Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to Prokofiev’s very noisy fifth piano concerto, played by Lorin Hollander and conducted by Erich Leinsdorf. It’s very noisy. But the fourth movement (it’s in five movements) is nice and calm. So, I’ve gone from feeling very noisy to nice and calm. It’s very hot in the house but I’ll have to endure it because I’ve had the air on several times and it’s just killing my throat. Earlier, I attempted to finish The Offence but I fell asleep after about twenty minutes. It’s just too dreary and dark and it’s no wonder it was such a bomb. In fact, I can find no evidence that the film was actually released here in Los Angeles. In fact, I think the only place it played in the US is New York, briefly in one theater. Uh oh, the fifth movement is very noisy. And now, it’s over. And now, it’s the Khachaturian piano concerto, conducted by Andre Previn, which I also have in the big Previn RCA box. This would be one of my favorite performances were it not for omitting the flexatone in the second movement. It needs the damn flexatone and frankly, who doesn’t? Wouldn’t we all be better off with a damn flexatone playing every now and then as we spoke our wisdom? For those who may not know what a damn flexatone is, here is an actual photograph of an actual flexatone.
Most recordings of the concerto use the damn flexatone, but there are a handful that don’t, including a poorly recorded one by the very good pianist Phillipe Entremont. Maybe the pianists don’t want the damn flexatone interfering with their playing or maybe the conductor feels it’s kitsch, but that’s what Khachaturian wrote so we should always have the damn flexatone. I believe we have a flexatone on a few of my recordings – we found it and saved it and used it at our discretion. Why the HELL am I going on about the damn flexatone? Don’t I have notes to write and things to talk about? I actually don’t have much to talk about, but here is the gist of the gist of it.
Yesterday was okay. I got almost ten hours of sleep, which I really needed. Once up and coherent, I answered e-mails and then began writing the commentary, which ultimately took over three hours to get done. I did take a fried catfish break – it was very good, but they forgot my tartar sauce and I found that egregiously egregious. It came with a quarter of an ear of corn and some potato salad. Now, fried catfish without the damn tartar sauce is like the Khachaturian piano concerto without the damn flexatone. Perhaps the tartar sauce and the flexatone were doing a mating dance in the south of France.
After I finished the commentary, I tried to watch the rest of The Offence, and you know I was not successful in that regard. Then I listened to music and here we are.
Today, I’ll be up by eleven, I’ll do whatever needs doing, but I must relax and rest my voice, I really must. Then we do our stumble-through at three. That will be over around four, I’ll give whatever little notes I have, and we’ll run anything that was rough. After everyone leaves, I’ll get something light to eat. Then I can watch, listen, and mostly relax and rest my voice.
Tomorrow, I’ll rest and relax until it’s time to shave and shower, and then I’ll mosey on over to Vitello’s for sound check at 5:00, then we do the show at 8:00. I will, of course, have a full report. The rest of the week and weekend are casting the next Kritzerland show, casting as much as we can of the web series, doing my little bit of cutting and adjusting on the screenplay, and doing whatever else needs doing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eleven, do whatever needs doing, relax and rest my voice, have a stumble-through, eat, then watch, listen, and relax and rest my voice. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite percussion instruments, especially exotic ones? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall undoubtedly dream of the damn flexatone.