After starting back to work... distance teaching for at least the first quarter... beginning with 3+ weeks of professional development... learning a slew of platforms for distance learning/teaching/meeting: ZOOM, Microsoft Groups, Schoology, Office 365, Seesaw, etc... etc... I already feel like this:
I had to take a handful of Ibuprofen, lay on the bed, and listening to something more relaxing:
The Russians have always been "hit or miss" with me... depending upon my mood... but Rachmaninoff has always been far more hit than miss.
I noticed Brian's been listening a lot recently to Mendelssohn. Of all the big name composers of the Austro-Germanic Hegemony

Mendelssohn may be the composer who appeals least to me. Of course, I love his violin concerto and several other works, still... But I quite enjoy a good many of his chamber works... including this trio. Dvořák, on the other hand, for all his elements of East European folk music, may be as much part of the Austro-Germanic tradition as Brahms... not unlike Liszt. His
Dumky Trio is one of his finest works. I remember on the old music forum that Brian and I used to frequent there were frequently debates as to who was the greater composer: Tchaikovsky or Dvořák... or Brahms or Dvořák. At first, it seemed as if the answer was obvious in each case... and didn't favor Dvořák... but the more we looked into his oeuvre the more impressive he was. Having said that... maybe some more Dvořák later?