Maintenance, Music & Men

I have a lot of activity going on at the house today.  In addition to my Pay Day chores and errands (which are thankfully complete now), Corporate Maintenance is in redoing the piping leading to and from my water heater.  There is also work to be done on the air handling portion of the AC unit.  This all came to light when Corporate Maintenance paid us an inspection visit yesterday.  Apparently, prior to our leasing this unit, the water heater was replaced.  However, the installation was not exactly up to code.  Now that the city inspection is coming up, this needs to be corrected.  Corporate stepped in because the onsite staff was not getting the job done.  I am glad to see that someone at least is paying attention to maintenance issues around here.  After all the hubbub of the day, I still have to work tonight from 5-11.  Hopefully by the time I get home, all will be quiet and I will finally be able to chill.

For your Musical Moment today, I have a wonderful classic recording of 4 'books' of music by Spanish Pianist and Composer Isaac Albéniz.  These 'books' were recorded in Iberia between 1951 and 1953 by Pianist José Echániz.  Echániz (1905-1969), a Cuban-born child prodigy, studied at the Falcon Conservatory in Havana, where he was awarded the title "professor of piano" at age 14. During the 1920s, he appeared at Carnegie Hall, toured U.S. cities, and appeared in Paris, The Hague, Amsterdam, and Madrid. During the 1930's, he was a featured soloist with orchestras in Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. he appeared under the batons of such distinguished conductors as Iturbi, Mitropoulos, Kleiber, Leinsdorf, and others. Echániz joined the Eastman School faculty in 1944. As a teacher, he believed in a solid grounding in the classical repertory. His students commonly undertook the entire Well Tempered Clavier or, as a class, the 27 concertos of Mozart. Throughout his 25-year teaching career, Echániz maintained an active career as a recitalist in Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean, as an orchestral soloist, and as a recording artist.  Included in today's play list are (en Espanol):

Livre I (Les trois pièces ont été dédicacées à la femme d'Ernest Chausson).
0:00 : Evocación
4:38 : El Puerto qui est le port de Sainte-Marie dans la province de Cadix
8:10 : Corpus Christi en Sevilla décrivant une procession, rythmée par les tambours, puis s'éloignant progressivement.

Livre II

15:57 : Almería

27:24 : Rondeña, possiblement une évocation de Ronda, dans la province de Malaga, ou encore une danse inspirée du flamenco

23:02 : Triana reprenant une danse inspirée du flamenco sévillan.

Livre III
33:38 : El Albaicín : il s'agit du quartier gitan de Grenade
39:32 : El Polo, quartier populaire de Madrid, mais aussi le nom d'une danse d'Andalousie.
45:14 : Lavapiés, autre quartier populaire de Madrid, la seule pièce dont le titre ne s'inspire pas de l'Andalousie, mais reprenant tout de même une rythmique de tango andalousien.

Livre IV
51:05 : Málaga
55:23 : Jerez
01:00:56 : Eritaña qui est une auberge située hors les murs de Séville

Meanwhile over on my tumblr, there is a study of Art: Music and Painting.  A collection of classical music while Claude Monet’s masterpieces run on the screen. Strauss’ finale is performed by Donetsk Orhestra and Chorus conducted by Silvano Frontalini.  Beethoven’s concerto is performed by Slupsk Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Silvano Frontalini. Paola Volpe plays the piano.  Mendelssohn’s Speranza is performed by the pianist Saulis Dirvanauskas.  

Now that we have the music all mapped out, let's talk about Art of a different breed with a heaping helping of callow colts and studly stallions all decked out in denim in this week's edition of Men in Jeans.  You will find them lounging about the page below the play list.  Be sure to check out Superman in Denim, Your Hottie of the Day! over on my tumblr.  Thanks for the visit, see you again soon.  Until next time as always, Enjoy!