A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

©2004, 2005 Sony Classical. ℗ 1981, 1984 Sony BMG Music Entertainment In the fall of 2005 , Sony Classical (a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment) released a digital follow-up to  Great Performances: Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez/Fantasia para un gentilhombre, a 1980s-era compact disc featuring Australian classical guitarist John Williams (no relation to the American composer and conductor of the same name) and two orchestras (one British, one American) recorded years earlier for CBS Masterworks The digital reboot has the same title and featured soloist, but this time Mr. Williams performs the material with the Philharmonia Orchestra (Louis Frémaux conducting). Although it shares a title with an earlier CBS Masterworks album from the 1980s that featured Williams and two orchestras (the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Eugene Ormandy, and the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Charles Groves) in performances of the famous 1939 Concierto de Aranjuez and 1954'...

"As I suspected, you're a rank sentimentalist." - Capt. Louis Renault to Rick Blaine, Casablanca Hello there, Constant Reader! Welcome to another edition of Odds and Ends, an occasional feature here in A Certain Point of View where I write about other things that aren't necessarily my usual Review of the Day fare. I was hoping I'd have that review of John Carpenter's 1983 adaptation of Stephen King's Christine, but I haven't gotten around to it this week. I received the Blu-ray via Amazon Prime and I've watched it once, but I think I'll have to watch it again at least one more time. I liked the movie well enough, even though 36 years have passed since I saw it in theaters back in Miami, Florida, but if I'm going to review it, I need to see it again, this time paying attention to the acting of the cast and the differences between the original novel by King and Bill Phillips' screenplay. Anyway, I've been feeling a bit senti...

On July 29, 1990 - per a notation I made on the compact disc's liner note booklet - I purchased CBS Masterworks' reissue of an album that featured two compositions by Joaquin Rodrigo: the Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia para un gentilhombre. Performed by the acclaimed Australian guitarist John Williams with members of the Philadelphia Orchestra (conducted by Eugene Ormandy) and the English Chamber Orchestra (conducted by Charles Groves), this "Great Performances" recording features two signature compositions written for guitar and orchestra composed by the brilliant Spanish composer and pianist. The Concierto de Aranjuez was composed in 1939, that fateful year that was marked by two connected historical events: Generalissimo Francisco Franco's rise to power as the fascist ruler of Spain at the end of that country's devastating civil war; and the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, one of the two right wing dictatorships which had backed Franco...