Yesterday I got busy attacking my still-way-too-large record collection for the first time since installing the new cartridge recently (and oh my, that rejuvenated system is a thing to behold). I sampled the Honegger "Jeanne d'Arc" by Ormandy. The discs are mint, and the music sounds lovely. It will get a complete listen-through sometime soon.
Then I went through some Bartok "Miraculous Mandarin" recordings, one of the pieces for which I had duplicates and completely unnecessary copies that needed to be weeded out. That's been one of my favorite pieces ever since its piano part afforded my first ever participation in a real orchestra. Years later I kept picking up various copies at used record sales, and last night, in an effort to attack the bloat, I cleaned and sampled and shedded the dupes. Rehearing some of these was great fun. Mr. Ormandy was present (I'd forgotten about this one) and he comports himself well, even if Messrs. Dorati and Solti come closer in pacing and intensity to the way I first got to know that ol' Mandarin.
