Music to Cook to - Page 2

That's funny. I use Calvados for a recipe I have for pork loin roast stuffed with apples and prunes that calls for hard cider. It's difficult to find good hard cider around here, and, maybe, that's for the best. I can't drink Calvados by itself.

Since you're from Montreal, are you familiar with Lucy Blue Trombley (sp)? I have one of her albums.

I enjoy listening to Joshua Bell. Is that the guy you're thinking of?

Petals, I began a reply, but then I lost it. Anyway, thank you for introducing me to Carmen Monarcha and Andre Rieu. Great performance! I love that aria - Oh, and un bel di verdremo, of course.

Lucie Blue Tremblay is a folk singer from, I think, Quebec. I can find only samples of songs for you to hear. Suggest you listen to #6 Nos belles annees, and #10 Laissez-moi sortir - any others if you like what you hear. I think she's gay, but I still like her music.

Amazon.com: Lucie Blue Tremblay: Albums, Songs, Bios, Photos

Deirdre

err, NIN or whatever else itunes throws at me (375 gig of tunes)

Favorite smell, no longer made: Givenchy Xerius Rouge

So, you like the Ink Spots. So do I, and particularly the son of one of them, who is a friend of mine. Charles Gray. He used to live in Toronto, was acting, but he and his Anglo Indian wife moved back to California in the nineties. Used to be almost traditional with us to go have dim sum with other friends on Sunday. Yes, I know these songs, and how about "If I Didn't Care"?

What a hoot.

Deirdre

I know; this is wild.

When I was a lot younger, a million years ago, the Ink Spots came to the boarding school I went to, once a year to perform for us. Many moons later, Charles and his wife June rented the house across the street from me, and I first became friends with June because she walked their dogs when I was out tending to the front garden, and we struck up a conversation. Once, when Charles was back in Toronto working, I invited June over for an Indian dinner. After she accepted, I naturally slapped my forehead and asked myself if I were nuts to invite an Anglo Indian to have Indian food. However, it proved the right thing to do, because June thought I cooked the best curries she had had since visiting back home in Mombai. So, when Charles returned home, she asked if I would cook again so he could enjoy it, and he could get to know me. Thusly, our friendship began.

You know, Petals, I don't think I have a favorite song. I like them all, and get a thrill from hearing their voices. They are are so unique in their harmony; there is no one else like them.

I'm going to have to email Charles and tell him about this. He definitely would get a kick out of it.

Deirdre

Rush greatest hits, for high paced prep time.

For a Sunday brunch kinda thing, Jimmy Buffet, live...any of them.

Rancid
Pennywise
Danzig
Killswitch Engage
System Of A Down
The Sex Pistiols

Clean up while having a cold one and telling my team what a good job they did....
Prolly Hip-Hop
Or anything they wanted to cuz they earned it and I sure as **** ain't sticking around to clean up after working all day.

Wouldn't be without satellite radio (and hope it's gonna last!) and go between the 50s, 60s, 70s, blues and sometimes jazz channels.
Now there's a question, does the music vary depending on what you're cooking? Would you play mariachi music if you were making enchiladas, Edith Piaf if it was coq au vin, or maybe "I'm a Lone Cowhand" if you're doing steaks on the barby.

I didn't want to invade the hen party, it was too much to observe. It looks as though the door is open now.

With a very few exceptions, all music -- way too many things to think about listing -- more like a top 1000 than a top 10, a hazard of being in the high-end audio business. But since the subjects came up, I love opera arias and standards.

Don't wear aftershave -- don't shave for that matter. On those occasions when cologne is appropraite, it's 4711.

BDL

Disturbed: Dropping Plates. Guns n Roses: Welcome to the Jungle. anything Sublime. Slayer: War Ensemble. Anthrax: Got the Time. anything fast.

Ha! My neighbors would have me kicked out of the neighborhood.

But, yes, that's a beautiful aria and Pavaroti was great. Nice man, too.

