extraordinary music, extraordinarily American ~

just an arbitrary selection:

Blues in the Night
Let’s Fall in Love
Stormy Weather
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
This Time the Dream’s on Me
That Old Black Magic
Ac-cent-chu-ate the Positive
Come Rain or Come Shine
Ding Dong the Witch is Dead
Paper Moon
One for my Baby and One More for the Road
Written in the Stars
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues

all those great songs, you can’t quite think who wrote ’em?
Harold Arlen wrote ’em.

on some occasions his own co-lyricist with Truman Capote, he collaborated extensively with Ira Gershwin, Yip Harburg, Ted Koehler and Johnny Mercer...

and out of all the cantor’s sons who found their way to Tin Pan Alley, Arlen had the ear most keenly tuned to what was happening ’way uptown...

many of his songs find quite an exquisite expression on Ella Fitzgerald’s Harold Arlen Songbook, a current Verve rerelease. Here, in contrast with the elegant and understated stylings of Buddy Bregman on the Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hart collections, the Billy May orchestra is really, really hot...

Mahler V at Carnegie Hall...

...on Monday I night got taken to Carnegie Hall by honorary-ex-wife Susan, to hear James Conlon conduct the Juilliard Orchestra in a program of extravagantly proportioned symphonic works.
Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony followed intermission, and I was very impressed by the passionate rendering of the first two movements,
I Trauermarsch and II Stürmisch Bewegt. Very exciting stuff. And then movement III Scherzo fell flat on its Allerwertesten, which I thought was the conductor’s fault more than it was the orchestra’s... it just didn’t swing, and a Ländler’s got to ought to swing... Movement IV Adagietto was pristinely beautiful, and it was perhaps just an illusion from sitting in the orchestra section of Carnegie that made the harps sound a little too loud... Personal triumph for me was that I didn’t think of Dirk Bogarde dying on the beach until after I was out of the concert... Movement V Rondo got run a bit ragged by a band that was slightly beat, although it remained stirring and proud.
All in all I found Conlon at the bat to feel a bit foursquare, but I will take any opportunity to hear this music. It remains complex and challenging to players and interpreters at one hundred years of age, reveals its depths in no hurry over the decades I’ve had it in my life, and reminds one that the listener has responsibilities as well.

a couple exceptional wines at Forge...

...so had dinner down in Tribeca with the lovely and companionable Cynthia Sexton on Wednesday night, enjoying the flavours of Marc Forgione, along with two bottles that weighed in somewhere between outstanding and memorable.
The first of these was my bright idea. Knowing that Cynthia willingly dines fizz-first I had already ordered a bottle of Pierre Moncuit Cuvée Delos, Grand Cru Mesnil by the time she got decanted out of her taxicab—this was a bottle that didn’t get hurried out of Champagne and shoved on to a boat, so in addition to the expected exuberance and depth, the lemon and grapefruit explosion, there were wonderful mineral tones, and an expansive body underneath with a bit of dough and satisfying yellow fruits. Deluscious by itself, it fared well alongside a slightly citric grilled octopus with various mushrooms and contrasting greens.
Our second bottle was chosen by sommelier Matthew Conway, who sympathised with a certain amount of indecision over what colour wine to drink with the combination of veal medallions and sweetbreads that we’d both ordered. We chose this special for all the wrong reasons, mainly that the chap who was sitting at the adjacent table when we arrived—who pitched his Blackberry to the floor via my lap as he was extricating himself from his seat— remarked in passing how much he hadn’t liked the veal medallions with sweetbreads—but I couldn’t help but notice that he was also slightly polluted (although in no way personally unpleasant) so perhaps not in the best shape to judge fine flavours... We consulted the server, asked her opinion, were given a most articulate defense of said menu item, and decided both to order this dish in solidarity with her and the house—whereby we indulged in a bit of contrariness with no victim, and were fed excellent veal as a result. So what to drink? Agonised over the ’90 Olga Raffault Chinon Picasses, but let Matthew choose, and were rewarded with his pick of a 2006 Mas Daumas Gassac blanc, which showed itself to be a totally splendid olofactorama... It got sloshed into a decanter and sat off ice on the table for the better part of an hour as the aromatix just continued to develop. Grown from various vines of viognier, chardonnay, chenin blanc and gros manseng, each whiff of the stuff out of big burgundy glasses ventured farther and farther off the beaten track—continuing the pineapple theme of the champagne, but reaching fuurther beyond into the realms of mango and candied peach... the wine’s presence on the palate was substantial without being heavy, showed a very nice and finely tuned texture.

the national pass-time...

in spite of the fact that it might get me accused of wanting to be on the side that’s winning, I shall go on record preferring the Phillies, for the sole reason that they are the only ball-club I know of that was named for a cigar. Also I very much like the fact that their pitcher hit a home-run last night...

