Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to the final few minutes of the Mahler second – yes, a piece of Mahler’s – as performed by Mr. Bruno Walter with the New York Philharmonic in glorious stereophonic sound from 1957. Mr. Walter was, of course, close personal friends with Mr. Mahler and I love each and every one of his Mahler recordings, whether mono or stereo. One only wishes he’d recorded the sixth and seventh and third and eighth. But we have the first, second, fourth, fifth, and ninth to be grateful for. This recording of the second is my absolute favorite out of all I’ve heard and I’ve heard a lot. Obviously, it’s time to do my every couple of years journey through the pieces of Mahler’s. There are worse things to do than listen to the music of Mahler. Walter’s first symphony and his ninth, especially, are personal favorites and best any other recordings, in my opinion. Mr. David Hurwitz often pontificates on the symphonies of Mr. Mahler and some of his choices are, for me, head scratchers, but that’s what makes horse racing. I do have favorite versions of each symphony and I also have at least a couple of favorite versions of each symphony, sometimes more than a couple, sometimes a lot, with each offering a different listening experience. As to the unfinished tenth, finished by several different people, the very first recording of the Derek Cooke version is still and always will be my favorite – by Mr. Ormandy, whose performance with the Philadelphians is brilliant. And what music Mahler made. He had his own sound world and discovering his music in the early 1970s via Mr. Bernstein’s recordings with the New York Philharmonic was a breathtaking thing. I do enjoy all of Mr. Bernstein’s first recordings and emphatically do NOT enjoy his later versions on Deutsche Grammophon, which I find ponderous and overwrought and of course Mr. Hurwitz raves about many of them, especially the sixth, which, for me, is just not so hot. The sixth is my favorite Mahler symphony. There are many fine versions out – Mr. Mitropoulos in mono on Columbia, Mr. Bernstein’s on Columbia – I never loved it until I heard the new Japanese SACD version, which is spectacular. In any case, Walter was a master Mahlerist and I believe his recording of the ninth to be one of the all-time great recordings – I think it was one of his last recordings when he was in his eighties. And this Resurrection symphony two, well, you’ll feel like you ARE resurrected, and the 1957 Columbia stereo sound is pretty damn amazing. I have the big ol’ Bruno Walter Columbia recordings box, which was worth every penny and is still available. I believe all his Mahler recordings are available in superb Japanese editions that use the box set masterings. Highly recommended by the likes of me.

Yesterday was weirdly weird as days go. I got six hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, e-mails answered me, I ordered some Uptown Mac and Cheese from Granville, which was, as it always is, excellent. It’s got cubes of chicken, peas, and asparagus in it with a kind of au gratin topping. I felt very lethargic, had a few telephonic calls, didn’t have a Zoom thing with David Wechter, didn’t call the mail place, didn’t do the Mambo from West Side Story, didn’t sing the hit songs from Whoop-Up, but did finally sit on my couch like so much fish, dozing every now and then whilst watching irritating YouTube videos. With what is currently going on in the world, there’s nothing BUT irritating videos. The only non-irritating video I saw was part of a To Tell the Truth episode, with the panel trying to guess the identity of the real Polish gentleman, who was a spy for the United States and who sought asylum and was granted it – in Poland they issued a death sentence for him. All three people had bags over their heads. The panelists were Tom Poston, Peggy Cass, Art James, and Kitty Carlisle. They all asked really good questions and they all guessed number three. But it wasn’t number three – it was number one, who did not remove the bag from his head for obvious reasons. Number two removed his bag and it was a Krushchev look-a-like – very funny. And number three – the one everyone guessed? In a surprise of surprises, it turned out to be Henry Morgan, a regular panelist on I’ve Got a Secret and frequent guest panelist on To Tell the Truth. It was a lot of fun unlike all the other irritating videos I’d seen.

Then, when I was passing by the bedroom, I decided to plop myself onto the bed and decided to rest for thirty minutes. I woke up two hours later, too late to watch a motion picture. So, I began listening to Mahler and had some matzos with whipped butter for snacks. I almost ordered a burger but I figured the matzos were here and much less calories than a burger. I also had one of those little pudding cups, despite not having any whipped cream in the house.

Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll definitely take a trip to Gelson’s for some Diet Coke and I’ll either get some hot dogs and buns or tuna and rolls or a cube steak and baked potato, and some Challenge butter, because I really only like the whipped butter for baked potatoes. By the way, potatoes don’t really have toes, just in case you were confused. Certainly, I was confused, but what else is new?  I’ll eat whatever I decide on, I’ll definitely call the mail place and if something is there, I’ll pick it up on Saturday on my way to dine with the Pearls. I’m sure I’ll have at least a conversation with David Wechter, and then at some point I’ll watch, listen, and relax.

Tomorrow, I’ll just relax until it’s time to go have the early dinner with the Pearls and on the way I’ll pick up whatever’s at the mail place. Sunday can be a ME day, and then next week is very busy.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, go to Gelson’s and get Diet Coke and food, I’ll eat said food, I’ll call the mail place, I’ll have a conversation with David Wechter, and then I can watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray/streaming player? I’ll start – more Mahler, and I have no idea. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to be hearing a piece of Mahler’s by Mahler’s close personal friend, Bruno Walter.