Pat Burke 🇺🇦: That reminds me, I had a music lecturer nearly thirty years ago who suggested that I would come to appreciate it in time. I must find out if he was correct.

Currently listening to: Leoš Janáček's Lašské Tance 🎶 Lašské tance, last chance, for love! 🎶

There’s a quite delightful moment in Brian Friel‘s play Performances where Janaček, seated at the piano, describes his enjoyment of No, No, Nanette and belts out a few bars of I Want to Be Happy.

Oh, that sounds wonderful! And I'll bet that LJ was quite capable of enjoying a snappy tune, having written a number of them himself.

I found my way to LJ via The Makropulos Case because I was intrigued by the idea of, more or less, a gothic thriller science fiction opera, but it was musically way over my head (this was the early 80s) so I didn't really take to it. Now I adore it. (That happened with Richard Strauss too.)

(It still hasn't happened with Berg's Lulu, but to be fair I've given up trying.)

That reminds me, I had a music lecturer nearly thirty years ago who suggested that I would come to appreciate it in time. I must find out if he was correct.

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