Monday, May 23rd

by musicclipoftheday

I love his approach to Mozart. He’s never fussy or mannered. He plays simply, directly—like a bird flying from tree to tree.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Piano Sonata No. 12 in F major (:07-), Fantasia in C minor (22:42-), Sonata No. 14 in C minor (39:54-); Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000), live, Germany (Munich), 1990


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lagniappe

musical thoughts

Mozart was a kind of idol to me—this rapturous singing . . . that’s always on the edge of sadness and melancholy and disappointment and heartbreak, but always ready for an outburst of the most delicious music.

—Saul Bellow (1915-2005)

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reading table

If, instead of the words ‘good’ or ‘right’ (or ‘sacred’) we use the words ‘beautiful’ or ‘pleasurable’ or ‘enlivening,’ . . . how would our lives be different?

—Adam Phillips, Unforbidden Pleasures (quoted in yesterday’s New York Times Book Review)