In my years of listening to classical music of all genres and forms, there are a number of compositions which speak to me so profoundly or entertain me on so many levels that just one recording of it is never enough. My father has often asked me, “Why do you have so many versions of one piece?” Very bluntly I would reply, “Because no two performances are the same.”  This observation has only increased in truth for me as time has gone by. Verdi’s DON CARLO, Cilea’s ADRIANA LECOUVREUR, Puccini’s SUOR ANGELICA and Offenbach’s LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN top a very long list of my favorite operas – the Verdi and the Offenbach all the more because of the different versions which have been used.  Symphonically speaking, I have several takes on Respighi’s THE PINES OF ROME, while the most entries in my choral section are of the requiems of Verdi, Faure, and Durufle as well as Orff’s CARMINA BURANA. Comparing tempi, articulation, vocal timbre, phrasing, etc. can be a fun sort of way to dig deeper into favorites and discover new nuances in the hands of different artists. Some collectors may claim that a particular recording or performance is definitive, but I prefer to allow room for other possibilities by saying that I have favorite interpretations based on the talents and temperaments of the forces involved.

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Let’s Start at the Very Beginning . . .

To everything, there is a beginning, so as a way of beginning this new classical music blog as inspired by the Princeton Record Exchange, I would like to introduce myself and propose a premise to this forum.

Music in general, but classical music specifically, has been a passion of mine since the womb. You may laugh, but my mother tells the story that while singing “For Unto Us a Child Is Born” during a church choir rehearsal for The Messiah in December 1962 she felt me kick. She was thinking that I was liking what I was hearing. I jokingly think it was being I want out of the womb to correct some of the tenors’ wrong pitches. Read the rest of this entry »

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