Man am I Wiped
Went to Cincinnati last weekend to do some research and meet with ex-bandmates about some business stuff. Remember O.J. Simpson and his suitcase running through airports in old commercials? That was me this weekend, although unlike O.J. l didn't kill any women along the way.
Heard today a disc by the Cincinnati band The Not, which was incredible. What they did was kind of in the 60s revivalist strain, but it had more meat on it and made use of more modern elements, though none so modern as today - rather mixing in some New Wavish ideas that were cool. I Loved it.
Also heard some interesting harpsichord concertos. Both of these were by associates of Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach, one by Johann Muthel (1728-1788) that was unexpectedly strange and full of weird quirks. The other by Christoph Nichelmann (1717-1762) was a just a beauty of a concerto, one of the finest keyboard concertos I've heard from the eighteenth century. From me that's saying a lot, as I've heard every Mozart concerto,
every J.S. Bach concerto, several of C.P.E. Bach's, the ones by Haydn and Boccherini (okay, but not great), others by Handel, Arne, Christian Bach (these are REALLY quite good), Johann Schobert (also rates very high on the Uncle Dave meter) and God knows what else.
How boring your life would be if the only eighteenth-century keyboard concertos you knew were the ones by Mozart, great as they are. I realize that's a slightly facetious comment, as for most folks Mozart's keyboard concerti, and just a few of these (Nos. 9, 17, 21, 22, 24 and 26-27) are the only eighteenth century keyboard concertos they are likely EVER to hear.
But that is the fault of record companies and radio. Classical record companies release things and don't do sh*t to promote them. I was busting my brain trying to locate something on Sony's website about a re-issue they did of a Bruno Walter recording back in September. Never did find it - Sony won't even list the thing on their own website. What's up with that? Besides, it had a couple of previously unissued tracks on it. Walter died in 1962, so you would think that would generate some interest in the package, at least among those who still love him (and there are many yet even today). It's almost like they want the thing to die on the vine.
I'm going to bed.
Uncle Dave Lewis