Friday, November 28, 2008

Kus Emmak, Mravinsky

I've got lots of things to do out of the house. I promised Itka I'd bring her Hummous from Abu-Hassan's and she already put the water to boil. There have been four birthdays this week and I only got two gifts so far, the day is beautiful and begging of me to exploit its wonders.

But I can't leave the house, all because I bought the CD set of Tchaikovsky's late symphonies with Evgeny Mravinsky conducting. They just get more knockout with each movement. The pizzicato scherzo of the fourth - impeccably subdued and funny, the John O'dreams opening of the 6th - like a richly textured oil painting (and better than Gregeyev's!). I'm in love. Shit.

These pieces were recorded in London, in 1961, when the Leningrad Philharmonic was visiting there. That's probably the place and time in history in which I'd most like to be present. Anyway, seeing that I'm present here now, I might as well go for the Hummous, right after the next developement.

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