Ingrid Fliter - Chopin Preludes (Linn Records)

[Confused]

That's a very imaginative description; have you ever thought of a career in literature?  But it definitely sounds as though you're hearing what I heard.  Once you pick it up, it's very hard to "un hear", as you said.  At least after Linn's reply you can rest assured that it's not a problem with your system or hearing.  Once again, thanks very much for taking the time to try this out.

Your point about the way the brain works is well made; it fascinates me too.  Mrs thumb5 and I had a holiday in Vienna a couple of years ago, where there's a very good museum of music.  Apart from lots of stuff about their orchestra and opera, and (great) descriptions of how musical instruments work, there was a really interesting section showing some interactive "aural illusions".  (As an aside, I'm not sure why we're not more familiar with that term, optical illusions being so widespread.)  These were truly astonishing and illustrated very well how much of what we hear is "made up" to match what we subconsciously expect.  It's a long way to go just for the museum, but I can recommend it if you ever happen to be in Vienna.

Funnily enough I'm back on piano music again after having "gone off it" a bit for the last few weeks: I'm listening to a lovely piano concerto by Rautavaara at the moment.  (Might switch to something heavier a bit later when I have the living room to myself.)

A career in literature?  I am not sure if that was a compliment or sarcasm after my 'breathing into a sandbox' line.   Anyway, it's too late for me, too many years in the big bad world of heavy engineering.  Completely off topic waffle, but my brother has actually worked as professional writer, so maybe something in the genes?  At one time big brother did concert and album reviews for the Daily Telegraph and edited the arts and books page.  It is actually very interesting to read reviews in an established and respected(?) publication that have been written by someone you know well, and indeed have spend a big chunk of your life disagreeing with, particularly with respect to things music related.  It makes you realise that all reviewers are very human, fallible and can be wrong, at least respect to your own world view.  I think this applies equally to those reviewing hifi kit in established and respected(?) hifi publications.  In fairness to big brother, he did have a very high degree of integrity, this is in a world where we suspect all reviewers are beholden to powerful distributors and advertisers.  I know he was once offered a bribe from a publisher to provide a suitably favourable review of a newly released book. He returned the book to the publisher with a short review that read "For a more satisfying literary experience, try nailing your scrotum to the floor of your local library".

As for Vienna, I can think of very many reasons for visiting Austria, so I will keep the museum in mind, it sounds like just the kind of thing I would enjoy.