My goodness, I had quite forgotten just how pleasant Schubert is to listen to. I played a tape containing his 5th and 6th symphonies. They are really quite lovely; he wrote them when he was 19 and 20. But I only realised very recently that he died when only 31, of syphilis. Quite extraordinary, making Mozart look positively ancient at his death.
A half tape of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau singing Schubert Lieder - accompanied, of course by Gerald Moore - has for a long time been amongst one of the favourites of my collection. I had sort of forgotten about DFD, not withstanding the fact that he is slightly represented in my collection, until I started hanging out on rec.music.opera, where he is definitely one of the most argued about singers. My parents, and my music teacher are/were all big DFD fans - indeed this tape is taped from my mother - so I was familiar with him from an early age. I really can't imagine who I would prefer to sing Schubert Lieder. I can't imagine what people don't like about his voice.
I also have a CD of DFD singing Winterreise. It's on EMI Classics Great Recordings of the Century. It's a recent acquisition, and, I think needs listening to again before I make a comment. Unbelievably, I really don't know Winterreise. But I am currently very susceptible to seduction by the packaging of the Great Recordings of the Century. Shallow? Moi?
The other side of the tape is Brahms' 3rd Symphony, but I shall ignore it for the time being, until I get back round to blogging the Bs. This is a von Karajan version; the Allegro con brio comes in at 9.36, whereas the Levine version I have on CD is 13.28. the 2nd and 3rd movements are 14.21 - 16:46, although, interestingly, the 4th movement has Levine 21 seconds faster than von Karajan. I shall have fun doing an a-B comparison. Probably won't be for a couple of years yet (but I still won't be forty...)
The String Quintet in C has some beautiful moments.
I have some items of solo piano music: Alfred Brendel on tape playing Sonata in Bb and the Wanderer Fantasie, Radu Lupu also doing the Bb sonata, together with an A major and Mitsuko Uchida doing C and G Sonatas. Again, really quite lovely, also familiar because of the length of time I have owned them. But making me think, maybe I should have a lot more solo music, especially piano, especially Schubert, in my collection.
In fact, I am surprised at how little Schubert I have in my collection. Put more Schubert on to-do list.
It's an interesting exercise, this playing, and blogging my entire record collection. On the one hand it shows the paucity of my vocabulary. It also brings to mind a Leonard Bernstein quote I was sent on 25 August to mark his birthday
Music of all the arts, stands in a special region, unlit by any star but its own, and utterly without meaning except its own, a meaning in musical terms, not in terms of words
On the other hand, it is making me think a bit. Sometimes - most times - it's so easy to say "I like this" because "this" is so familiar, and, thus, within a comfort zone. Sometimes, if something isn't familiar, you have to actively listen, and you have to think - is this technically good, is this saying something to me, and, most of all, is this affecting me. often, it's just easier to wallow in the comfort zone, or sing along to the familiar.
