science

It's a good thing I'm doing, and one reason is the following:



Tchaikovsky's The Seasons. Naturally I bought that recording primarily for the Mussorgsky, but because of this project I've been listening to everything else, and last night The Seasons rolled around, and what a wonderful work it is. It doesn't displace Mussorgsky, but it definitely (for now) my favorite solo piano work by Tchaikovsky.

Not on this project, but it put me in the mood to listen to Rostropovich and Karajan's recording of the Rococo Variations:



I also love that cover art. I can't explain this, but for some reason it puts me in mind of a black mass or something.



The violin concerto. Ugh. What horrible sound. I understand that there are people who can overlook this and appreciate the genius of the performance. I am not one. I will listen to Hilary Hahn's version soon to get this one out of my head.

The value of ancient recordings like this, to me, is that sometimes when I listen I can feel a kind of communion with past generations of listeners. Think of someone in the 1950s who heard that on the radio - some poor dishwasher in Brooklyn, listening to that as he fell asleep in his one-room flat, or a housewife in Germany, taking a break from the housework to smoke a cigarette, listening to that.

But as far as the music itself goes, I'd rather hear a better recording most of the time.



Piano trio #2. I think I like it better than "Dumky." Will hear them both a couple more times before this project is over, so there's time to make up my mind.



The Mendelssohn. The 2nd time I've heard it. I expected to like this more than I have so far.

728 hours to go.