Jan 182010
Something lighter for the holidays. (Yes, still going here in the sleepy land of Oz.) Number one son is learning the old standard, so I passed on the story of Nicolai Malko’s bet with the young Shostakovitch: 100 roubles if he could orchestrate Tea for Two after listening to a recording just once. Here’s the result – it took Shostakovitch 45 minutes.
Naxos has a buoyant CD of this as part of a program of his early light music. A touch fulsome compared to Chailly’s but as usual, very good value.
Hmm. I’ve been listening to Tea for Two all my life. I just tried to play it on the piano by ear, and after 45 minutes … gave up trying to work out how to get out of the middle 8, and went in search of the music.