I’m so grateful to be able to listen to your old shows, especially the music and your stories. I have been happily addicted for decades, but I still can’t figure out how you are able to remember all the names of the characters you put into your stories? I would need a cheat-sheet in front of me, but you seem to be able to go on for 20 minutes or more…AMAZING! I always feel better about life while listening to you and your show! Thanks so much.
Concerts at College! YES! I was lucky enough to become an usher at Bailey Hall in Cornell University. I guess there might have been a common "College Circuit" for artists, maybe an XYZ Presents...group? I recall that Vladimir Horowitz played gently, as if he were caressing the piano. On the other hand (both hands, actually), Van Cliburn attacked the concert grand like a pouncing wildcat, hands zeroing in from two feet above the keyboard! We had an extra-long intermission for him, since a piano tuner had to come in and resurrect what was left of Van Cliburn's steed.
As for the Philadelphia Philharmonic, my new mother-in-law was visiting from British Colombia at the time. They performed Beethoven's Ode To Joy with a choir filling the balcony. Somehow my hoity-toity mother-in-law said something magical to the guards at the post-performance gathering. She pushed us through the door and into the greeting line, for Heaven's sakes! I don't know when I've felt so embarrassed! Gate-crashing isn't my style - I would never even have thought of it! So, yes, I've shaken Eugene Ormandy's hand, but I was so blown away by the gall of it that I can't even recall the event!
As for Andres Segovia - the string player who stands out in my memory is Ravi Shankar. When he played the sitar one evening, practically every person from the Indian subcontinent who resided anywhere close to Ithaca crowded into the hall. At the end of the performance, the audience retreated with tears in their eyes. I couldn't understand their sentiment, then. However, I joined the Indian Club, and saw several "Classic" Indian movies: Shakespeare Wallah, Mother India, some Bollywood romances and one action film in which the hero jumps out of a slow-moving passenger train window, onto the back of a horse galloping alongside. That scene, as I recall, was accompanied by a "Good, Fast Ghat!" With all that exposure, I got enough "context" from the action to begin to appreciate "moods" as they're embodied in sitar music. I wish I had been able to hear Ravi Shankar after seeing those films, I would have appreciated his music so much more!
How about you? Were Andres Segovia and some of those artists whose music was new to you "translatable" to your western, European-trained ear? You've had musicians from many parts of the globe on APHC. I imagine for some of your audience, it was a sweet reminiscence of "home", wherever in the world that might be! We, your audience, can deeply appreciate your global perspective! Many Thanks for sharing your musical rainbow with us!
Garrison, Amen and amen in regard to the music and better days in the 60's. Thank you for the video of The Boxer, it made my day, Sir.
I’m so grateful to be able to listen to your old shows, especially the music and your stories. I have been happily addicted for decades, but I still can’t figure out how you are able to remember all the names of the characters you put into your stories? I would need a cheat-sheet in front of me, but you seem to be able to go on for 20 minutes or more…AMAZING! I always feel better about life while listening to you and your show! Thanks so much.
Concerts at College! YES! I was lucky enough to become an usher at Bailey Hall in Cornell University. I guess there might have been a common "College Circuit" for artists, maybe an XYZ Presents...group? I recall that Vladimir Horowitz played gently, as if he were caressing the piano. On the other hand (both hands, actually), Van Cliburn attacked the concert grand like a pouncing wildcat, hands zeroing in from two feet above the keyboard! We had an extra-long intermission for him, since a piano tuner had to come in and resurrect what was left of Van Cliburn's steed.
As for the Philadelphia Philharmonic, my new mother-in-law was visiting from British Colombia at the time. They performed Beethoven's Ode To Joy with a choir filling the balcony. Somehow my hoity-toity mother-in-law said something magical to the guards at the post-performance gathering. She pushed us through the door and into the greeting line, for Heaven's sakes! I don't know when I've felt so embarrassed! Gate-crashing isn't my style - I would never even have thought of it! So, yes, I've shaken Eugene Ormandy's hand, but I was so blown away by the gall of it that I can't even recall the event!
As for Andres Segovia - the string player who stands out in my memory is Ravi Shankar. When he played the sitar one evening, practically every person from the Indian subcontinent who resided anywhere close to Ithaca crowded into the hall. At the end of the performance, the audience retreated with tears in their eyes. I couldn't understand their sentiment, then. However, I joined the Indian Club, and saw several "Classic" Indian movies: Shakespeare Wallah, Mother India, some Bollywood romances and one action film in which the hero jumps out of a slow-moving passenger train window, onto the back of a horse galloping alongside. That scene, as I recall, was accompanied by a "Good, Fast Ghat!" With all that exposure, I got enough "context" from the action to begin to appreciate "moods" as they're embodied in sitar music. I wish I had been able to hear Ravi Shankar after seeing those films, I would have appreciated his music so much more!
How about you? Were Andres Segovia and some of those artists whose music was new to you "translatable" to your western, European-trained ear? You've had musicians from many parts of the globe on APHC. I imagine for some of your audience, it was a sweet reminiscence of "home", wherever in the world that might be! We, your audience, can deeply appreciate your global perspective! Many Thanks for sharing your musical rainbow with us!
I've really enjoyed the two News from... ... cds. Also, at this time of year, I'm grateful for you and your work, sir. Moved by the "Bridge..." video.