I ain't selling my disco balls, strobe lights, or lava lamps!



Lately, I've been getting my piano tuned every four months. But I think I may be a little too sensitive to sounds and could get away with having it tuned every six months, instead. But yes, hurry up and get your piano tuned and then record the Chopin!




Guess what? I just discovered another Spanish composer by the name of Oscar Espla and I plan on recording a nice little set of short pieces of his in the next day or so. They have the neatest harmonies - I'm really loving the music. But not as much as Granados, of course. If you learn El Fandango, I may have to ask you to marry me (we used to do that around here LOL)!

I started working on El Fandango myself not long ago, but stopped because I knew it would take too much time away from perfecting no.2 Coloquio en la Reja which I recorded but am still practicing because it's on my repertoire list on the 'other project'.

Regarding Asturias, right now I can only play it on my guitar. I have the book though and have it on my list of sets to complete one day. Except I have only learned and recorded the first two, Granada and Cataluña. So it would be great if you want to also take on Asturias and others from the set so we could have a complete op. 47 on the site.

Funny, when I first read your reference to IMSLP, I thought you said you were a slob. hehe.

They say the mind is the second thing to go.....

I forgot the first.

Hmm, maybe I should learn Asturias second?... I've never been married, either in real life or on PS. I am intrigued, what's marrying on PS all about?...
If it involves diamonds, you're in luck because that's my folk's business. Although something tells me it might involve long and difficult hours practice instead, all 14 pages worth, right?... Wait a minute, that last sentence sounds like real marriage from what my friends tell me, so there might not be any discernible difference?!...

I am not familiar with Oscar Espla. I am curious to hear his music soon. I heard your Granados and Albeniz recordings and they sound wonderful indeed, full of amazement and zeal. You have a nice mix of great selections on the site. As far as composers go, I find that Albeniz is more nationalistic, but Granados is like the Spanish Chopin.

Scott, I know the score to that game: 40-love, as they say in tennis. Listen, just start counting backwards on each birthday. Besides, the older we get, the more we become like children anyway, so why not get a head start?

I am beginning to think there is a great sense of humor and vitality in Chicago?!... U 2 Rock! (Classically speaking, of course)

Count backwards from 40 -- Hmmm, that would make me 24 . Actually, I have started lying about my age. I add 10 years. I look damn good for a 66 year old, but I would look like hell as a 46 year old. It saves on cosmetic surgery.

You have to have a sense of humor to live in the state that brought the world Blago. I think that we have the only governorship that is only a step on the way to prison!!! .

I love Chi-town, but I am actually from the part of Illinois that ISN'T Chicago (like most of the state.) . It is difficult to ask Chicagoans to visit the rest of the state because they get lost in the middle of the corn fields.

Scott

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I had to take my son to the hospital very late on Tuesday night and now 36 hours later, I am home again. So is my son but minus his appendix.

About the marriage thing - when one member did something that another member really really liked, then the one member would ask the other member to marry him/her. I only asked one other member to marry me once, but I'm sure he would be very happy to relinquish the liaison. In fact, I'm pretty sure he divorced me a long time ago, as he said I was too much to handle. And another member who long ago asked me to marry him has recently gone a little crazy and stormed off the forum. So, George, you are duly warned! But there are those diamonds...hmmm...perhaps I can learn to behave myself....

I wholeheartedly agree about Granados being the Spanish Chopin. And yes, please hurry up and learn 'Fandango' and 'Asturias'! I have not yet finished recording my Espla music. A death in the family last week, and now my son being sick this week put a stop to everything. I'm hoping to finish up recording tomorrow. And today in the mail I've received those two Piazzolla books I had just ordered. I'm so surprised at how fast they arrived! A Granados book I ordered not long ago took almost two months to receive; these Piazzolla books, which were also shipped from Europe, took only a couple days. And I got free shipping from Amazon.com! I'm just dying to crack open these books today, but probably won't have time to do so until next week.

