I was talking to one of my blog followers on Friday evening, who had looked at some of my reviews of Videos & DVD’s, and he asked me how I had the time to watch all the films I had listed. The truth of the matter is, some of the films I reviewed, I have probably not seen for more than five years, and my collection has been built up over the last 15 – 20 years, but a really entertaining storyline will stay fresh in your memory for a goodly number of years, and the sight of the Video or DVD sleeve can instantly recall the pleasure and enjoyment of watching the film!
I find it is the same with books and CD’s too. If I have read a particularly interesting book, a mere look at the cover many years later can instantly recall the pleasure of reading it. An enjoyable recording of a piece of music can be recalled just by looking at the CD sleeve.
To give you a particular example of this – the very first recording I bought, of a classical piece of music, [I’m talking of sometime about 50 years ago here!] was on a ten inch Phillips label record. The front cover was mainly white, with a photograph in the centre of an old fashioned ink pot with a feather or plume pen stood in the ink pot. This instantly reminds me of the two pieces of music on the record. They were Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Smetana’s Vltava, played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Karel Ancerl. These two pieces have stayed in my “favourites list” from that time on. I just wish I’d still got that ten inch LP now!
The 1812 Overture, Op. 49 is a classical overture written by the Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880. The piece was written to commemorate Russia's defense of Moscow against Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of Borodino in 1812. The Overture was first performed in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on August 20, 1880. It is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire and ringing chimes.
On his 1891 visit to the United States, Tchaikovsky conducted the piece at the dedication of Carnegie Hall in New York City. While the piece has no connection with United States history, it is often a staple at Fourth of July celebrations, such as the annual show by the Boston Pops Orchestra, and at Washington DC's annual programme called A Capitol Fourth.
I find it is the same with books and CD’s too. If I have read a particularly interesting book, a mere look at the cover many years later can instantly recall the pleasure of reading it. An enjoyable recording of a piece of music can be recalled just by looking at the CD sleeve.
To give you a particular example of this – the very first recording I bought, of a classical piece of music, [I’m talking of sometime about 50 years ago here!] was on a ten inch Phillips label record. The front cover was mainly white, with a photograph in the centre of an old fashioned ink pot with a feather or plume pen stood in the ink pot. This instantly reminds me of the two pieces of music on the record. They were Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and Smetana’s Vltava, played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Karel Ancerl. These two pieces have stayed in my “favourites list” from that time on. I just wish I’d still got that ten inch LP now!
The 1812 Overture, Op. 49 is a classical overture written by the Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880. The piece was written to commemorate Russia's defense of Moscow against Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of Borodino in 1812. The Overture was first performed in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow on August 20, 1880. It is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire and ringing chimes.
On his 1891 visit to the United States, Tchaikovsky conducted the piece at the dedication of Carnegie Hall in New York City. While the piece has no connection with United States history, it is often a staple at Fourth of July celebrations, such as the annual show by the Boston Pops Orchestra, and at Washington DC's annual programme called A Capitol Fourth.
Antal Doráti's landmark 1954 Mercury Records recording with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (was recorded in mono in 1954 and in stereo in 1958). The stereophonic version was recorded on April 5, 1958 using the bells of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon, at Riverside Church, and two six pound smooth bore bronze cannons and a twelve pound howitzer, French Charleville pattern muskets and British “Brown Bess” muskets. On this Mercury Living Presence Stereo recording the spoken commentary was given by Deems Taylor and was coupled with Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien". Later editions, on CD, coupled the 1812 Overture with Dorati's recording of Beethoven's Wellington's Victory which featured the London Symphony Orchestra and real cannons, as well as the Tchaikovsky Capriccio Italien.
I possess what some CD aficionados regard as the definitive CD recording, and that is the recording described above. This was a very popular recording when it first came out on LP and over 2,000,000 were sold!
The warning on the sticker on the back of the cover caught my eye. This was intended for those folk who played their music at "full throttle" as the noise of the cannon fire and muskets was reputed to wreck the speaker cones if played at full volume!
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