The Bartok Enthusiast

Quirky, pensive, opening with a trudging piano rhythm to counter an abrupt cello entry that wanders off in wintry strains, Bela Bartok’s “Rhapsody 1 for Cello and Piano” was an immediate favorite in art school, conjuring up images of a tipsy grasshopper on uncertain terrain. Big Bird (as a girlfriend’s baby sister called me) sits in as a capable musician equipped with arms and fingers for this whimsical performance. He just had to use a bow with as many feathers as possible, a silly blandishment akin to Liberace’s famous candelabra!