Post Office Booty
I had a little time before class this morning, and since I needed a book at Goering’s Bookstore, I walked across campus to their now–as far as I can tell–sole Gainesville location on NW 1st Avenue west of 17th Street (now appropriately re-named Lt. Corey Dahlem Drive). Goering’s had until recently also been in the plaza at the southwest corner of University Avenue and 34th Street, and, of course, long ago was at the corner of University and 13th Street, in a building that has now been demolished, while the University Corners project sits stalled. Nevertheless, the book I needed for my English Romanticism course was not in stock, so I, and the rest of ENL3241, will have to get by without it.
Not wanting the whole trip to be for naught, I strolled across the street to the post office, where I found in my box two parcel slips indicating that packages awaited me inside. Back in the glory days of 2001-2005, these salmon-colored cards were an almost daily notice of a newly acquired CD won on eBay. These days, however, I very seldom receive such booty, so these parcel notices caught me off guard.
The envelopes associated with said slips turned out to contain pleasant surprises: a new CD by pianist Wu Han performing Scriabin, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky; and a brand new cloth-bound, hardcover book called Authenticity Is Now.
Authenticity Is Now is significant to me for the simple reason that it includes amongst its glossy color pages a photograph of mine. Verily, in Chapter 2, on page 48 you’ll find my full-page picture of a lawn ornament deer. An oddity, for sure, but that’s what the publisher, Ziba Design, asked me for. The people at Ziba seemed very nice, too. Huzzah, book!
The Wu Han CD came from the ArtistLed label, which I have mentioned here before. They are unique among classical music record labels in being run entirely by the artists themselves, who choose the repertoire and even the takes that make it to disc. David Finckel–of the Emerson String Quartet–and pianist Wu Han–co-director of the Music at Menlo Festival–are well-served by the ArtistLed label, as the performances and recordings are of a consistently high quality.
This new disc includes Tchaikovsky’s Les Saisons, Op. 37, which is a piece I have loved for some time, particularly the sixth movement, “Juin: Barcarolle”. Wu Han plays it with a distinct pulse and less affectation than I have heard from most other performers.
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My only regret is perhaps absurdly persnickety, and concerns a subtle bit of phrasing that I have grown so fond of in Vladimir Ashkenazy’s Decca set. Listen for the note cluster:
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Ashkenazy uses a good deal of rubato–perhaps too much for some–but I love that little bit of dissonance. It is less evident in Wu Han’s recording, but nobody will accuse her of being overly-sentimental for it either. The Rachmaninoff Preludes on the disc are all excellently done, the Scriabin Sonata No. 4, Op. 30 is an interesting and welcome programming choice, and Liebesfreud by Kreisler is a lovely filler. I can enthusiastically recommend this and other ArtistLed recordings.
So, a good day at the mail box.
Filed under: Gainesville, Music, Musings, Photography, School, WAYLTL on January 10th, 2008 | 1 Comment »