Beethoven and breaking rules

All Beethoven is maybe too much.

It seems I have found that my commute could benefit from all Beethoven on the way in and no Beethoven out. In the evenings, instead of Beethoven I have been listening to something starkly different. Satie, Glass and Feldman have been the modern composers that my overworked brain retreats to in the evening.

For my Beethoven focus I have started with the 4^th, 5^th, 7^th and 9^th Symphonies and a variety of other pieces, most engaging of which was the 5^th Piano Concerto, the so-called The Emperor Concerto. It’s a vibrant piece of music and I hear something new each time. I have been listening to a recording with Seiji Ozawa of the BSO and Rudolf Serkin on Concord/TELARC. Unfortunately, Ozawa has been ill and I wish him a speedy recovery.

The fact is that my exposure to classical music has been so haphazard in the past that all this music is essentially new to me. With each listening session, I gain something new. I hear another instrument, or the conductors influence.

Also, I am dying to listen to a few new pop records. Spoon has a new one that should be great. What are everyone’s thoughts on this? If I maintain my 2 hours a day of classical can I listen to a new record?