If someone were to say that no instrument is more beautiful, more deeply expressive, than the cello, I wouldn’t argue.
Alban Gerhardt (cello), live, London (Wigmore Hall), 2014: Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite No. 4 in E-flat Major; Zoltan Kodály, Solosonata op. 8
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Illinois
What better way to begin a new year?
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Suite No. 5 in C minor for Unaccompanied Cello; Steven Isserlis (1958-, cello), live, New York, 2018
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lagniappe
random sights
last night, Oak Park, Illinois
serendipity
Bumped into this last night. Couldn’t take my ears off it. One of the finest performances of Bach’s keyboard music I’ve heard.
Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, No. 1-12
Sara Daneshpour (piano), 2024
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Chicago
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Contrapunctus I-XIV; Daniil Trifonov (1991-, piano), live, published 2023
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor; Hidemi Suzuki (cello), live, Netherlands (Amsterdam), 2017
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lagniappe
radio
Speaking of “never enough,” the annual Bach Festival on WKCR-FM (Columbia University)—one of my favorite musical events of the year—runs through midnight New Year’s Eve.
never enough
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Suite No. 1 in G major for Unaccompanied Cello; Yo-Yo Ma (1955-, cello), live (Great Smoky Mountains), published 9/7/23
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lagniappe
random sights
other day, Oak Park, Ill.
alone
Rose Wollman (viola), live (performing the program on Loop: Ligeti’s Inspiration & Legacy [Acis, 2022]),* Chicago, 8/20/23
*Program:
I
1. Johann Sebastian Bach, Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: I. Prelude (Arr. for Viola)
2. György Ligeti, Sonata for Viola Solo: I. Hora Lunga
3. Garth Knox, Ritorno
II
4. Giuseppe Tartini, Violin Sonata XVII in D Major, B. D2: IV. Furlana (Arr. for Viola)
5. György Ligeti, Sonata for Viola Solo: II. Loop
6. Alexander Mansour, Loop for Solo Viola and Electronics
III
7. Domenico Gabrielli, Ricercar for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Minor (Arr. for Viola)
8. György Ligeti, Sonata for Viola Solo: III. Facsar
9. Rose Wollman, Wanderlust
IV
10. Arcangelo Corelli, Violin Sonata, Op. 5, No. 6: III. Allegro (Arr. for Viola)
11. György Ligeti, Sonata for Viola Solo: IV. Prestissimo con sordino
12. Atar Arad, Caprice Fourteen (Gyorgy)
V
13. Georg Philipp Telemann, Fantasia for Violin Without Bass No. 12 in A Minor, TWV 40:25: I. Moderato (Arr. for Viola)
14. György Ligeti, Sonata for Viola Solo: V. Lamento
15. Melia Watras, Blue Rose
VI
16. Franz Biber, Mystery (Rosary) Sonatas: 16. Passacaglia in G Minor (Arr. for Viola)
17. György Ligeti, Sonata for Viola Solo: VI. Chaconne chromatique
18. Natalie Williams, Ciklus
never enough
Hearing the right music at the right time can alter the trajectory of your day, as I found, again, yesterday, listening to this.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I: Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997), piano
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lagniappe
random sights
this morning, Oak Park, Ill.
serendipity
What a joy, last night, to bump into this.
Perfect? No.
Exhilarating? Yes.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Suite No. 5 in C minor for Unaccompanied Cello: Isabelle Nichols (cello), live, Houston (Rice University), 2022
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Oak Park, Ill.
like nobody else
Glenn Gould (1932-1982, piano), live (studio [CBC broadcast]), 1955: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Fifteen Three-Part Inventions
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lagniappe
random sights
yesterday, Chicago
