Gather Round, all Classical Music Lovers

Cheers, Boss, t'ank ye . . .

music and lyrics
Phoenix, I remember as a child going on a school field trip to the L.A. Symphony Auditorium to see Bernstein do a presentation for kids. It was one of my epiphanies, as it were. Later as a young adult I saw one of his presentations on TV. He was such a showman in the best (educational) sense of the word. He was discussing Beethoven's 5th, giving an account of how Beetoven conjured his famous introductory phrase ...- from the sound of a door knock, as I recall. He was sitting on a darkened stage at the piano with a spotlight on himself and the piano, plunking out the four famous notes and those that followed for a few bars. THEN, he stood up and the lights came on revealing a full symphony orchestra behind him. And suddenly they began the 5th Symphony full blast. The hairs on my arms are standing now as I recall it. A masterful moment of educational technique. SO MUCH BETTER than the usual music appreciation discussions I experienced at school.

Ya know, it's things like this that make me want to scream at my local telephone and cable companies for not making high speed net access available. I HATE DIAL-UP! Look at what I miss! Arrrgh... grumble moan...

Thanks, Phoenix -- I put it in my favorites.

Boy do I remember the old LA Symphony auditorium. I believe Steinberg was one of the conductors of that time. Many memories of a concert and then an invasion of the coffee houses on Sunset Strip (or a jazz club!)

JLNobody- My son just told me today that if a person has digital cable, there is a station called "Trio" which is playing Bernstein's Children's concerts on a regular basis.

You can buy the whole set for $299-, but it is VHS, not DVD. www.half.com is selling it for $229-.