"Modern man is full of platitudes about living life to its fullest, with catchy keychain phrases and little plaques for kitchen walls. But if you've never retreated to the solitude of a dark room and listened to Beethoven's Ninth from start to finish, you know nothing. For music is a transcendental exploration of human emotion and experience, the very fabric of life in its purest form. And the Ninth our greatest musical achievement."
― Tiffany Madison
Another thing I miss in the age of the pandemic is attending Madison Symphony Orchestra performances at the Overture Center. Though I've never seen Hillary Hahn perform, the Sibelius Violin Concerto is one of my favorite classical music pieces ― I did see Henning Kraggerud perform it, though, and I do prefer his smoother interpretation.
A few other violist virtuosos I've seen in concert:
Joshua Bell
Sarah Chang (3 times!)
Julian Rachlin
Rachel Barton Pine
Alina Ibragimova
Pinchas Zukerman
Itzhak Perlman
On Sunday mornings I like to run through some of my favorite classical music albums, often selecting an artist or style theme for the several hours that I listen. It isn't uncommon for me to have a day dedicated to Beethoven, Brahms, Bach, Rachmaninoff, Chopin, or Mozart. And true to the Tiffany Madison quote, if I had but only one to listen to, it would be the 9th every time.
When I got up this morning, the temperature was -15. It's -9 right now, but there's a breeze so it feels like -23 with the windchill. To be sure, I have all the proper gear to endure such frigid weather, but I today I think I'd rather stay indoors. I do have a nice variety of birds visiting my patio feeders:
Black-capped Chickadee
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Northern Cardinal
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
House Sparrow
Mourning Dove
There are at least 4 Red-breasted Nuthatches, but there could be several more. A bander I know once told me she became curious about the total number of RBNUs visiting her backyard feeders, seeing only 3 or 4 at any one time. In banding them, It turned out to be something like 15 individuals. Alas, mine will not be banded, but it's fun to think about a small army of RBNUs coming to my patio throughout the day!
Red-breasted Nuthatch © 2021 Mike McDowell