The Pit of Despair

This morning, my daughter Eliza sat on the floor with her tablet and watched Loonie Toons, while I ignored her and listened to Beethoven.

She'll be fine.

Op. 119, 11 Bagatelles. Written on and off over the course of 30 years, these bagatelles were published between the two sets I wrote about yesterday. 

I watch-listened to the first four on Youtube, played by Valery Afanassiev. 

I enjoyed his playing, but I was mighty distracted by his resemblance to this guy:

It's moments like this that I realize you can't listen with your eyes. 

But the Albino Torturer (Valery Afanassiev) is a fascinating guy. On top of being a concert pianist, which would probably eat up most of my time, he's an exile, a poet, a playwright, and a novelist.  He's also known for his unconventional tempos and interpretations of canonical music. I loved what one critic wrote about his take on Schubert's last three piano sonatas: "the perversity encountered here so angered me that I felt I could not dignify what I found here with any kind of coherent analysis".

What else did that critic expect in...THE PIT OF DESPAIR!!!???

I pray a critic writes something like that about my acting some day. 

To enable listening without picturing the late great Mel Smith, I found the remaining 7 bagatelles played by Alfred Brendel. I don't have much to say about these, but number 10 was 13 seconds long, which must be some kind of bagatelle record. 

Also, as I listened carefully I realized, Brendel was humming! You too, Alfred?? Does anyone NOT hum??? 

Another day, another hummer. 

Did I mention I'm not a musicologist?