science

This afternoon's first listening was Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, another album that the intelligentsia consider classic.



I tried to listen to it last night, but somehow it got on my nerves, but this morning everything was fine. It is very repetitive, like any pop music, probably not intended for more than a few close listenings. But it does set a mood, and there are several famous songs on it.

R&B music and I have a strained relationship. It often seems to me that some incredibly talented performers aren't expecting enough from themselves artistically. Is that fair? I really don't know.

My first question: What should be my 2nd Marvin Gaye album? Where do I go from here?

Second, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, performed by Vladimir Horowtiz.



I bought that recording so long ago that I can't remember what I was thinking. Someday I need to get a recording in better sound, but I have to admit that this one pleases me. It's a very enjoyable work. I cannot compare Horowitz's interpretation to anyone else's but I like it.

Second Question: What more recent recording of Pictures should I get?

Third, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde , performed by Maureen Forrester (contralto), Richard Lews (tenor), and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fritz Reiner.



I desperately need a more modern recording of this - there is overwhelming distortion when the tenor raises his voice above a certain volume, and that just ruins it for me. Cannot recommend it unless that kind of thing isn't going to bother you.

Also, as I don't know German, I need a text, and the notes don't have one, so I had to listen in front of my computer screen.

Third Question: What recording of this work do you recommend?

So this afternoon's winner, by a mile, is Horowitz's Mussorgsky! (The recording of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto that shares the CD is, for me, a mere curiosity. I have listened to it perhaps 3 times, but other recordings have so much better sound that there really is no reason to endure this recording on a regular basis.)