shopping ~ "Help me!" ~ playlist

With Borders out of the picture, will I be spending more Friday nights shopping and browsing on Amazon? I ran into a glitch on Amazon last night, so my order for the new DG recording of Andre Previn's "Brief Encounter" will be delayed. Other browsing spots here in Howard County: Barnes & Noble is great for the books, but our branch doesn't sell CDs and DVDs. Best Buy at the new Gateway center has been good for selection of recent and popular movies, and I recently found a special package of the original 1958 "The Fly" with not-so-special sequels and a very special documentary on the life and career of Vincent Price. Best Buy has CDs, but the classical section is barely a section. Daedalus Books and Music's outlet in Columbia is fabulous for its selection of discounted remainders in books, CDs and DVDs, and I've come across some interesting items in the classical CD section. Daedulus, however, is not available for late evening browsing so far, if you're looking for that. It closes at 7pm, and a little earlier on Sundays.

I never saw the remake, but the original "The Fly" still has the power to thrill and shock. Seeing it for my first time on a small black and white TV many years ago left me with memories of a very good B sci-fi movie, but having it in the original colorful Cinemascope reveals a higher level of film-making. Besides special effects, some very fine acting was invested in this movie. Extreme creepy moments for me which I think could disturb some viewers today: losing the cat and hearing its disembodied cries; the rightly famous and horrible "Help me!" scene on the spider web. However, listening to the dialog and watching the interaction between the doomed scientist and his wife, it's easy to see why someone saw operatic possibilities in the story (although the opera by Howard Shore that was staged a few years ago was based on the more graphic remake).

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A few discs from my old collection and from new purchases that have been on my player lately:

~ Stephen Stubbs and Teatro Lirico in sonatas and dances from 17th century Italy and Slovakia and new improvisations on the Folia bass. ECM, 2006.
~ Stephen Bishop Kovacevich, Colin Davis and the BBC SO in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2. Philips, 1975, in 1989 reissue.
~ Martyn Brabbins and the Norrkoping SO in John Pickard's "The Flight of Icarus". BIS, 2008.
~ Hachig Kazarian and his ensemble in "Armenia, Armenia". Traditional songs and dances with some amazing clarinet and oud, other instruments and voice. An old Monitor album reissued on CD. Date unknown, but I knew this collection on vinyl back in the 1970s or 80s.

~ Jiri Belohlavek and the Prague Philharmonia in Mozart's Haffner and Linz symphonies. Harmonia Mundi, 2005.*
~ Mezzo-soprano Brigitte Balleys and soprano Mireille Delunsch with Philippe Herreweghe and Orchestre des Champs-Elysees in Berlioz's "Nuits d'ete" and "Herminie". Harmonia Mundi, 1995/2009.*
~ Soprano Dawn Upshaw with David Zinman and the Orchestra of St. Luke's in songs and opera excerpts by Barber, Menotti, Harbison and Stravinsky. "Winner of the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Classical Voice Soloist." Nonesuch, 1989/2011.*

*All found at Daedulus in the last couple of weeks. Upshaw and St. Luke's album was a staff pick when I was there last weekend.

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Never lost my movie-watching mojo, but I am getting my recently discussed reading mojo back, too! Read most recently: Eudora Welty's rather long short story, "Moon Lake". It oddly evoked memories of Peter Weir's film, "Picnic at Hanging Rock", and my own summer camp experiences around a magical lake, albeit with Boy Scouts.

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I just added links to my preceding hurried calendar post.