On April 18th I will be hearing pianist Mitsuko Uchida in recital at Carnegie Hall. When a program is part of a subscription series I often do not look up the works being played until a few days before the performance. I was quite surprised that she is not playing her usual Mozart and company repertoire. Instead, she is two Preludes and Fugues from Book II of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, Schoenberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces Opus 19 and three works by Schumann: Waldszenen, Sonata No. 2 in G Minor and Fünf Gesänge der Frühe.

I have to confess that I did not know the Schoenberg works at all and, in researching them, discovered that in 2001 Uchida recorded them among other works of the Second Viennese School. What an incredible recording. 

It begins with a performance of the Schoenberg Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 42. Pierre Boulez is conducting the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. 

My only reference recording of this work is the one by Alfred Brendel; which I always found a bit clinical and cold. Uchida’s interpretation is deeply personal which, given Schoenberg’s notes, makes sense. While the movements are marked Adante, Molto Allegro, Adagio and Giocoso, Schoenberg’s notes name them “Life was so easy”, “Suddenly hatred broke out”, “A grave situation”, “But life goes on”. I was stunned by the vehemence Uchida brings out in the 2nd movement. 

For the remainder of the recording she plays an intensely rhythmic Piano Variations, Opus 21:1, by Anton Webern, Three Piano Pieces, Opus 11:1 by Schoenberg and the Six Small Piano Pieces I will be hearing her play at Carnegie Hall. 

If you associate Mitsuko Uchida with only only Mozart this recording is a revelation. 

Highly recommended!

“Digital Disruption” by James McQuivey is a small 150-page book that asks a huge question: “Is the age of the big corporation over?” Technology has enabled young entrepreneurs to start businesses, some of them quite profitable, without a labor force, a lot of capital, or much of an infrastructure. 

McQuivey, an executive of Forrester Research (a company that advices startup businesses), calls these “disposable companies” in that

“they exist solely to accomplish a particular task and can rapidly scale up, drawing on mercenary employees with whom they will have no permanent relationship. They can also assemble to serve a particular need, serve that need, and then dispose of the company.”

As an example, the book cites the tale of 12-year old Thomas Suarez who builds smartphone apps when he isn’t in school. How about a company, Ferrokin BioSciences, which sells molecules that address blood disorders? It has no physical office, only uses wireless phones and internet connections, and has employees some of who have never been met.  Mr. McQuivey calls these people “disruptive innovators.”

“Economists talk about trends that reduce barriers to entry. The force of digital disruption doesn’t just reduce barriers to entry, it obliterates them.”

This book builds on a 1997 book by Harvard Professor Clayton Christensen. The book, called “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, argues that large, well-run companies can be destroyed by “disruptive innovators.” However, while Christensen focused only on a very well-defined set of circumstances, McQuivey now sees this as a universal norm. 

“Digital tools allow digital disruptors to come at you from all directions – and from all ages, backgrounds and nationalities. They are equipped with a better mindset and better tools. Thousands of these disruptors are ready to do better whatever it is that your company does.”

In other words, a completely new business model that large corporations may not be equipped to handle or fight. 

Is there a defense? Yes!!!

Mr. McQuivey argues that large corporations need to start thinking like these digital disruptors.  Companies MUST make this priority one. He says corporations must give up the metrics like return on investment and, instead, focus on return on disruption (ROD). 

While McQuivey focuses in on the technology industry I see this as having some real applications for the arts where, sadly today, creativity and innovation is strangely lacking. 

Let me know how it goes:

3-years ago I was in Boston on a business trip. One evening I decided to stop in a well-known Irish Pub close to my hotel and have the perennial favorite: Corned Beef and Cabbage. I have rarely been so disappointed. It was dry, too salty and, other than the salt, had no taste.

That evening I was online and telling a friend, who is a Food Network chef, how awful it was. He  was telling me that most commercially packaged corned beef uses nitrates to speed up the process and add to the color.  He then gave me step-by-step directions for corning my own beef. I decided to try it.

