Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish listening to a Prokofiev piano concerto (the fourth) as played by Rudolf Serkin and conducted by George Szell – quite energetic and excellent sound, although I did not get this CD for that piece or the other filler, a loud and kind of annoying Bartok piano concerto that I’ve already nuked. No, I got it for the two Brahms piano concertos, neither of which I’d ever heard and they are just really good – beautiful tunes and Mr. Serkin plays them beautifully as Szell is always a fine conductor and then there’s that wonderful Columbia stereo sound. So, that is what I am currently doing. Prior to currently doing that I suppose I did a few other things. Let’s see how much I remember.
I remember getting eight hours of sleep, although maybe not quite that many hours due to an active brain and then waking up twice from really strange and off-putting dreams. Once up, I answered e-mails and listened to most of a new master that’s been six months in the making. I actually loved what I heard and it’s a HELL of a restoration effort, but I’d forgotten to give him the filler tracks – those are well recorded and won’t require much attention, so I should have the complete master by the weekend and then we can announce it and a show release next week. I found out Alan Jay Lerner Revisited will be in by Friday, and Ira Gershwin Revisited will be here the following Friday and I’m hoping Advise and Consent will be here, too. Then we’ll be all caught up.
I picked up some damn packages, stopped at Ralph’s and got silly stuff to eat – a couple of drumettes, a little potato salad, a turkey wrap – came home and ate all but the wrap, which I saved for later. Then I dove in and wrote the liner notes for the six months in the making CD, after which I dove in and wrote the notes for the show release, so that’s all gone to the designer who can now design.
Whilst doing all that damn writing, that endless damn writing, the hours’ worth of damn writing, I listened to some marvelously marvelous music – more from conductor Ferenc Fricsay – a great Rite of Spring and Petrouchka of Stravinsky in very good mono. Another mono Fricsay of the Tchaikovsky fourth, a great performance. And other stuff, including Arthur Benjamin’s wonderful harmonica concerto. I also ate the turkey wrap – kind of bland but it was fine. I took a hot shower, and then relaxed a bit before beginning these here notes. I also had a couple of telephonic conversations, but I really did rest my voice for most of the day, not really using it much beyond about thirty minutes overall.
Today, I’m just not sure what is happening. Surely something is happening, but I’m just not sure what it is. I’m hoping to get the remaining transition tracks for the musical, I’ll eat, hopefully pick up packages, and continue to rest my voice, then I’ll start to ease back into using it regularly, but not overdoing it. Mostly I think I might just be able to relax, although I’d sure like to finish casting the Kritzerland show. I’m just missing a gal or two now and if I can only find one I can do that.
Tomorrow I’ll do stuff during the day, and then I’m attending an opening night. Saturday I have a work session with young Peyton Kirkner, who’s doing our private reading on Tuesday – just want to go over her dialogue and teach her her tiny part in a duet so people will get the idea of how that goes. I’m doing the same with Doug’s daughter Hartley – just figuring out her timing on dialogue that happens within songs and has to be done in a certain amount of measures. Not sure what’s happening on Sunday. Then next week we do our private reading, and the following night I’m going to a Sherman Brothers event at the Academy. I’m on a nice VIP list so I get to attend the reception before and we’ll have reserved seats. There doing talking, clips, and about eight to ten songs.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, hopefully get the remaining transition tracks, eat, hopefully pick up packages, rest my voice, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite SOUNDING recordings – those records or CDs where you really sat up and took notice of how great something sounded – any genre is acceptable and tell us why you thought the sound or production was so great. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy that I remembered a few things from yesterday.