Here is something nice: Swedish conductor Herbert Blomstedt conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in a concert a couple of weeks ago. The program includes both the Schubert Unfinished and Bruckner Symphony No. 8. That's nearly two hours of music conducted from memory (yes, he has the scores on the stand before him, but he never opens them) and while standing. Oh, and he is ninety-four years old.
I said old guys: the other one is Clint Eastwood who just released a new film, a western, in which he both stars and directs and rides a horse a lot. And he is ninety-one. There was a story in the press a few months ago. The Universal Studios lot in Hollywood was threatened by a wildfire and they were trying to evacuate everyone. It was a Saturday morning and Clint Eastwood was there working on editing a film, this one I guess. He refused to leave. That's his idea of retirement.
Personally, I like what the old guys are doing.
