Who Wouldn't Be The One You Love?

Yesterday's football game was _amazing_! I haven't been that nervous/stressed/happy/scared during a match for ages, it really reminded me of what I love about football :)

I've now finished my eye meds, and it's more or less back to it's normal white. Still have a bit of a cold, but it should be gone soon enough. Three days into the new job, and am enjoying it so far. A lot of training, whereof not all good, but best be on the safe side. Due to long hours both book and knitting projects have been put on hold until the weekend, but Saturday will bring both knitting, more football, beer and even some ice hockey!

Tuesday, when I got home in the evening, Herbert von Karajan's recording with the Vienna Philharmonics and Anne-Sophie Mutter of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons (1984) had arrived from one of my best friends (amazon sellers). Now, a lot of people do not know (or care) how big difference the conductor, orchestra and/or lead performers make to a piece of music. The Four Seasons has always been one of my favorites, but the Karajan/Mutter sessions really capture the quintessence of what I love about it all. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, find Karajan/Mutter Summer 3 or Winter 3 on youtube. It hurts my heart when people only connect the third summer movement with Vanessa Mae's shrill electric violin.

Karajan conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from shortly after WWII until his death in 1989. He was Mutter's mentor and got her started on her path to the world renowned violinist she is today. In addition to this splendid recording of Vivaldi's Seasons, he was somewhat of a Beethoven perfectionist. Some hate his work, others love it, and I belong to the latter category. Beethoven is my favorite composer, and I think the Berlin Philharmonic recordings of his symphonies under Karajan's lead are amongst the best investments one can make.

Anne-Sophie Mutter, in turn, has done some of my favorite violin recordings, and I hope to see her with the Trondheim soloists at some point. Although artists like Hahn, Midori, Chang (good Sibelius) and St. John do some composers very well, there's something about Mutter's sound that I just instinctually connect with how a good violinist should sound, female and almost brittle. This is the source of no minor amount of debate in classical circles.