three takes
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Piano Sonata No. 8 in A minor
Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), live
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Artur Schnabel (1882-1951), 1939
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Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950), live, France (Besancon), 1950
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The A minor sonata is the first of only two Mozart piano sonatas in a minor key . . . It was written in one of the most tragic times of his life: his mother had just died.
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)
If I learned I had a week to live, one afternoon, sunlight streaming through the windows, I’d listen to Mozart.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Adagio in B minor, K. 540
Mitsuko Uchida, live
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lagniappe
art beat: other day, Art Institute of Chicago
Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Entrance to the Public Gardens at Arles, 1888
(Taking a break—back in a while.)
This is a sound-world I’d be happy to inhabit all day.
Anna Thorvaldsdóttir (1977-), Ró (2013); Esbjerg Ensemble, live
MCOTD Hall of Fame
Morton Feldman (1926-1987), Durations I (1960); Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, live
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago (Columbus Park)
sounds of Chicago
Ralph Shapey (1921-2003), Three for Six (1979); Oerknal!, live, Netherlands (The Hague, Amsterdam) 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
He ate and drank the precious Words—
His Spirit grew robust—
He knew no more that he was poor,
Nor that his frame was Dust—
He danced along the dingy Days
And this Bequest of Wings
Was but a Book—What Liberty
A loosened spirit brings——Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), 1593 (Franklin)
So bleak, so beautiful—like life.
Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998), Viola Concerto (1985), live, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Valery Gergiev, cond.), Yuri Bashmet (viola)
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lagniappe
art beat
Bruce Davidson (1933-), Palisades, N.J., 1958
Something to wash over you.
John Luther Adams (1953-), The Light Within (2007); New Music Detroit, live, Detroit, 2014
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lagniappe
reading table
spring rain—
the uneaten ducks
are quacking—Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828; translated from Japanese by David G. Lanoue)
In a hurry?
Better go somewhere else.
Want to step outside of time?
You’ve come to the right place.
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Piano Sonata No. 18 (G major, D. 894); Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), live
Tried listening to this last night while working on a criminal appeal. Couldn’t. Work waited.
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
music clip of the day 