Month: January 2016

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Elisa Pegreffi has died

She was the last surviving member of the Quartetto Italiano, one of the greatest chamber music ensembles of the mid to late 20th century. I learned my Mozart quartets listening to their recordings. No ensemble has captured the merry-go-round flavor of the K499’s second movement as they did. As I listen again to their recordings, not only of Mozart but Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms, I’m impressed once again by how their chosen tempos allow the music to breathe in such a natural manner. RIP.

Last member of a legendary quartet has died – Slipped Disc:

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Voting for a dictatorship

There’s this story that when Kurt Gödel, the logician, was studying for his US citizenship exam, he explained excitedly to friend Albert Einstein that he had found a flaw in the US Constitution, to wit, that it was possible for the electorate to vote for a dictatorship, thus negating itself.

Now, we have this news that a South Carolina lawmaker wants to “register” journalists. Hey, just like the Kremlin! All ahead flank!

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More about America’s hollow core

Continuing the depressing theme of the hollowing out of America, we have this piece in The Atlantic. Read this alongside the article in the Times about increasing death rates among non-hispanic whites and the long, important piece by Scott Atran about ISIS and its world-historical importance. Each in its own way points to a moral crisis in western culture, particularly in the US. However, the American religious right has no solution to this problem, as much as it would like to think so.
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What’s happening with death rates?

There’s a startling and worrying piece in the New York Times about an increase in death rates since 1990 for non-hispanic whites that everyone should read. This should be a wake-up call in the public policy arena, a canary in the coal mine about the increasing hollowness at the core of Anerican life. As economist Anne Case says, “there’s a real rumbling that bad things are coming down the pike.” Kudos to the Times for this important and original research.
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On An Overgrown Path: CDs that should be in every medicine cabinet

On An Overgrown Path: CDs that should be in every medicine cabinet:

Kertesz’s Dvořák is a wonderful memory from my teenage years. I knew the “New World” Symphony, of course; but Kertesz introduced me to the wonders of the other symphonies, which became constant companions over the years. Over time I gravitated towards Colin Davis for Nos. 7 and 8 and Ancerl for Nos. 6 and 9; but Kertesz will always have a special place in my musical life. His tragic death at such a young age deprived us of a great musician.