alone
This guy breathes life into whatever he plays. The other day we heard a Beethoven performance from 1993. Here he is in 1964.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue; Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000), piano, live, 1964
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lagniappe
reading table
‘[O]ur days on Earth are numbered, and the numbers are not that big.’
—Samantha Harvey, Dear Thief
Three more takes.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, excerpt (third movt.)
Friedrich Gulda (1930-2000), live, Japan, 1993
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Maurizio Pollini (1942-), live
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Rudolf Serkin (1903-1991), piano, live, 1987
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lagniappe
reading table
‘A book is a device to ignite the imagination.’
—Alan Bennett, The Uncommon Reader
There are a handful of pieces I can’t imagine living without—this is one.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, excerpt (third movt.); Igor Levit (piano), live, Amsterdam, 2013
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reading table
To say she is dead is senseless, just as senseless as it is to say I myself am alive.
—Samantha Harvey, Dear Thief
Morton Feldman (1926-1987), Patterns in a Chromatic Field (1981)
Arne Deforce (cello) & Yutaka Oya (piano)
Live (excerpts), Belgium (Kortrijk), 2013
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Charles Curtis (cello) & Aleck Karis (piano)
Recording, 2004
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lagniappe
random thoughts: New Year’s resolution #4
No matter how much I get out, it never fails. Whenever I experience live music, as I did Sunday when I heard this otherworldly piece played, wonderfully, by cellist Mira Luxion and pianist Andy Costello (Constellation, Chicago), I leave with the same thought—you really ought to do this more often.
Five hours?
As far as I’m concerned, this could go on forever.
Morton Feldman (1926-1987), For Philip Guston (1984); Claire Chase (flute, alto flute, piccolo), Steven Schick (percussion), Sarah Rothenberg (piano, celesta), live (3:50-), Houston (Rothko Chapel), 11/2/14
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random thoughts: New Year’s resolution #1
Quit thinking other people should be more like me—if anything, be thankful they aren’t.
Ever feel you can’t find a foothold?
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), Piano Concerto (1942); Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (Jeffrey Tate, cond.) with Mitsuko Uchida (piano), live
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reading table
Aspen tree, your leaves glance white into the dark.
My mother’s hair was never white.Dandelion, so green is the Ukraine.
My yellow-haired mother did not come home.Rain cloud, above the well do you hover?
My quiet mother weeps for everyone.Round star, you wind the golden loop.
My mother’s heart was ripped by lead.Oaken door, who lifted you off your hinges?
My gentle mother cannot return.—Paul Celan (1920-1970; translated from German by Michael Hamburger)
Bach cello festival (final day)
Cello Suite No. 6 in D major; Matt Haimovitz (cello), live, Montreal, 2011
Prelude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavottes 1 and 2
Gigue
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lagniappe
random thoughts
Joy sometimes comes not in waves but droplets.
Bach cello festival (day five)
Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor; Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007), live, France (Vezelay), 1991
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lagniappe
art beat: Sunday at the Art Institute of Chicago
Oribe-Type Ewer (glazed stoneware), early 17th century, Japan
Bach cello festival (day four)
Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major; Pablo Casals (cello), recording, 1939
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lagniappe
art beat
Paul Strand (1890-1976), Toward the Sugar House, Vermont, 1944
music clip of the day 