Nickyboy
Staff member
even with extra pennies taped to the top of the stylus.
Haydn In Plain Sight: The Classical Music Thread
- Thread starter Ojai Sam
- Start date
Nickyboy
Staff member
we never had the big, all-in-one stereo system with TV. We had a separate, black and white TV in my parent's room. The "stereo" was like a big, vertical shoe box. The speaker was down on the bottom and you would pull down the door on the top, which would cause the turntable to slide out front. Place your disc on the turntable, and stack up to four extra LPs to drop down after the previous one played. Sliding and scratching all over the poor disc below it!I had the same experience, Nick. My mom introduced me to Bing and the big bands, but she also added a lot of classical to the mix. We got a Magnavox stereo-TV combo just like this when I was about ten:
View attachment 4908
Nothing sounded better than those RCA Victor Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence classical recordings!
No idea what brand that was, but the speaker was enormous and had great, full sound.
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
Back in the day of monaural sound, Bozak loudspeakers were all the rage.
I don't think I ever got to hear one. If I did, I didn't know any better.
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
You were too busy with your hand-held new-fangled transistor radio listening to all the big band hits.
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
Actually, factually, I remember listening to Peter Green's "Green Manalishi" in the backyard with a transistor radio.
Ojai Sam
Staff member
Yep, we had one of these too.
Perfect for listening to Dodger games with Vin Scully from (and at) the Coliseum.
Ojai Sam
Staff member
1. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #9
2. George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
3. Antonin Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
4. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
5. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #6
6. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #7
7. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5
8. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #5
9. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem
10. Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
11. Bedrich Smetana: Ma Vlast: The Moldau
Zeeb expressed surprise at seeing "The Lark Ascending" in the Top 10 and I will echo that sentiment for "Ma Vlast". It makes one wonder if there was a strong Czech constituency that stuffed the ballot box.
Perhaps of greater consequence is the fact that the pollsters saw fit to sever one of the six components of Smetana's nationalistic tone poem. This reminds me of the "greatest hits" approach to classical music typified by "Tonight We Love", an extract from Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 that actually topped the pop charts for Freddy Martin:
“The Moldau” certainly offers a familiar theme, and at 7 minutes can serve as ideal
album filler. Here’s Herbert Von Karajan’s rousing version with the Vienna Phil:
Of course the Germans have demonstrated a knack for slicing off pieces of Czechoslovakia in the past. 
Still, the complete work more than repays the time it takes to enjoy in full. Here’s Rafael Kubelik’s sparkling version with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra:
Smetana’s passion for the natural beauty and folk traditions of his homeland shines through every moment.
2. George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
3. Antonin Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
4. Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2
5. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #6
6. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #7
7. Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5
8. Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony #5
9. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem
10. Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending
11. Bedrich Smetana: Ma Vlast: The Moldau
Zeeb expressed surprise at seeing "The Lark Ascending" in the Top 10 and I will echo that sentiment for "Ma Vlast". It makes one wonder if there was a strong Czech constituency that stuffed the ballot box.
Perhaps of greater consequence is the fact that the pollsters saw fit to sever one of the six components of Smetana's nationalistic tone poem. This reminds me of the "greatest hits" approach to classical music typified by "Tonight We Love", an extract from Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 that actually topped the pop charts for Freddy Martin:
“The Moldau” certainly offers a familiar theme, and at 7 minutes can serve as ideal
album filler. Here’s Herbert Von Karajan’s rousing version with the Vienna Phil:
Still, the complete work more than repays the time it takes to enjoy in full. Here’s Rafael Kubelik’s sparkling version with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra:
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
Zeeb expressed surprise at seeing "The Lark Ascending" in the Top 10 and I will echo that sentiment for "Ma Vlast". It makes one wonder if there was a strong Czech constituency that stuffed the ballot box.
That's ridiculous.
If you put the czech in the ballot box instead of the mail, no wonder I never got it. I demand a recount.
Of course the Germans have demonstrated a knack for slicing off pieces of Czechoslovakia in the past.
Excellent delivery. Highest commendation.
Ojai Sam
Staff member
I’ve continued working through the less familiar entries on the KUSC list but it’s a daunting project for anyone other than Zeeb. 
So I’ve created this collaborative playlist in case anyone else has a favorite to add:
So I’ve created this collaborative playlist in case anyone else has a favorite to add:
Ojai Sam
Staff member
Arthur Rubinstein - Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
I checked out Van Cliburn’s theatrical reading of this collection, but always come back to the great Rubinstein’s performance. Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony supply plenty of energy without drowning Arthur in strings.
I checked out Van Cliburn’s theatrical reading of this collection, but always come back to the great Rubinstein’s performance. Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony supply plenty of energy without drowning Arthur in strings.
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
I have a fair number of CD and LP versions of Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending. I usually listen to it in the full orchestra versions by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields conducted by Neville Marriner (Argo), along with Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Fantasia on Greensleeves, and Five Variants of 'Dives and Lazarus'.
This evening, I decided to listen to version on Telarc with Andre Previn and the RPO. It is preceded by RVW's Symphony #2, entitled 'London,' which I haven't heard fully-through since before my first marriage. RVW is one of my favorite 20th century composers, along with Nielsen, Copland, and Hovhaness.
My wives didn't much like classical; fuck 'em.
This evening, I decided to listen to version on Telarc with Andre Previn and the RPO. It is preceded by RVW's Symphony #2, entitled 'London,' which I haven't heard fully-through since before my first marriage. RVW is one of my favorite 20th century composers, along with Nielsen, Copland, and Hovhaness.
My wives didn't much like classical; fuck 'em.
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
It seriously bothers me that Haydn is pronounced hidin'.
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
It's a German surname, so for pronunciation difficulties, we must turn to our resident Germanophile.
P. S. Consider yourself lucky you don't have to type an umlaut.
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
At least if I don't start a metal band.
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
If you get old enough, you can't even start a rubber band.
Unsomnambulist
Staff member
You're never too old for a rubber room, though.
axolotl
Nunquam non paratus
Is that just off the Oval Office?
