Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening, as I have been all afternoon and evening, to the box set of Eugene Ormandy, The Columbia Stereo Years 1957-1963, 88 CDs. Of course, there’ll be another box coming of the rest of the Columbia years, from 1964-1968. The question is, will the next set also include his RCA recordings that came after? Meanwhile, I was gifted this wonderful big ol’ box because I did a couple of favors for someone. The box that preceded this, the mono years, was around 130 CDs or some crazy number like that. That was one of my favorite releases and a real treasure trove. Getting these into the computer to listen to is a bit of an ordeal – the CD drive only works on my laptop, so I have to use a hard drive, get everything on the hard drive and then from there get it into Music. The good news is that whenever I get a new computer, the drive will work and I can cut out all those stupid, unnecessary steps. Of course, who knows when I’ll be getting a new computer? So far, I’ve listened to the first five discs and disc six has just begun, some Liszt and Enescu well-known rhapsodies. Disc one was all Respighi – Pines of Rome, Fountains of Rome, and Feste Romane. Beautiful sound and performances. Then came Ferde Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite, but it’s not the 1958 release – they accidentally used his later recording from 1968, so there doing a replacement for that one and I’ve already written to request one. Then came a fantastic performance of Prokofiev’s fifth symphony. Then the famous Grieg piano concerto coupled with Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, both wonderfully played by Phillipe Entremont. Then marvelous performances of the Sibelius second and seventh symphony. Earlier I’d uploaded ten CDs, and I’m just about finished with the second ten. As most know, I have always been a huge Ormandy fan and champion. For years, it was all the rage for snobby classical aesthetes to look down their snobby noses at Ormandy, who they considered to be “workmanlike” and no more. But as these things go, they’ve suddenly and sheepishly now have to admit that he was a great conductor who just happened to be the most popular classical conductor during his Columbia years, with many hit recordings and a huge catalogue. I don’t believe anyone back then recorded more albums than Ormandy. And when you add the magnificent Philadelphia Orchestra, well, it’s just magical, that’s all there is to it. And that early Columbia stereo sound is as astonishing today as it was back then. The warmth, the detail, the aliveness is simply breathtaking. Many people’s introduction to classical music was through Ormandy’s recording – certainly mine was and so was Benjamin Kritzer’s. The first classical recording I ever owned was Ormandy doing The Moldau and other selections, a monophonic recording. I bought a LOT of Ormandy after that and I always knew that the quality would be great. He also championed American composers and he also premiered many pieces. This is going to be a boatload of pleasurable listening. Next up is Norman Dello Joio’s TV score to Air Power, one of my favorite albums, which also includes two great John Vincent pieces. Best of all, all these albums have been remastered and sound amazing.
I got up at ten-thirty after eight hours of sleep. I was surprised not to have an e-mail from the check-in gal at the publishers, but she got in around two and called and said all was well and that it had gone where it needed to go, and she was sure it would get to the design team shortly. I knew too much of the day was gone for that to happen yesterday, so hopefully by the time I arise it will have gone to the design team and from there things tend to move pretty quickly. Since I had some chicken left, I made the faux chicken stroganoff again, but this time over penne pasta – it’s better with rice. Still, it was very tasty. I answered a few e-mails (actually, I had almost no e-mails the entire day and night, not even spam – very unusual). I didn’t watch anything, of course. And before making the food, I picked up the surprise box containing the Ormandy. I had a few telephonic conversations, tried to begin writing again, but my eyeballs were just too wonky. I’ll try again today.
Today, I’ll be up by ten-thirty or thereabouts, I’ll do whatever needs doing, hopefully the book will have already gone to the design team, I’ll figure out what to do for food (I’ll probably order in), I’ll write, and then I’ll continue listening to these fantastic recordings.
Tomorrow is the dinner with the Pearls, then the rest of the week is writing, hopefully getting a galley and covers to approve, meetings and meals and then I may see a show over the weekend, although until I get the eyeball issue fixed, I’m not sure how feasible that will be.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by ten-thirty or thereabouts, do whatever needs doing, hope that the book has gone to the design team, eat, write, and then listen to more Ormandy stereo recordings. Today’s topic of discussion: I know we’ve done it before, but not in quite a while – what was the first classical piece you heard, and which were the first classical recordings you purchased and who were your favorite conductors and artists when you were young? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to be back in Ormandy land.