I read “The Aleph” possibly in university or, if not, then a few years later. I thought it was pretty crazy and incredible and resolved to read more Borges. And then I just didn’t for 15 years or so. (Not entirely true: I stumbled upon one other story – a late one – at some …
Category: 1942
Cat People (1942, Jacques Tourneur)
Times have changed. And whatever effect this movie had on audiences in 1942 – my dad long insisted it was the scariest movie he had ever seen – has long dissipated. Watching it over 75 years later, it’s really hard to understand what was so unique and terrifying about it.
Khachaturian: Gayane; Shostakovich: Symphony No. 5 (1992, 2015) by London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antal Dorati
This disc collects a suite from Khachaturian’s Gayane with Shostakovich’s 5th symphony.
The Definitive Collection (2008) by Billie Holiday
Full disclosure: I do not like vocal jazz (as you know). This is a compilation of 22 tracks over the course of Holiday’s career. I have no idea how definitive it actually is, as I do not know her at all, beyond her reputation as one of the great singers of the century, and “Strange …
Hindemith: Ludas Tonalis; Suite 1922 (2006) by Boris Berezovsky
This collects two of Hindemith’s solo piano works, the most famous ones and those that are usually considered “essential.”
Complete Organ Works (2003) by Maurice Durufle, performed by Friedhelm Flamme
The pipe organ must be one of the seriously neglected instruments of 20th century “classical” music, at least from the perspective of us musical naifs. I mean, even though there are plenty of notable organ and organ-centric compositions, very few of those have actually made it into mass awareness. The little bit of organ music …