Love Brahms' 2nd piano!! Especially that horn that opens the piece, wow. So many versions -- Fleisher, Pollini, Barenboim, etc. Jasper is a sweet place, less touristy than Banff and quieter even in peak summer season. Near Jasper, be sure to see tiny Spirit Island by boat tour cruise...

Hi Luis, Glad you and yours had a great time in Canada. We're not as enriched with classical fests/concerts as in Europe, but Nature compensates with sublime scenery and experiences. Next time, do visit the Rockies out in Alberta! Best CM

Time for Handel's Hallelujah chorus!!

Hello LM, I'm OK, hope you are too. Just enjoying my stereo system and musik whenever I can. Getting pumped for retirement this fall. Looking forward to other projects and to spending more time with family out east. Hoping to getting some travel done now that restrictions are easing at...

Angela Hewitt talks about recording: https://www.cbc.ca/music/how-angela-hewitt-gets-the-most-out-of-her-recording-sessions-1.6333981?cmp=FEED_PROG_music

Angela Hewitt interview, on recording and on Beethoven's sonatas: https://www.cbc.ca/music/how-angela-hewitt-gets-the-most-out-of-her-recording-sessions-1.6333981?cmp=FEED_PROG_music

LuisMad, thanks for this documentary re. Gergiev. He's an interesting character, with very mixed reviews for his Bruckner (Munich) and other conductors. Some conductors communicate with their eyes, others, like him, seem to prefer just a flick of their hands. Abbado did both, Haitink hands...

^ Nothing wrong with "Mille tres" GFs, although back then, mortality from syphilis was astronomical. :scream: :couple_with_heart::bikini::bikini::bikini:

Funny, that was what I was also thinking. Raiders of the Lost Pill. off to the supermarket. TC, CM

Salzburg video ^: I think that's Thomas Hampson, looking for his Viagra pills.

Heck, in that video of DB playing Pathetique....he even dresses like Ludwig van!! :dt880smile: High collar, mussy hair, pout. Enjoying the heat wave here -- -6C right now. T-shirts and lemonade. cheers CM

Cheers LM.

^ Hilarious, CC. That's mostly why I keep this forum bookmarked, and for the musik from Luis and LM too. Haven't listened to Barenboim's Beethoven in a while, so you have peaked my interest to go and dig them out. His Mozart ctos with the ECO are very good too. Stay safe, CM

^ I haven't attended a Mozart opera since the Met in the 90s. I guess the "modernization" of these classics with ridiculous costumes and sets is a feeble attempt at originality. Remember the Salzburg production of Don Giovanni where the female extras were in two-piece lingerie?

Totally right on. Generally, Mozart loved composing operas, and most of them were sublime. I must say, attending Mozart operas at the Met in the 1990s, I always walked away (late at night!) humming a few tunes from the operas! They just stick in my hippocampus! I honestly cannot say the same...

Not really into tenors that much (prefer sopranos), but I gotta admit, this album is a gem: Fritz Wunderlich https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8169174--fritz-wunderlich-the-50-greatest-tracks

Remember, we evolved from those critters. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

^ tsk tsk LM, where did you find that video of me tending to my noggin hairs?

Nice, go for it!! Take lotsa photos. cheers CM

Does it work? (cryo) :ksc75smile: Have always wondered...headscratch.

Yes, LB certainly enjoyed milking Mahler's symphonies for emotional weight and tears. To "counterbalance" all that nectar and hemlock, I enjoy the cycles by Boulez (a very transparent cycle with tons of details revealed by Boulez's forensic approach) and also by Bertini, the latter is very well...

Usually each winter, we get two weeks when the highs are around -20 every day. "Arctic front", "ice dome", etc. When the temp rises to -10C after it's done, I've become so acclimated that it's t-shirt and shorts in the house! cheers CM