Scott - you're funny. The only thing I will admit is that I'm not 30 anymore. And have you watched Blagojevich on 'Celebrity Apprentice'? I have not, but the previews looked funny.

Monica, first of all, I hope your son is doing well? It seems they may have caught it in time if he's home after 36 hours. Even still, best wishes for a speedy recovery and hope he feels well soon!!!...

What a kind gesture, I never knew that about PS. As for those 2 guys, they really wimped out! My answer is: Yes, I do. I'll have to learn the Fandango in sickness and in health, and for richer or poorer, ... Oh & BTW, diamonds last forever, so no need to worry about behavior since I don't have any issues with insecurity or ego. In fact, I joined PS because my teacher passed away 12 years ago, and I thought that musical camaraderie and criticism on recordings would provide the best motivation to improve my playing. As moderators, you and Chris have earned your trust with the entire forum through your integrity, honesty, and objectivity in evaluating recordings. I am thankful that I can post recordings (as infrequent as they may be) and get honest feedback from a lot of generous and knowledgeable pianists here. If it's good, great! If not, at least I'll know what to practice. Parting words on this subject from my teacher... "There are those who don't know that they don't know, and there are those who know that they don't know." I belong to the latter, as I am always trying to learn and find new ways to improve in every facet of life that I can.

Thank you for the kind proposal, and I hope I can live up to learning the El Fandango de Candil...

Whenever you get the chance, I am very curious on what you think about the new Piazzolla books?...

In the meantime, I wish the entire family good health and much happiness...

George

Thank you for that! He is doing well, now. The night when it all started was hard - he was in so much pain, so I rushed him to the emergency room and just a couple hours later he was up in surgery. As his mother, it was of course hard to see my 'baby' in distress. One funny little thing - it happened in the middle of the night and I was in such a hurry to get dressed that I had not realized I had put on two different gym shoes. It was three hours later when I was sitting in the waiting room and looked down at my feet and saw one white shoe and one gray shoe . But these days, an appendectomy is a lot easier; they make two holes on one side of the abdomen and go in with tubes and a scope, and then somehow the appendix comes out through a third hole on the other side of the abdomen. Not sure if I explained that right, but the whole thing is much less invasive than it used to be. Like all medical procedures these days. (Remember we talked about how we wished that we lived in earlier days when things were more romantic, yet we'd surely not like medical care in those times.)



I've nothing to add here; I just really like what you said!

Oooh, and even though I am so behind on practicing my other stuff, I couldn't wait and last night played through a couple of the Piazzolla tangos. My first impression is that they're great! I'm so excited and not sure I can hold off learning some of them all the way - right away!

Absolutely, most GI procedures are not invasive as they used to be. After all the stress your family went through, I am glad your son is doing fine. You're right, modern medicine would be the only thing I'd take in my time capsule (pre Health Care Bill of course, as he will have had to wait in long lines for the same procedure).
It's a good thing the Fashion Police were not on patrol that evening. However, under such circumstances, I don't think they would've cited you, maybe a warning at the most.

I am glad that you like the Piazzolla tangos. Don't give in to temptation if you're working on other projects. Easier said than done, but the important thing is that you have them now and you'll learn them better with a clear conscience when it's the right time. I finally downloaded the Asturias and El Fandango de Candil last night. I was in the mood, so I also ordered several other Ernesto Lecuona books. Andalucia is the only suite I've played, and that was years ago. But, I am trying to resist the temptation myself as I am trying to finish my paperwork before I start practicing - YAWN! I peeked at the music too late last night... I already see several anomalies in the 2 scores on Asturias - Zoinks!... Oh well, that's for another day, another post...

BTW, good luck on the project(s)!

Monica,

I too am glad that your son is doing well. Careful about those shoes, you may start a new fashion trend.

I'm anxious to here some of your Pizza guy's music.

Scott

Scott - Thank you for the kind words about my son. You and George are true gentlemen for saying things like that. I just want you both to know how much I appreciate it and respect you guys because of it. Also, Piazzolla, I mean, "Pizza guy" - that is so funny!

