February Night
next Thursday (as rare exception), the 9th @ 8 p.m.
next Thursday (as rare exception), the 9th @ 8 p.m.
Russian Encore!
We are very happy to have Alexander Kobrin, first prize winner of the Van Cliburn and Busoni piano competitions as well as a prize winner of the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, making his first appearance at Classical Underground. Alexander will perform Beethoven's 32 Variations in C, and will be joined by the outstanding cellist and CU fave Boris Andrianov for the Beethoven Cello Sonata #4 and the Benjamin Britten Cello Sonata.
Alexander Kobrin Boris Andrianov
Making their first appearance at CU, the young Russian cello virtuoso Evgeny Tonkha and pianist and composer Anna Drubich will premier Anna's "Intro Version" as well as perform works by Stravinsky and the most esteemed living Russian composer, Rodion Shchedrin.
Evgeny Tonkha Anna Drubich
And for the tasty palate cleanser between cello courses, the Croatian bass-baritone Boris Martinovich will sign some Rossini accompanied by CU regular Kanae Matsumoto on piano.
Boris Martinovich Kanae Matsumoto
As always - bring your spirits, food and drink for you and your friends to enjoy.
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We are most grateful to our supportive friends at
for graciously providing us with their incomparable instrument.
To RSVP use this link to paypal. We are sold out!
Classical Underground is thrilled to Showcase
a spectacular exhibition
now at the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art
at Pepperdine University
as well as its direct connection to ART of our Day.
as well as its direct connection to ART of our Day.
William Adolphe Bouguereau (1885)
Young Girl Going to the Spring 63 1/8 x 28 7/8 in
I heard gloating is not good, but time and again we are being reminded that nowhere else in the nation is the "off the beaten track" alternative contemporary ART process as vibrant as it is in LA. Case in point - the rare and important visionary exhibition of one of the nation's most unique collections of 19th century academic ART at a museum whose prime expertise is contemporary ART.
Yes, there are some wonderful exhibitions of superb ART around the nation, yet this show is special and thoroughly unique in its rare intimacy, getting to the very heart of a vibrant artistic conversation that we are witnessing currently around the nation and in LA and which burns with brilliant intensity completely under the radar of the "official" art establishment.
As the show generated tremendous buzz and excitement among many artists in Southern California, the museum director Michael Zakian invited a group of somewhat notorious LA figurative painters to discuss the relevance of 19th century academic ART in a special article for the fabulous Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine. What do you know, most of them including myself turned out to be die-hard Classical Underground painters, so it appeared only natural to have this subversive bunch, selected for the article, to highlight the show with their -- or rather our -- current work.
Adrian Gottlieb
The Airforce Subject oil on linen
Jeremy Lipking
Ma Lo oil on linen 20 x 16in
Tony Pro
"il comico divino" oil on linen 40 X 30 in
Kate Sammons
Venus de Milo charcoal on paper 25 x 36 in
and me
Alexey Steele
Madonna Of The Storm oil 80 x 36in
Through works of good friends Adrian Gottlieb, Jeremy Lipking, Tony Pro and Kate Sammons it is quite exciting to see how our group represents the wide artistic force and creative talent of our day, each in their own unique way building upon rigorous and powerful visual and philosophical principles developed by the academic tradition, way beyond any specific "look" and based on wide-ranging aesthetic preferences, helping build the vibrant and truly diverse contemporary ART not of decades past, but of our day.
In ART we trust!
