MARK ROTHKO & MORTON FELDMAN

MARK ROTHKO & MORTON FELDMAN

Rothko is hot: on Broadway, John Logan’s play, Red, with Alfred Molina as Rothko, has been getting raves and Tony nominations galore. Here in DC, the light-filled Tower at the National Gallery’s East Wing is full of Rothko’s late-period “black” paintings done in 1964. That same year, Dominique and John de Menil commissioned him to do a suite of paintings for a dedicated space to be built in Houston, and Rothko would continue working variations on these dark tones through 1969. The Rothko Chapel opened in 1971 (a year after Rothko’s suicide). At the dedication, the Menils commissioned Rothko’s good friend, Morton Feldman, to write a piece for the new space, and Feldman wrote a beautiful work for chamber choir, viola, celeste, and percussion. You can hear it on the recording ROTHKO CHAPEL & WHY PATTERNS (New Albion, $15.98), and softly playing in the Tower at the National Gallery. The exhibit is there until January 2, 2011.

NEW

Emerson String Quartet, OLD WORLD - NEW WORLD (Deutsche Grammophon, 3 CDs, $35.98) – The Emersons take on Dvořák’s late String Quartets, his “American” String Quintet, and his early work, Cypresses. The New York Times had a good article on the Emersons’s three-concert series at Lincoln Center devoted to Dvořák, Adventures in Bohemia (here, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/11/arts/music/11emerson.html?ref=music ).

Michael Lewin, IF I WERE A BIRD: A PIANO AVIARY (Dorian, $17.99) – During this springtime of birdsong, pianist Michael Lewin’s If I Were a Bird is a perfect companion: 23 short classical pieces arranged around the theme of birds and birdsong. Rameau, Ravel, Messiaen, Granados, Grieg, Schumann, and Stravinsky are here, but so are lesser-known composers like Adolf Jensen, Theodor Leschetizky, Cyril Scott, and Louis-Claude Daquin. The CD comes in a beautifully designed mini-book with notes and illustrations. A perfect gift for piano and bird lovers alike.