. . . other than paternal pride [surely one of the more benign vices, and one for which kind readers will forgive me]. It's a video clip of my son Sam at his piano recital at Yale last spring: some Preludes and Fugues from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. It's a very home-made job, quality-wise, but there's some truly lovely playing here (though I know I'm not terribly objective on this -- duh!). Sam's always had a special relationship with Bach -- to have a 12- or 13-year-old in the house playing the 5-part fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier, and not just playing them but playing them really beautifully -- is a strange and wondrous thing; and to my ear, his performances of Bach can stand comparison with even the great ones out there (Gould, Richter, Tureck, Perahia, ...).

And should any of you happen to find yourselves in New Haven CT this Friday evening, Sam's giving his senior recital at 8 PM in Sudler Hall. It's a wonderful program -- more Bach, some Schubert impromptus, Mozart Sonata K. 570, and the 3d Chopin Ballade. [If that's not a nice sample of the greatest achievements of Western civilization, I'm not sure what would be].