Classical Gas
Jul. 22nd, 2008 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aseDear internet: headphones. Keeping in mind I am 1.) 1/3 of the way to my 2008 savings goal, 2.) working in a lab with approximately 7 fridges, one robot, three DNA extraction machines, a tabletop centrifuge and umpteen biddy - plus the thermocycler fans! - and rec accordingly.
Before tossing that favorite inexpensive and kind of scruffy purse into the laundry, it might be worth your time to ask, "hey, I wonder if this is so cheap there's cardboard in here?" This message brought to you by someone a little older and wiser, who spent time picking wet cardboard out of the laundry machine last night.
Last week I completely lost my head and bought four classical CDs. Hey, they were used! And if you'd heard the end of Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony on the radio - it's big. It's huge. It's amazing and splendid and the sort of thing that has to be played at volumes in excess of urban noise ordinances. So I had to run out and find it. I already had a copy, but didn't find it until later, which is an argument for turning my external hard drive into a wiki or something. But this other recording! This wonderful second example of awesome music! Boston Symphony Orchestra 1959 recording; Charles Munch conducting and Berk Zamkochian on organ. And I incidentally picked up a few more CDs, in that way you do. A Baltimore Symphony Orchestra recording of Copland's Rodeo and "Billy the Kid" made in '93; a cello concerto set of Dvorak and Saint-Saens recorded by the London Philharmonic with Mstislav Rostopovich in '77; and glory of glories, a two-disc recording of Rachmaninoff's four piano concertos and his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Rachmaninoff playing the piano. I am super, super excited about this: my favorite Rachmaninoff played by the Man! The forecast is calling for lousy humidity all week; I think I will spend it lying on the floor wringingsweat out of everything I own maximum fidelity out of my lame sound setup. Especially for the 1929 Rhapsody recording, which - mmm, tinny much? Oh who cares, I think I'm going to start crying. This is awesome.
I also found the Beethoven I'd put "somewhere safe" in June. Speaking of the Man. You know how a lot of contemporary bands have their one fast song, one slow song, and then the other 11 tracks on the album? (Coldplay, I am totally looking at you.) Beethoven has more than two songs! Okay, he also has a bigger instrument section, but the point is - many songs! Classical's dynamic range is defeated on my work headphones - okay, the fans from the fridges, freezers, thermocyclers, and let us not forget the occasional mostly balanced quick-spin microcentrigue(s) don't help - but that just gives me something to look forward to after a day of mezzoforte rock and pop.
Before tossing that favorite inexpensive and kind of scruffy purse into the laundry, it might be worth your time to ask, "hey, I wonder if this is so cheap there's cardboard in here?" This message brought to you by someone a little older and wiser, who spent time picking wet cardboard out of the laundry machine last night.
Last week I completely lost my head and bought four classical CDs. Hey, they were used! And if you'd heard the end of Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony on the radio - it's big. It's huge. It's amazing and splendid and the sort of thing that has to be played at volumes in excess of urban noise ordinances. So I had to run out and find it. I already had a copy, but didn't find it until later, which is an argument for turning my external hard drive into a wiki or something. But this other recording! This wonderful second example of awesome music! Boston Symphony Orchestra 1959 recording; Charles Munch conducting and Berk Zamkochian on organ. And I incidentally picked up a few more CDs, in that way you do. A Baltimore Symphony Orchestra recording of Copland's Rodeo and "Billy the Kid" made in '93; a cello concerto set of Dvorak and Saint-Saens recorded by the London Philharmonic with Mstislav Rostopovich in '77; and glory of glories, a two-disc recording of Rachmaninoff's four piano concertos and his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with Rachmaninoff playing the piano. I am super, super excited about this: my favorite Rachmaninoff played by the Man! The forecast is calling for lousy humidity all week; I think I will spend it lying on the floor wringing
I also found the Beethoven I'd put "somewhere safe" in June. Speaking of the Man. You know how a lot of contemporary bands have their one fast song, one slow song, and then the other 11 tracks on the album? (Coldplay, I am totally looking at you.) Beethoven has more than two songs! Okay, he also has a bigger instrument section, but the point is - many songs! Classical's dynamic range is defeated on my work headphones - okay, the fans from the fridges, freezers, thermocyclers, and let us not forget the occasional mostly balanced quick-spin microcentrigue(s) don't help - but that just gives me something to look forward to after a day of mezzoforte rock and pop.
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Date: 2008-08-06 11:51 am (UTC)There are reasons people still go to live performances: bass and subsonics are high on that list. Someday. Kennedy Center schedule, anyone?