Botstein goes wild

[Alan Howe]

And the Germans put mayonnaise on everything too. Igitt! (That's German for 'yuck'.)

[JimL]

Even on sauerkraut?  Igitt!

P.S. We might be getting a little off-topic.  Than again, maybe not.

[febnyc]

Funny -  the tangential aspect of this thread got me to searching for some references to the use of mayonnaise over the centuries.  I located this fragment of a proposed operetta by Gilbert & Sullivan, provisionally titled "The God of the Mayo."  It was abandoned - but many letters in its name were later used in "The Yeomen of the Guard."

Anyway, the piece I found:

Head Chef (in an Amsterdam restaurant - tenor)

The Dutch are known,
from early days,
to flourish using
Mayonnaise.

Chorus:

Mayonnaise
Mayonnaise
Mayo - Mayo
Mayonnaise

(German sous-chef - baritone)

The Germans are out
With mayo on kraut
Only beer gets more
Praise

Chorus:

Praise,
Praise,
Pr - Pr - Praise
For the Mayonnaise

(American faux-chef - male soprano)

But over there in the states
Maestro Botstein emulates
"It goes well with corned beef"
So he says.

Chorus:

He says, He says
Maestro Botstein says
He loves Mayonnaise

[Mark Thomas]

Hark! I hear the sound of William Schwenck Gilbert rapidly revolving...

[JimL]

Hark! I hear the sound of Wlliam Schwenck Gilbert rapidly revolving...

Which would be quite a feat if he was cremated.

Okay, in Woody Allen's Annie Hall, what was the sandwich she ordered in the deli that caused Woody Allen's character to do an astonished/disgusted double-take?

Promise we'll get right back on topic after the trivia quiz!

[febnyc]

Corned beef on white bread, with lettuce and... and.... mayonnaise!

Now the founders of Katz's deli are rotating underground, along with WSG.

Remember the WWII slogan:  Send a Salami to Your Boy in the Army.

[febnyc]

Hark! I hear the sound of Wlliam Schwenck Gilbert rapidly revolving...

Indeed...but the first word of Mark's post brings to mind a story about the musical stage:

An out-of-work actor, having had no jobs for months, receives a call from his agent.

"Joe, I've an opera role for you.  And it's an easy one - no singing, just one spoken line.  Show goes on in two weeks.  Interested?"

"Sure am.  Count me in.  What do I say?"

"Simply this:  'Hark!, I hear the sound of cannon!,'"

So, for the next two weeks Joe rehearses his words.  "Hark! I hear the sound of cannon!"  "Hark!, I hear the sound of cannon!"

At meals, on the bus, while watching TV, even in his dreams he studies, "Hark! I hear the sound of cannon!" 

I can't mess up, Joe thinks.  This is my big chance to succeed.

When the day of the performance arrives he is in the taxicab, on the way to the theater.  "Hark!, I hear the sound of cannon!"  Gosh! I gotta get this right.

Joe is in the wings, in his costume, waiting for his cue.  "Hark!, I hear the sound of cannon!"  I can't forget this. 

The stage manager says "You're on!"  Joe, once more mouths those words, "Hark! I hear the sound of cannon!"  OK, here I go - my career begins again.

And he rushes out to the middle of the stage.

Just as he arrives there he hears a loud "BOOM!"

Joe turns around and exclaims, "What the hell was that?"



OK, OK.  Back to the wild Botstein.   

[JimL]

Corned beef on white bread, with lettuce and... and.... mayonnaise!

Close.  I believe it was pastrami, not corned beef.  I don't recall there being any lettuce, either.

OK.  Back to Botstein.

[Mark Thomas]

Indeed, back to Botstein:

I've been listening to a few of these downloads. The headline work so far is Variations on Don Juan by Walter Braunfels, which dates from the early 1920s. It was quite unknown to me, but I do recommend it. Such a clever piece. Ostensibly it's a set of variations, seven in all, on a well known theme from Mozart's Don Giovanni, but it manages to give us as effective a picture of the old roué's loves and escapades and their ultimate emptiness as Richard Strauss conjured up. It's witty, atmospheric, colourful and dramatic. Anyone who enjoys Strauss' symphonic poems will love this, I think.

The same is pretty much true of Siegmund von Hausegger's Wieland der Schmied. It's more overtly Straussian than Braunfels' work and does get a bit overwrought at times, but I have enjoyed it since getting a recording of a radio broadcast at least a couple of years ago of the NWD Philharmonie performance conducted by Georg Fritsch, still not available from cpo. Botstein cuts Fritsch's 19'44" by just over a minute and I'm not sure that it helps the work, but I've only heard this new performance once. The recording is marred by a sudden cut off, unlike the Braunfels which features a couple of seconds of applause. Why? There are a few coughs in each recording, so there's no hiding that there's an audience.

Ignaz Brüll's jolly overture to his opera The Golden Cross comes across a being rather episodic under Botstein (which is probably fair) and the recording is again suddenly chopped at the end, unfortunately. I'm currently listening to Casella's big Italia - the recording quality is again good.

Whist I'm no fan of eMusic's price plan, preferring to pay per download, I do recommend that on this occasion you get what you want from them. The prices at Amazon and iTunes are silly ($9.99 for Raff's 17 minute long Tempest, for example?)

[Ilja]

In all, these are not bad recordings at all, but, as Mark observes, editing is a bit over the place. The engineers have a knack for cutting the recordings halfway through the first clap of hands (or, on one occasion, the first 'bravo!'), sometimes killing off the dying orchestral sounds as well and throwing you back into the real world with little preparation. That's a bit of a blunder, I think. However, there are a few pieces really worth downloading, and Braunfels' Don Juan was a real eye-opener for me. What I also found encouraging was the audience's response to these unknown pieces.

I would generally avoid the Stanford Third Symphony, however. That's a bit of a mess, particularly in the outer movements.

[Amphissa]

 
I was present for some of these concerts back in the late 90s and early 00s. I particularly liked the Myaskovsky (I've written to them several times asking for that) and the Wellesz (who was more modernist than I typically care for).

Good -- eMusic has lots of Indie stuff that is not available from other download services
Good -- Botstein and ASO have lots of interesting (unsung) music

Bad -- eMusic has crappy 192 bitrate MP3 audio
Bad -- I don't like to spend money on crappy MP3 audio