After doing it just once I will never go back to commercially made corned beef again. Here are the directions. 

Most performances of Bach are, to be blunt, wrong. They are either too slow or too legato. The legato, as we know it today, did not come into existence until Beethoven. Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach, writing about his father’s music, said:

“The notes which are neither detached nor slurred nor to be sustained are held down as long as one quarter their value.”

What was called a legato by Bach was simply a slurring of fast note values (as opposed to staccato).

I have always been a huge fan of Angela Hewitt’s Bach interpretations. She plays with very swift, dance-like tempi without sacrificing clarity and detail. Also, she does not try to make Bach a Romantic  composer for the piano. 

While driving home recently I heard her recording of the Bach Inventions and Sinfonia on XM-Sirius Radio. Like any pianist I have played these works since being child. However, this Hewitt recording made me feel like I was hearing them for the first time.  

This recording ends with a performance of the monumental Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue and I have rarely heard it played so intelligently. She plays the subjects and answers in the fugue with remarkable uniformity without once letting go of the tension and excitement. 

If you have not heard this remarkable Bach interpreter I strongly suggest that you start here and then quickly move to her other wonderful recordings. 

Like many people today I own an Amazon Kindle (or at least I use the Kindle application on my iPad). With travel and commuting I find it a convenient way to carry and read books.  

Right after I got my first iPad I put a magazine subscription application called Zinio on it. The application came with a few sample magazines; including a complimentary copy of the then new multimedia version of National Geographic. It was, and remains, jaw dropping with videos, sound, 360-degree photographs, and animations. It took the world of National Geographic to whole new level. 

Last year Apple announced a partnership with textbook publishers about making them available on the iPad. I thought it would just be the standard textbooks in e-Book format. I was wrong!!!!

Just to see what one looked like I bought and downloaded an Algebra textbook put out by Pearson. Again, I was tremendously surprised and impressed with the use of multimedia that make mathematical concepts come alive. Further, as errors are found or concepts need to be updated, the author can update the book with the user automatically getting the updates much like any app. 

Recently a NY Times bestseller book, Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, published a separate multimedia edition for eBook readers. 

I was recently asked to be involved in a project that involves learning Apple’s iBook Author. As a result, I decided to do a Lynda.com course about it. I am now discovering how easy it is to assemble a book using multimedia resources. The program allows you to easily drag-and-drop videos, animations, and audio into the authoring environment. I wish I had this available when I authored the 12 books that I have done in technology. 

Because of the way the environment works it will now be easier for self-authors to publish and promote their own works. As a matter of fact, I am considering coming out with a line of  eBooks on technology. 

Subscribe to this blog. I will be publishing videos about using programs like iBooks Author. I am also planning on some videos about using WordPress. 

Both works are among Bach’s greatest organ compositions. However, after hearing a recent performance, I decided to take a look at the piano transcriptions by Franz Liszt.  

This has forced me, after all of these years, to take a fresh look at both works. As a result, I feel like I am learning them for the first time. 

I was considering the transcriptions by Tivadar Szanto (1877 – 1934). However, in my opinion, Szanto takes too many liberties with Bach’s score (although, high-praise to Marc-Andre Hamelin for his performances of them). 

The long pedal points in both works require a great deal of pedal which blends the bravura in the hands. This, in my opinion, adds to the Fantasia effect. In both cases the fugues gain a great deal with the nuances that can be brought out on the piano. 

If you get a chance to hear or study the scores I strongly recommend the chance to do it. I am attaching the hyperlinks to free downloads of the scores to both.

Bach Fantasia and Fugue in G-minor (BWV 542)

Bach Prelude and Fugue in A-minor (BWV 543)

Next up, I am going to attempt his piano transcriptions of his own organ works: The Prelude and Fugue on B-A-C-H and the Fantasia and Fugue on chorale Ad now ad salutaren undam. 

Here is a recipe I adapted from Eatingwell.com and absolutely love.