Last night I was reminded of the song that got away and entered the ranks of "haunting" music for me. About a dozen years ago, my friend C. and I were running errands on a hot Denver day. It was too far past lunch time when we pulled into the parking lot of a thrift store on the other side of town from home. I was crabby and I'm pretty sure he was too, although he was always more reserved with his crabby than I am. If the DJ told us who the pianist was we had not been paying attention but out of the car speakers came the most amazing performance ever of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. The first movement was slow and still and seemed to soothe the heat for a few minutes. We didn't say anything when we pulled into the parking spot but C. didn't turn off the radio and neither of us made a move to open our doors.
We just sat there and listened.
I eventually purchased a Horowitz recording and enjoy it often. Last night though, I listened to several more on Youtube and think that maybe the Daniel Barenboim is closer to how I remember it. I'm going to spend some time looking through this Classical Music Blog entry too. Most of it is over my head, but I am interested in the reviews and Top 10. At this point, I don't expect to ever find that version and don't really want to. That version has been layered with memory and enhanced in my mind. It is fun to think about and long for though.
(posted on Youtube by felipefelipe)
I had dinner with C. last night and, in an interesting turn of events, his memory of the "Moonlight Event" is that we sat listening in a cozy car that was temporary shelter before going out into a very cold day.
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