Monday, June 24, 2019
Racquetball in the a.m., just me, Steve and Kirk for the first 45 minutes until Tiger showed up, then two games of doubles. I didn't catch my carpool for work until 8. Work was quiet today, giving me time to read a fascinating book about music, "Absolutely on Music," a conversation with Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami and conductor extraordinaire Seiji Ozawa. Murakami is not a musician but very knowledgeable, even passionate, about music. Their discussions about Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, Brahms' First Piano Concerto, Glenn Gould, Leonard Bernstein, opera, Mahler, conducting styles, other conductors, starting out, etc., are fascinating. I read 2/3rds of the book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. Murakami is very detail-oriented and meticulous with his ideas and opinions on music. He has an extensive record collection and will listen to several different recordings of the same piece to hear the differences between performers. Really something.
Getting into research again for La Stravaganza and excited about the possibilities. We all have role models and performers we look up to, but some fans take things to such an obsessive extreme. Wow. It's a fine line to draw where empowerment ends and all-consuming heroworship begins. The mental balancing act appears challenging to those who aren't strong mentally. Some fans give over all of themselves to their performer obsession, and I wonder at the end of the day how healthy that is. Balance is everything. Without balance, proper behavior can sometimes break down. I'll be in search of novels that explore the superfan-heroworship phenomenon. Did the superfans of the 19th century who obsessed over Franz Listz behave the same way Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift fans behave today? I wonder.
Racquetball in the a.m., just me, Steve and Kirk for the first 45 minutes until Tiger showed up, then two games of doubles. I didn't catch my carpool for work until 8. Work was quiet today, giving me time to read a fascinating book about music, "Absolutely on Music," a conversation with Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami and conductor extraordinaire Seiji Ozawa. Murakami is not a musician but very knowledgeable, even passionate, about music. Their discussions about Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, Brahms' First Piano Concerto, Glenn Gould, Leonard Bernstein, opera, Mahler, conducting styles, other conductors, starting out, etc., are fascinating. I read 2/3rds of the book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. Murakami is very detail-oriented and meticulous with his ideas and opinions on music. He has an extensive record collection and will listen to several different recordings of the same piece to hear the differences between performers. Really something.
Getting into research again for La Stravaganza and excited about the possibilities. We all have role models and performers we look up to, but some fans take things to such an obsessive extreme. Wow. It's a fine line to draw where empowerment ends and all-consuming heroworship begins. The mental balancing act appears challenging to those who aren't strong mentally. Some fans give over all of themselves to their performer obsession, and I wonder at the end of the day how healthy that is. Balance is everything. Without balance, proper behavior can sometimes break down. I'll be in search of novels that explore the superfan-heroworship phenomenon. Did the superfans of the 19th century who obsessed over Franz Listz behave the same way Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift fans behave today? I wonder.
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