~ Bad Tölz ~ von der Fußbrücke über die Isar neben dem Alten Fährhaus gesehen...

a couple noteworthy visits in the Rheingau

I took advantage of the fact that I’m not currently selling anything German to tag along with David Schildknecht for a couple days, and revisit some notable addresses along the Rhein. And I don’t really care to act as bearer of tough tidings—it is far too easy for any would-be Cassandra to end up coming off as Chicken Little—but the entire parade did get severely rained-on while I was there—making 2008 in this part of the world somewhat of a wait-and-see how-much-it-dries-out proposition.

Two estates in particular stood out for the quality of the 2007 rieslings: Weingut Johannishof and Weingut August Kesseler.

It was particularly rewarding to sit with Johannes Eser and his father Hans-Hermann over a plate of Pfifferlingen at their Hoffest and exchange news and opinions with Christian Witte from Schloß Johannisberg about the latest developments—some concerning the use of native oak in the cellars—in this storied Anbaugebiet. I had forgotten—or perhaps hadn't ever learned—that Papa Eser had done an étage at Muré in Alsace, long before it was customary for German winemakers to cross that particular border. And I think it was David who said that Muré has recently gotten official permission to plant a few rows of syrah... plus ça change, plus ça change...

The 1992 Johannisberger Klaus Spätlese that we drank at the dinner table was particularly fine, and has matured gracefully. And there were some rather lovely offerings from 07, which got tasted in detail—the first vintage in quite a while that each Prädikat has found its way onto the label here at the Johannishof. Wines that I particularly liked were 1. Geisenheimer Kläuserweg Spätlese Trocken: finely textured with lovely minerality... 2. Johannisberger Hölle Erstes Gewächs: very round and luxuriant with satisfying depth, pineapples and pears with a nutty spiciness nicely integrated, profits from having as much residual sugar as the law will allow... 3. Kabinett "V": elegant and expressive, peaches and pears, nicely integrated mineral strands, citrus finish aromatix... 4. Johannisberger Klaus Spätlese: minerally magical, stone fruit, with finely tuned acids... 5. Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland Spätlese: holy show! what a mouthfull... the 2007 Eiswein was picked on 22 December from Johannisberger Goldatzel, and wasn't as agressive to taste as one might imagine... BA and TBA came out of Berg Rottland...

I’ve been visiting with the Eser family since my first trip to the Rheinland in 1988, but I had only been once previously to visit August Kesseler in Assmannshausen, and that was to taste the 2002 vintage five years ago. My notes from that trip reveal that we tasted the rieslings before the spätburgunder, and I am pleased to report that on this occasion the reds were presented first. Kesseler spent a great deal of time with us, and took us on a tour of the vines above Lorch and Lorchhausen, sites I'd not yet seen... Also noteworthy was Herr Kesseler’s stated opinion that ’02 was the last classic vintage for spätburgunder in his neighbourhood.

Highlights of the tasting were the 06 Spätburgunder Cuvée Max, which likely profited from the fact that we were shown no Höllenberg or Berg Schloßberg spätburgunders. This wine presented a lovely mouthful of blueberries, spiced with a bit of charcutérie, nice body and lovely balance. Kesseler got Erstes Gewächs out of both Berg Roseneck and Berg Schloßberg in 07—and I am always fascinated to try vineyards side-by-side: 1. Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Erstes Gewächs: nose stony and resinous, rich and meaty on the palate, rather elegant with a good shot of residual sugar, very nicely textured... 2. Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg Erstes Gewächs: very round aromatic impression of honeysuckle and honey, creamy rich, peachy-pearsy on the palate, spicy finish aromatix... 3. Rüdesheimer Bischofsberg Spätlese Goldkapsel: great density without much perceptible weight to it. how does he do that? very eloquent expression of peach and vanilla. rich and nicely textured; good acid. 4. Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Auslese Goldkapsel: magically transparent texture—perfumed and elegant... 5. Rüdesheimer Berg Schloßberg Auslese Goldkapsel: quite a mouthful, grander but still elegant. beautifully floral with a stone-fruit substance... 6. Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck Beerenauslese Goldkapsel: not lacking for density or chew, but once again elegant, dark flavours coupled with lychee and mango, wonderful length with citrusy finish aromatix... and then there were three Trockenbeerenauslese Goldkapsel: Lorcher Schloßberg, Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck and Berg Schloßberg...

So, especially good news for the sweet tooth!