Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, finishing listening to Dvorak’s opera entitled Rusalka, which is kind of a kind of a kind of a version of The Little Mermaid with none of the fun. It does have some very beautiful music, however, and it’s performed to a T and also a V by Renee Fleming and others, conducted by Charles Mackerras. It is but one of many listening experiences I experienced yesterday. So, let me tell you about those because why shouldn’t I tell you about those? First up was an album called Music for the Stage by one Engelbert Humperdinck, a lovely mostly orchestral album filled with lovely tunes and lovely orchestrations. It shows he was definitely not a one-trick pony or even a two-trick orangutan. I enjoyed that thoroughly. Then we moved on to two Decca Entartete CDs – the first was by Viktor Ullmann, a one-act opera called Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Mr. Ullman led a short, unhappy life – he was in a concentration camp when he wrote this opera, and directly after he was sent to another camp where he was put to death. Because of this recording, there have been several productions (available to watch on the Tube of You, and astonishingly, two other recordings. Even though the Der Kaiser character is a satire of Hitler, the opera is not a laugh riot – it’s got moments of sad beauty, but it’s also got a bit of friendly dissonance to it, as it should. It’s performed very well, but I suspect it will take a couple more hearings to get used to it, although I certainly liked it. I’m going to watch one of the performances, too. Then I moved on to Hanns Eisler’s Deutsche Sinfonie, which has some poetry by Bertolt Brecht in it. I’m not a fan of Eisler’s film music (he did Fritz Lang’s Hangmen Must Die and wrote a discarded score to John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath). The Deutsche Sinfonie is probably my least favorite in this Entartete series – it’s got plenty of bombast and wears its politics on its musical sleeve – it’s certainly listenable and I didn’t hate it or anything, but it’s not one I’ll come back to much. Then it was volume two of Ute Lemper singing Kurt Weill, and that I loved – songs from Happy End and Lady in the Dark and more, when Ute was in her prime. As with all the Mauceri recordings, mastered too low, and a bit distant sounding. But I really enjoyed it, top to bottom. Then it was on to Rusalka, which took up most of the evening due to its almost three-hour length. It could certainly stand to be fifteen minutes shorter. It’s got about twelve minutes left, and then I move on to Janacek’s The Excursions of Mr. Broucek, of which I know nothing, the ENO/JAY recording of Street Scene, and a piano concerto of Kurt Atterberg. Yes, mostly it was the music of the day and the music of the night.
Yesterday was a Monday, that much I can tell you. I got eight hours of sleep and once up I answered e-mails and because it was pouring down rain, I cancelled the little visit that was to happen at three – it was a long drive for the visitor, and I deemed it too dangerous. Thankfully, the motor car started right up and I went to the mail place and picked up quite a few little packages, several of them really late deliveries. I’m still waiting on four packages that have been sitting in various hubs for three weeks now, one of them close to four weeks. Have I mentioned that Mr. deJoy has brought not a jot of de joy of the holidays to anyone, thanks to his ridiculous and amateurish shenanigans? Then I went to Gelson’s and got the enchilada thing and nothing more. I came home, heated up the enchilada thing and ate it all up – it wasn’t as good as the first time, but I liked it okay. Then began the long and winding listening experiences. I didn’t take many time outs, either – I took one time out to deal with some project one stuff, which involved listening and making some notes and then chatting with one of our performers. Have I mentioned that there are performers involved in project one? There are – mainly two, with a small turn for a third performer of a young age. Then I had a garlic cheese bread thing, a frozen thing I had in the freezer, which is where I keep frozen things. This was a two-pack and I’d had one the night before and liked it, and I liked it all over again. And the rest you know.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll pray the motor car starts, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat something light but fun, I’ll do some project one listening, I’m sure, and then I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is more of the same. On Thursday, I may take the motor car in, or maybe I’ll do that tomorrow, to see if they can figure out what’s what and get it fixed. Then we’ll have our annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Bash right here at haineshisway.com, and then we’ll ring in a brand New Year and we will pray for light and sanity and plenty of ‘em.
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, do whatever needs doing, pray the motor car starts, hopefully pick up packages, eat, do some project one stuff, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your favorite food experiences during 2020, especially during the pandemic? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have enjoyed the music of the day and the music of the night.