Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, writing these here liner notes whilst listening to the Dvorak Cello Concerto after having listened to the Dvorak Violin Concerto, with Isaac Stern on the fiddle and Leonard Rose on the cello, and Eugene Ormandy at the podium. Very nice performances in excellent sound. I’d really enjoyed the Previn version of the cello concerto, so I need to listen to that again to see how they compare. It was another slightly crazy day yesterday so let me just get to the important stuff like our two new releases. The first is the world premiere CD release of the 1961 off-Broadway cast recording of The Sap of Life, with a score by Maltby and Shire, their first New York show. It’s a wonderful score. There was a bootleg LP in the 1970s taken from a cassette of a cassette of a cassette, and which didn’t sound so good. The original recording was never legitimately released. Happily, at the eleventh hour, a reel-to-reel tape was located and that’s what was used for this. While the original recording wasn’t great, we had our restoration expert, Chris Malone, work on this one and he was able to get rid of some distortion that was inherent in the original and it sounds pretty excellent now. You won’t want to miss this one. New liner notes by Maltby and Shire. Here’s the cover.
And the second release is Cole Porter Volume III, one of the best of the Bagley Porter albums. Great cast, including Elaine Stritch, Dolores Gray, Helen Gallagher, Lynn Redgrave, and Georgia Engel and others, and the songs are, of course, divine. Here’s that cover.
So, hoping these do really well and actually I sent the eBlast about twenty minutes ago and some orders are already coming in. And then, Karen Staitman worked her magic on the photos from Thursday, and I chose my seven favorites of those. I’m pretty happy with the way they came out and this is coming from someone who cannot STAND looking at photos of himself. Here’s a smiley face that I like.
I never smile open mouth, but this one and another one I’ll post anon came out pretty well. This next one is nice, I think.
One more, and then maybe a couple more in the Sunday notes. Here’s another. We have a different crop of this that loses the sides, but I kind of like this wide shot.
So, I feel better than I thought would. Oh, and I’m listening to the Previn version of the Dvorak cello concerto, and I really like it better, which is interesting. It’s more refined and not quite so bombastic.
Yesterday was a bit of a day. I got about seven and a half hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, then girded my loins and went to the storage place. Neither box was where it should have been, so I had to go find one of them, as I’d brought a box from home for the other title. I was there longer than I cared to be, paid the storage bill for June, and then headed home. It’s been really hot here for the past few days, but then quite chilly in the evening.
Because she of the Evil Eye won’t be here until next week, I did the laundry – washed everything, dried everything, and put the fresh sheets on the bed and that all took some time. I did listen to music in the afternoon, including a wonderful ballet music CD, a two-CD set of John Lanchbery conducting his adaptation of Herold music for La Fille mal gardee – wonderful recording, and the companion piece was also delightful – Lecocq as arranged by Gordon Jacob for Mam’zelle Angot. Fun all the way through. Next up is The Tales of Hoffman with Cluytens conducting and Gedda, Schwarzkopf, and De Los Angeles starring. Looking forward to it.
Then I supped with Barry Pearl at The Smokehouse. It was a lovely two-hour meal. Barry had the beef stroganoff and a wedge salad, along with the small order of garlic cheese bread (I was good and didn’t have any), and I had a small Caesar and my beloved filet mignon, vegetables, with a side of bearnaise sauce. It was fantastic, as always. We gabbed a lot and realized we hadn’t seen each other in person in over a year.
After the meal, I came right home, checked out the photos, announced our two titles and the rest you know.
Today, I’ll be up by nine-thirty and to the theater for our first rehearsal. The author really wanted to come and hear his rewrite out loud, but I won’t do that to the actors. We need our time to experiment and find the piece, and then he can come and give whatever notes he may have. The rewrite is very good. It’s a two-hour rehearsal and then I may go have some food at a local eatery. After that, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, then home I go. I’ll do whatever needs doing and then I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is a ME day and I don’t care who knows it. Then this week is several rehearsals, wrapping up the casting for the reading and Kritzerland, hopefully getting a LOT of orders for our two new titles, and doing whatever needs doing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by nine-thirty, have a rehearsal, lunch, hopefully pick up packages, do whatever needs doing, then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Steaks. What are your favorite cuts, your favorite way to prepare, what sauces, if any, do you like, and where have you had your most incredible steak dinner? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, pretty happy with the way the photos came out and happy to have announced our two new titles.