Tim Mahon suggests to Don Satz:
>Then listen to the second horn concerto, the four last songs, Tod und
>Verklarung or the central section of Eine Alpensinfonie. If these don't
>change your mind, nothing will! Cheers
It is received wisdom that Eine Alpensinfonie is a bombastic and empty
potboiler. This is IMHO, nonsense - it is a masterpiece, and it is good
to see Tim citing it. A great strength of Alec Ross' New Yorker article
is that he actually LISTENED to the tone poems, including this one.
I would add to Tim's list the Ophelia Songs, recorded beautifully by
Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmut Hoell.
Professor Bernard Chasan
Physics Department, Boston University