(Mussorgsky: Baba-Yaga and The Great Gate of Kiev from "Pictures At An Exhibition" - Broadcast of March 20, 1960)

Okay, I confess . . I'm addicted to Classical Music. It was the first thing I heard coming out of the womb and it's been with me ever since. My guilty pleasure is hearing it live, my guiltier pleasure is hearing it live from decades ago. I grew up listening to The New York Philharmonic on the radio as a kid and nothing on earth sounded as wonderful as that orchestra did in the 1950's and 1960's, with names like Bruno Walter, Guido Cantelli, Artur Rodzinski, Leonard Bernstein and Fritz Reiner stood at the podium and made magic in Carnegie Hall.

So here's a sample, a small sample, but a taste of what that wonderful band sounded like in March of 1960, when Fritz Reiner guest conducted and the concert was broadcast. I still picture a nine year-old trying to climb into the speaker to get a better listen.

I still try to do that.