Andrew Carlan writes [pared down to two points I'm going to address]:

>.....Nielsen's sublime "Sinfonia Espansiva" (Horenstein and the Halle
>Orchestra on the Intaglio label--never heard of it before)

Intaglio: Italian pirate label liberally looting the BBC transcription
service and other sources to build an astonishing mono-only catalog of
radio performances.  I think Intaglio is out of business, but there are
plenty to be found at Berkshire Record Outlet.  When the subject turns
to Shostakovich and the Piano Quintet, I'll pop in my favorite
Intaglio-related story.

>I post this because I find that the body's response in terms of sustained
>energy is a good way of judging music.  If it has the power to energize
>the weary muscles, there must be something to it.

Amen to this, and I can support it by direct observation.  When I have
a long series of packing jobs to do toward the end of the day [I'm an
internet bookseller], I put something galvanic on the vic: Maybe
Prokofiev's 2nd Piano Concerto [Kun Woo Paik!], Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
playing Haydn Symphonies or Rossini Overtures, Brueggen's "Eroica," or,
yes, "Sinfonia espansiva," [Ehrling or Salonen], or some of Bach's flashier
toccatas and fugues played by Simon Preston...  and I am forever astonished
by the tonic effect.  [Pun intended].

John Wiser
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