Since my latest hearing deterioration I've done comparatively little music listening. I've not abandoned it all together, but sessions are few and far between and tend to be short-lived. I mention this not to garner sympathy -- life is what it is -- but so that you understand why I do not contribute to this thread as often as I once did.
In another thread I mention my pleasure with a recent purchase of the silent film
Wings on DVD. One of its salient features in the restoration of the movie's original music score, performed by full orchestra with occasional solo piano interludes. The score borrows (very effectively) from Mendelssohn's overture to
A Midsummer Night's Dream for much of
its aerial combat footage. Dream is a long time favorite. Hearing bits of it in the film caused me to seek out a suitable performance of not only the overture but also excerpts from the incidental music Mendelssohn added years later. I found what I think is a marvelous live in-concert video filming of the piece at YouTube. Both video and audio (in so far as I can judge such things nowadays) quality is top notch, as is the interpretation. I would consider buying this for myself on DVD, but as is so often the case with classical music, no such disk is available.
Here it is.
Also, yesterday I listened to
the final movement of Beethoven's Hammerklavier sonata in what I now consider my preferred interpretation of the work. I consider the Hammerklavier one of
the greatest achievements of human existence, but admit it took me to sixty-four years to 'get it'. Oh well, there's something to be said for later bloomers. (There's also something to be said for no bloomers, but I could never convince any female acquaintances of that.)
This post has been edited by Decrepit: Feb 27 2016, 12:40 AM