Well, dear readers, it’s been a long, been a long, been a long, been a long day. What am I, J. Pierpont Finch or something? That’s a little musical theater reference for those who might not know what the HELL I’m going on about. Right now, I’m going on about the magical music of Franz Schreker, who I’ve mentioned over the last few days – I’ve loved his music since discovering him in the 1980s and, as you know, I’ve now heard one of his operas, which is what he’s really known for, and I absolutely loved it. Right now, I’m listening to his orchestral music and it’s just fantastic. I got one CD of instrumental music from his operas, and one with concert pieces and a few repeats from the other album. One is on BIS and one on Chandos (there are two volumes on Chandos but I don’t think I’ll get the other one as it has the opera interludes I have on the BIS CD. The BIS sounds better and is an SACD hybrid to boot. The Chandos sound has never really been to my liking, but this one’s at least decent for most of it. But that music – think Korngold and you’ll have an idea of the melodic lushness. I also have two more operas to listen to. And prior to that, I listened with great interest to the Hansel and Gretel recording with two young teens in the leads and some children singing a couple of the other roles. It’s really interesting and I enjoyed it on a certain level – it’s simply very different than any other recording because the two young teens obviously don’t have the vocal abilities (yet) of an older opera singer. But it’s kind of fun hearing the young voices and they have good energy, too. I enjoyed it for what it was, but the thing I really couldn’t get past were the weird orchestral balances – with the strings all bunched together center to a little right of center (why?), and some instruments so far to the extreme left or right of the stereo stage that it’s just wacko. In the opening music, there’s a trombone way over on the left playing his part like it’s a solo – just weird blends. It gets a little less weird as it goes along, but in the end I’m glad I heard it but it’s probably not one I’ll listen to often, whereas I’ve already listened to the brilliant Eichhorn recording three times. Thus far, that one is the gold standard for me. But von Karajan is on its way and so is the Met production on video, so we’ll see how I like those. Otherwise, I’m just relaxing and trying to get everything done, as I have to be up by nine-thirty for my eleven o’clock rehearsal today.
Yesterday was a long day. I did get a little over eight hours of sleep, so that was good, but once up it was non-stop stuff until mid-evening. I answered e-mails, had to make some new recordings for the charts thing – just trying to sing accurate notes and timings, because it’s hard for me to play this stuff and sing precisely without taking liberties. I went to the mail place and picked up a few packages and came right home. Then I did a forty-five-minute interview with our very own Donald Feltham – we did it on Zoom, but it only goes out on the radio show as audio, so I really didn’t need to shave and shower, which I had. After that, I ordered food and while waiting for it to arrive I did some stuff that needed doing, mostly on the computer.
Then the food arrived – California Chicken Café – and I was surprised to see more food than I actually ordered. I got what I usually get – one-quarter chicken, all white – so a breast and a wing (they gave me two wings, which they occasionally do), a thing of barbecue sauce, and a side of chicken pasta salad, which I save for later. But there was an extra container with a sticker on it that read “With our compliments” – maybe it’s because I order from there so much. In that container was a leg and thigh, but I don’t care for dark meat. I had a couple of bites just to make sure I still didn’t care for dark meat, and I don’t. After that, I listened to music whilst doing stuff on the computer, and then I had that Zoom production meeting, which lasted about forty-minutes, I’d guess. After that, I did a little more recording at the piano, then finally just listened to more music, including the two orchestral Schreker albums. And as I type these here notes, I’m listening to the beginning of his opera Die Gezeichneten (The Drawn – I have no idea what that means). The opening music, about ten-minutes long, is amazing, so I’m looking forward to the rest.
Today, I’ll be up by nine-thirty, do whatever needs doing, then I’ll mosey on over to the theater and rehearse – we’ll run the entire play twice, which should only take thirty minutes or so, I’ll only give really minor notes if I have any, and then the actors can go learn the play. I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat, I need to have two telephonic conversations regarding the shoot – one with the cameraman and one with the lighting designer and I’m hoping to have them in the afternoon. I’ll work on project two and I’m hoping to see two more charts for project one. The gal who’s helping out has agreed to do the rest of them – it’s not really that many after the two she’s doing – five, I think, but two of the five are really simple and short. I’ll finesse my commentary and then at some point I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, is more of the same and then Thursday is Thanksgiving and I’m hoping I can find somewhere where I can get a turkey dinner delivered. I think if Marie Callender’s is open that that might be a possibility because I think it’s on their regular menu. Then we get a nice long weekend, some of which will be used for planning our shoot, but mostly I really just want to work on project two and get the rest of the charts done and to Richard, so he can start orchestrating.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by nine-thirty, do whatever needs doing, have a short rehearsal, hopefully pick up packages, eat, hopefully have two telephonic conversations, work on project two, hopefully see a chart or two, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Does anyone here actually listen to this site’s The Broadway Radio Hour, which has been running here since 2001? It’s a wonderful show, and because of the pandemic Donald’s been having great guests, most recently, Maury Yeston. So, if you don’t listen, how come? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after it’s been a long, been a long, been a long, been a long day.