George - Is your Goyescas ready yet? I do love that piece; now I'm singing it in my head. But whatever you do, don't try singing the 3rd movement of the Tempest when you're in the shower. I was doing that the other day - or trying to (it's really hard to sing! lol). Anyway, my son happened to hear me and said I sounded like a sick dog. But regarding Asturias - let me know if you need to look at another score: I can scan mine so you can see it if you want to check something. Lecuona - I am not too familiar with his music; I've only listened to some of it as I was putting up other members' recordings and that was a while ago so I don't remember it. Looking forward to hearing more from you when you get your books!

But you know, the Piazzolla thing is wearing off a little now. I've played through several Tangos and although I was first excited when I played through them the first time, they are not holding my interest so much anymore. It's disappointing. Not sure if the music is not written well enough, or if I'm just hard to please. I'll still record a couple of them since I bought the books and all that. And maybe I'll put on a slinky black dress, high heels, and stick a rose in my mouth - perhaps that will re-ignite my interest in the music.

If singing doesn't work in the shower, try to whistle instead, as long as you don't get water in your mouth.

I am sorry to hear that the Piazzolla has lost his pizazz so soon. I wonder, are the pieces arranged, transcribed, or are they original?
... Mine and the audience's too! Seriously, I am going to look through some recordings this week and find some of his representative music and I'll send them as an attachment. If the novelty is wearing off now, don't worry, because you'll most likely come back to it in the future as I have rediscovered Ernesto Lecuona after 17 years. It was like love at first site as I listened to a recording that I had on my shelf for years. I'll try to learn and record Lecuona's pieces for the site, hopefully with a new "6S" that he deserves, (5S + 1 for Spanish flair).

The anomalies in the 2 editions of the Asturias I downloaded drove me crazy on Friday, so I ended up learning the Asturias in the process over the weekend. I hope that's not grounds for a PS divorce? As my first Spanish piece in a long time, I thought the Fandango would take longer to learn. I hope the Fandango from IMSLP is authentic? That's next anyway as the other music won't arrive for another 3-4 weeks - Zoinks! I forgot to mention that I had also ordered the Suite Espagnola, Op. 47, edited by Isidor Philipp (International Music Company). Is that the edition you have?... I'll have to compare it to the downloaded 2 editions. I don't want to hijack your thread, so I'll post my Asturias issues on a separate thread.

That would probably not be a problem. However, avoid whistling while eating dry biscuits.


It happens sometime that you hear something and immediately think "I *must* play that". Only to find that once you get your hands on it, it is not as good as you thought (or maybe, you just can't make it sound as good as the guy on the radio did). Best to listen to things a couple of times, and let them sink in, before ordering the book.

I think Piazolla's nice, if you like the style, but there is not so much musical substance to it. Also, he's overrated. Especially here, since our crown prince married his Argentinian girl Maxima, and our foremost bandoneon player played Piazolla at the wedding, and made Maxima cry. That was good footage... Now all you hear on the radio is Piazzolla tangos

I don't think I will ever find that piece I heard on the radio that got me onto Piazzolla in the first place. It's actually very nice.

But here is some important information: It's easier to whistle the 3rd mov't of the Tempest than it is to sing. I just tried it - maybe I'll make a new recording for the site!

here I sit procrastinating and killing time watching Youtube videos, instead of practicing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR1a5VJq ... re=related

I still love these guys. And George - it's not exactly Scent of a Woman, but I get some S's out of it. Maybe Bach people do too...

Hi Monica, why not call the radio station and get the info from the director. Have the approximate date and time on hand. They may have a limited selection from Piazzolla, and if they're not sure they may give you a list of a few possibilities from their library, and you can simply identify the piece from there. There may also be a schedule online in calender form of that station. Good Luck!

From WTC to tango?... Very amusing video! I would think one would have their hands full when dancing the tango, let alone playing the violin at the same time. That would be a good stunt for Tango Night!