I am listening to Jascha Heifetz and Yehudi Menuhin’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin by Johann Sebastian Bach. The only two compact disks that I have at my disposal at the moment, they are a true joy to listen to. For some reason, I am partial to Menuhin, though, and I listen to him a bit more often than I listen to Heifetz. And that annoys me no end. It makes me outright mad with myself. Why cannot I just listen to Bach, instead? Why am I suffering from the old likes and dislikes in interpretation rather than dedicating all my attention to the magnificent music itself? What is worse, the partitas and sonatas selected by the two violinists are essentially the same, as well: BWV 1001 through 1006. Silly old me.

Addendum  (December 19, 2008) 

Everything is just fine, as it turns out. Today I am partial to Heifetz rather than Menuhin. God knows why, but this is so. I am in a Nineteenth Century mood, I guess. But the important thing is that old Bach is the winner in this silly contest. The violinists are just that, violinists. Which makes me quite happy, I must admit.