (which my wife bakes to perfection and is known far and wide for her skill), a twinkling Christmas tree before me, and a copy of John Ardoin’s indispensable book The Furtwangler Record to … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning is with one of the most famous episodes of The Andy Griffith Show in the background: “Opie the Birdman” (Season Four, Episode One). If you ever get a chance to watch “Opie the Birdman,” do it. The last line of dialogue is one of the most famous – and poignant … [Read more…]
My listening post today is a local Barnes & Noble bookstore. For being 2pm, this place is surprisingly busy. We have a couple of hours before we go next door to the theater to watch the documentary Maria By Callas, a documentary about (arguably) the most famous female opera singer of the past 100 years. … [Read more…]
My listening post this morning is the Restaurant-Chain-That-Must-Not-Be-Named where two tables tables of self-important guys chat with unusually loud voices such that I can hear literally from across the room. But that’s okay. In my ears is Italian conductor Claudio Abbado (1933-2014), Berliner Philharmoniker, and the last symphony of my 162-day Beethoven project – Beethoven’s … [Read more…]