Day 60: Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major (Cluytens)

My listening post this morning is a Bob Evans Restaurant. In Fort Wayne, Indiana. I figured a change of pace would do me good. Not really. I’m here on business. So here I sit, eating a Homestead breakfast (love the sausage gravy and biscuits!), being waited on by a very nice lady named Antonia who … [Read more…]

Day 59: Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major (Bohm)

My listening post today is my happy place – the second floor of the local library. Here, I can survey the landscape and think thoughts as big as the vista before me. It’s the perfect setting for listening to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major as rendered by Austrian conductor Karl Bohm (1894-1981) … [Read more…]

Day 58: Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major (Blomstedt)

This morning, as I wait to meet up with my mom and brother for breakfast, I find myself sitting in a Tim Horton’s restaurant sipping coffee and eating a Boston Creme donut. Both are delicious. Just what I needed to start my morning. Well, that and conductor Herbert Blomstedt (1927- ), my wife, Staatskapelle Dresden, … [Read more…]

Day 57: Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major (Bernstein)

My office this morning overlooks the lake. The temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit. There is a slight breeze out of the East. I’m sipping a Breakfast Blend coffee from Bagel Beanery, munching on Dry Roasted & Salted Almonds from Trader Joe’s, and pondering why in the hell I like Leonard Bernstein’s performances so much. I … [Read more…]

Day 55: Symphony No. 4 in B flat Major (Abbado)

My office this morning is the one and only Chick-fil-A, a restaurant chain run so well, so politely, serving such delicious food that it ought to be a crime to not eat here. Today starts a whole new cycle of Beethoven’s symphonies for me, which means I’m back to the “A” in my conductor roster: … [Read more…]