Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to the wonderful second symphony of Randall Thompson, certainly in the pantheon of great American symphonies, and certainly this symphony is amongst the best American symphonies ever written. We issued what I believe was its first recording back in the Bay Cities days, but that was mono – a good performance in mediocre sound no matter how hard we tried to fix it. I’m currently listening to the classic Leonard Bernstein recording, which doesn’t find the New York Philharmonic on its best day, and a rare not great-sounding Columbia recording – I wonder if it’s been remastered since this old CD version? But the fact is, Columbia’s glory days, stereo-wise, were past at that point and the producer of the album was one Thomas Z. Shepherd. The CD version just sounds fuzzy, tubby, and muddy. Who knows if it’s the first-generation tapes – I doubt it. But it’s still a classic. I also have a few other versions – the best sounding of them is conducted by Neemi Jarvi – a bit fast and facile but it sure sounds great. That one’s on Chandos. I’m still looking for the perfect recording, which I’m not sure we’ve had yet, although I do have to hear one more. The worst of them is on Koch. I have the Naxos but it’s not on the computer and heaven knows where it is, although I’m sure they’re all on YouTube. The second movement is one of my all-time favorite pieces of music. If you’ve never heard it, you know where to go. Oh dear, oh dear, where has the time gone? I was off listening to a bit of all the other versions. It needs a new recording done by a conductor who gets the music and a band that play it and great engineering. It’s a shame Bernard Herrmann didn’t record it – he was a big fan of the symphony and Thompson. Thompson, of course, is much better known for his choral music, but while symphonies one and three don’t reach the heights of two, they’re still excellent. Neither has an optimal recording, frankly. I did start watching a movie but dozed off, so I’ll start over again today. It’s called Pipcus, a French movie from France, one of the first Maigret films and what I’ve been awake for has been very good, thus far and the actor playing Maigret, Albert Prejean, is really terrific – he did three Maigret films. I did a Kino free trial because they have these films and a few other Simenon film adaptations that I’d like to see. There were a LOT of films made from Simenon books, at least five TV series with different actors. The guy wrote approximately 200 books under his own name and quite a few under pseudonyms, most of those early on. In fact, I found one of those online and snagged it for four bucks – he uses the name Georges Sim. Anyway, as I’ve said, I got into collecting his first editions very early in the game and got them super cheap – over 110 titles and most in pristine condition. Fun.
Earlier, I got six and a half hours of sleep, more than I thought I would. Once up, I answered e-mails, pretty much stayed away from social media in all its forms, had to tri-salad from Uncle Bernie’s that was horrible – I mean, HORRIBLE. Nothing good about it. Weird tasting chicken salad, dry egg salad, bad ranch dressing. I ate it but boy I did not like it much. I did go to the mail place briefly – a bit of mail – but came right back home. I had some telephonic calls, then did the free trial of the Kino channel and watched the start of Pipcus and fell asleep about ten minutes in. And here we are.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll keep slogging ahead on the show order so I can start the commentary, I’ll check with the mail place, I’ll eat something but not from DoorDash – I’ll either go to Gelson’s and get something or do some sort of fast food thing – then at some point I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow and the weekend is more of the same and then next week in really busy – I have to settle on a set designer for sure, and hopefully a lighting designer, although I wouldn’t mind the guy who did 70 Girls 70 if he’s available, which he probably isn’t.
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, work on the show order and commentary, check with the mail place, eat, then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Who are your favorite fictional detectives and sleuths? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping to have no more horribly horrible salads that are horrible.