A Musical Assortment.

[sechan19]

* I have determined that there are four essentials in life: air, water, sustenance, and music. Pretty much anything else I could get along without, if I absolutely had to.
* The first symphony concert of the year was wonderful, although I have to say that if Shostakovich's tenth is a "perfect horror film of a symphony" as I once proclaimed, the eighth is a documentary of atrocity. It was brilliantly composed and masterfully played, and while I listened to it I felt a seething roil of emotions: anger, despair, loathing, and on, and on, as I exerted a herculean force to still the squirming that threatened to burst to the surface every moment that passed. I appreciated the symphony, but I hated it.
* Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paginini for Piano and Orchestra was magic, and the encore--Prelude in G--was heartwrenchingly exquisite. Hopefully, I will now stop being dead to the folks who lambasted me for hating the first piano concerto.
* Princess Lily (Mia Sara) should not sing. It largely because she should not sing that the director's cut of Legend, which does have its interesting moments, falls way, way short of the lyrical excellence of the original theatrical release. Jerry Goldsmith's original score is another core reason for the failure.

Comments

[lillith-knox.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you have come to appreciate Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini... that's one of my all-time favorites. I had a music box that played that song, and I would watch the rain fall outside my window and listen to it when I was a little girl. You are no longer musically dead to me. (Not like you were, but you would have been, had I known that.)

[docjeed.livejournal.com]

Dudette, if you're referring to the PSO [okay, just checked the schedule, and you weren't], I attended Joshua Bell's performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto (my favorite piece of classical music). It was breathtaking, and he lives up to his billing.

Would you like my tickets for this Saturday's performance? Sarah Chang is doing the Rack 2, Heinz Hall at 8pm. I unfortunately have a scheduling conflict.