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Back from Toronto, with 2 new CDs

October 16th, 2007 Posted in classical music, haydn, nielsen

Well, Toronto was lots of fun even if I consistently and often felt pangs of I-should-be-in-the-lab type guilt. It also takes a lot longer to get across the border than I remember previously, and the QEW (I’ll refer to it as the Queen-E next time, thanks ever so much wikipedia) was completely, utterly, jam-packed up full of Canadians in their cars on Friday evening. I forget what gridlock is like, living out here in the middle of nowhere.

Lying in wait for me upon my return were two previously ordered CDs - neither of which I have had much of a chance to listen to yet. I have:

Which completes my set of Nielsen symphonies (plus other opus goodies). After listening to everything through approximately once, my first impressions are that these symphonies sound a little more traditional - and more romantic - then the last three. In places some of it almost sounded like Tchaikovsky. I’ll probably completely change my mind after a bit more listening, though.

I also got this copy of the 12 London symphonies of Haydn. As I’ve been humming the ubiquitous second movement of the “Surprise” for about a year, and don’t actually own any Haydn (other then this brand spanking new CD) I thought it was about time to do some Franz Joseph purchasing. I have this wild dream where one day I will be able to distinguish Haydn from Mozart.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 16th, 2007 at 7:14 pm and is filed under classical music, haydn, nielsen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Back from Toronto, with 2 new CDs”

  1. The Omniscient Mussel Says:

    October 17th, 2007 at 12:36 am

    Ah yes, the old Mozart/Haydn dilemma. It does take some doing but it is possible to reliably tell the difference. One big clue is melody. If you can imagine the tune being in an opera, it’s Mozart, if not..likely Haydn. Also, Haydn generally falls down in the slow movement. If you’re bored, Hadyn…if not, Mozart.

    PS…if you want to be even more down with the Canadian highway lingo, the QEW is usually called the Q E, as in just the letters. Also, it is always a nightmare to drive on, no matter what time of day.


  2. Ben Says:

    October 23rd, 2007 at 9:33 pm

    Hi OM,

    Good tips, on both classical music and Canadian highway lingo. I’ll keep them both in mind.


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