First Sound and Panda Baby

New York Diary (20-25): First Sound and a Rare Moment of Joy

It's hard to Keep the Spirits Up these days. This is especially so with those who live alone or have limited mobility. We need more good news.

The first thing I do when I get up is to make coffee and turn on the hifi. As it is very early in the morning and dark outside, I'd play a CD (or stream BT) and listen at quite a low volume. With my setup I still hear a tremendous amount of microdynamics at low volume (a must for good sound).

Yesterday I played the CD of Zino Francesscati's Mozart Concertos (Columbia/Sony) and marveled at his tone and how good the system sounded. This is because this great violinist's tone on his Strad (and Columbia's recording) is hard to get right: a little off and the high notes would be grating. Yesterday it was pure and almost sweet. This morning, I streamed pianist Dina Ugorskaja's Bach Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, and it was nourishing. The First Sound everyday is always the best. It is hard not to conclude that our ears inevitably get worn out a little (not because of the system) as the day goes on - we are not meant to be listening to music for hours on end.

After about an hour of music, I'd watch the news, which is rather monotonous these days. Today however brought news of the birth of a Panda at the National Zoo. Like many others I am sure, I broke into a big smile and felt that Serotonin Rush. How wonderful!



Basic Repertoire: Bach's Keyboard Works are of immense importance in the development of music. Most accessible would be his keyboard concerti. Then I'd say the Goldberg Varaitions, Chromatic Fantasy and the Italian Concerto. The mammoth Well-Tempered Clavier is not meant to be listened to in one seating. Below is no. 24 from Book I. The excellent pianist Dina Ugorskaja tragically died young, at 46.