Finding the Bay Cities Claus Ogerman album has inspired me to listen to some of our CDs. The Ogerman, which I hadn't heard in ages, is simply amazing. I have but a few copies left and I cannot recommend it enough.
Then I listened to the first Bay Cities CD, all Robert Ward music. Mr. Ward was a huge influence (he's mentioned in Kritzer Time) on me, musically, and the selections on this CD are brilliant (including his piano concerto, which is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard). Then I decided to listen to a multiple composer album featuring Norman Dello Joio (one of my favorite American composers), Randall Thompson (his second symphony, which is incredibly beautiful), and Jerome Moross. I remember the first time I heard the LP that had the Thompson and just being bowled over by it. I was determined to do it, and we got the rights - it was a very old mono recording, and while the tapes were in good shape, the sound quality was really lacking. But Tom Null and I worked for about three days on it, and I must say the result is better than I remember - it's really good. There are two recordings in stereo, Leonard Bernstein's (which I don't like), and a more modern recording done for Koch, which I loathe. I may just have to play the entire Bay Cities output - it's ninety-three discs, but it will be like a trip down memory lane.
