I strongly recommend the book below especially if, like me, you also enjoy Murakami as a writer.
(“In Absolutely on Music, internationally Haruki Murakami sits down with his friend Seiji Ozawa, the revered former conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, for a series of conversations on their shared passion: music. Over the course of two years, Murakami and Ozawa discuss everything from Brahms to Beethoven, from Leonard Bernstein to Glenn Gould, from Bartók to Mahler, and from pop-up orchestras to opera. They listen to and dissect recordings of some of their favorite performances, and Murakami questions Ozawa about his career conducting orchestras around the world.”)
After a day or so of playing silver discs, I’ve returned to the classical LPs with another old Telarc demo disc, their 1979 recording of Bizet’s Carmen Suite #1, and Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite. Warhorses, for sure, but fun. Leonard Slatkin conducting the St. Louis.
I admit I lack the energy to continue making my way through the LPs right now, since the next ones up will be two copies of the well-known Solti Beethoven 9th that was recorded at the University of Illinois, both the Decca import and the American MoFi, and honestly, making my way through it twice seems a little daunting. So I’ll finish out the evening with this spectacular SACD of the Cleveland and Welser-Möst performing the admittedly “out-there” Schnittke Piano concerto and Prokofiev’s Symphony 2.
Bob Witrak has transferred this from a Living Stereo 1/S 1/S original pressing, with all of it’s tubey magic and silky glory. If you came to audio without hearing these original RCA Living Stereo Shaded Dog LPs, here is your opportunity to hear what all the fuss has been about over these many years. Bob has captured it, put it in a bottle, and delivered it to our doorsteps.
On to another old LP - a 1977 Japanese RCA direct-to-disc 45 RPM recording of Beethoven’s Apassionata sonata by Ikuyo Kamiya, played on a Bösendorfer Imperial Grand. Impressive piano, impressive playing, really impressive sound. BTW, it’s my first foray into spinning at 45 since I got this ‘table three years ago.