Should we mention the other tenors and Andrea Bocelli? Sopranos? I love Delibe's Flower Duet from Lakme. In case you are not familiar with it - YouTube - Lakmé Flower Duet Erika Miklosa Bernadett Wiedemann

You might have inspired me - I couldn't think what to do for dinner tomorrow. I'll be helping my daughter cram for a psych test. Maybe lasagna, garlic toast and salad. I can make the lasagna today or early tomorrow; less interruptions. Her husband would come over for that, then go home to leave us to the intricacies of Learning.

Gracie,

Deirdre

Have a great weekend. And, go ahead, SING.

Enbrasso,

Deirdre

I like all of the bel canto chestnuts. If you put a gun to my head, I'd put the duet frm the Pearl Fishers (Jussin Bjorling - Robert Merrill) version, and the "mad scene" from Lucia, "Oh, giusto cielo!...Il dolce suono" (Joan Sutherland) at the very top. But there's lots of other opera I like too -- Mozart, Britten, Wagner, you name it.

Those two have personal associations going beyond the beauty of the performances -- Bjorling and Merrill were my Grandpa Harry's favorite tenors, and Lucia de Lammermoor with Joan Sutherland on her American debut tour was the first opera I ever attended.

Some songs are so beautiful they make it hard to breathe. One of the few that gets a smirk is "La donna e mobile." What irony.

There are so many recordings of so many great singers doing so many great arias, it's not really fair to go for favorites. But again, gun to head -- a tough choice between Bjorling and Placido Domingo.

But... I just can't begin to choose a soprano. Renata Tebaldi, Kathleen Battle, Kiri Te Kanawa, Maria (or should I say, Medea) Callas, Joan Sutherland, Bubbles (Beverly Sills), Flika (Federica von Stade), Luba Orgonasova, Daniil Shtoda, more, more, more -- the list goes on and on. So beautiful.

The Ellat Fitzgerald songbooks -- especially Arlen, Gershwin and Cole Porter. No opera, just "oh my!" And even though I'm straight, I like Judy Garland and Billie Holliday an awful lot.

Just a few of so many,
BDL

Couldn't agree more, BDL. First opera I saw, age nine, was Rigoletto, and La Donna stuck in my head for weeks. But, sad, sad, sad. First album I ever owned, that my father bought for my second Christmas, was Peter and the Wolf, narrated by Basil Rathbone, natch.

Ballet is sublime. My least favorite is Swan Lake, however, though I've seen it three times. Was able to see Fontaine dance the Fire Bird; her swan song, when I was sixteen. Shostakovich is not my favorite composer, but her dancing was magnificent. The song The Ballet from "Chorus Line" rings so true for me.

I don't suppose I'll ever see Wagner's Ring Cycle performed (only in Germany, I think), but I have spent the required hours in listening to it, which took two days. Love driving down a country road on a beautiful day listening to The Ride of the Valkyries. I have a friend whose grandfather was Wagner's next door neighbor, and I've heard some stories. It's amazing to me that a composer who could be so nasty could write such thrilling music. I suppose Lizt's daughter somehow found him a good companion. In my opinion, Wagner is one of the few who takes total advantage of the whole orchestra.

Ah, la bel musique, cuisine delicieux et un coupe du vin. Parfait!

Deirdre

I've always been a rock fan so anything by Billy Idol, Pat Benatar, AC/DC (**** yea :) - and banging the kitchen sink with the wooden spatulas as my drumsticks.

Sunday mornings might play opera or frank sinatra (New York New York anyone?) - I guess it can only depend on the mood....AND if your cooking for that special someone ;)

A lot of it depends upon what day it is, almost literally, but as a general rule when I would be getting prepped for dinner service it was something along the lines of Pantera, System of a Down, Anthrax, Metallica(Black Album and older)... On a Sunday at home its usually something along the lines of Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, Neil Diamond.

I love cooking to the classics.