Schubert's FANTASY (part 3)

I'm so excited, I can hardly stand it. I finally found a performance of Schubert's FANTASY that is acceptable to me. The violin part for this piece is so difficult that almost all violinists sound like they are sawing across the splintered nerves of a wounded weasel.

Repin is beyond belief. How does he do it? This isn't possible! The amber-hued timbre he conjures is thoroughly solid. And Lugansky plays the piano part here like it should be played -- as a fully equal partner.

And beginning at 1:23 -- that noble, stirring section! It is done superbly.

The Needle's Eye from Kris Saknussemm's REVEREND AMERICA

Ernst Krenek -- Sonata for Harp

Gilels -- Beethoven's "Waldstein" Sonata -- Part 3

After listening to this, I got to thinking about other Gilels things I have on CD. I got to thinking about Emil Gilels. Musicality on this level is astounding. What is it with the Russians? Note perfect, yes. But it's something else. A kind of sprung flair, a bounded apotheosis, a rhythmic uniqueness, a natural expressiveness that happens in séance with the score. That does not distort the score. But adds life to life. In short, a respectful audacity. It is Gilels and Richter, others. When you hear it, you know it's a Russian master. I don't know what else to say.

Dusan Djukaric -- watercolor artist

Dusan Djukaric -- watercolor artist


Discovering the watercolors of Dusan Djukaric has been a kind of "homecoming" for me. How else to put it, when I answer, naively, a somehow familiar beckoning from these painted worlds? The images align with strands of my aesthetic DNA. A timelessness of mood re-calls childhood. The rain and the light create an ontology.

They don't strike me as mere depictions of cityscapes and waterscapes. I detect a poet at work. Into the scenes is painted a complex emotion, and that discharge of sensibility is retrievable by the viewer. For me (am I only projecting?), a subtle melancholy and existential wonder emerge from the forms and colors.

I like these watercolors so very much.

I am going to look at these paintings until I become slowly, deeply, and gently unhinged.


An article about his work

Vítězslava Kaprálová

Kapralova's string quartet (Con brio)




Not only what is obvious here -- the music's exuberant dance and quixotic song -- but what is implicit -- the composer's excellence and volume of consciousness.

Nathan Milstein

His violin playing has meant a lot to me over the years.