for wind sextet, whose title translates asn”youth,” and which was written by a 70year-oldnJanacek. The freshness, infectiousness,nand rhythmic bounce bespeaknthe title. The performances by GerardnSchwartz and the Los Angeles ChambernOrchestra are beguiling.nFor those who know only the Janaceknof blazing horns, thundering timpani,nand crying voices, his piano oeuvre,nwith its intimacy and modest scale, willncome as a surprise. The intensity (notnfreneticism), though, is there. This is notncool impressionism; nature is not beingnimpersonally evoked in shimmering reflectionsnde I’eati Rather, it is deeply expressivenof human feelings. Nonesuchnhas released a digital recording ( 79041)ncontaining haunting, nocturnal music ofnmoving simplicity and directness. IvannMoravec’s performances are sublime.nSir Charles Mackerras has undertakenna major Janacek recording project fornLondon Records, which has included thenSinfonietta and TarasBulba and Janacek’snoperas Kdtya Kabanovd and TheMakropulosnCase. Now, London Recordsnhas released The Cunning Little Vixenn(LDR 72010) and Prom the House ofnthe Dead (LDR 10036), both digital recordingsnof the Vienna Philharmonic.nJanacek was as eccentric in his choice ofnopera subjects as his music is original.nKdtya Kabanovd is about adultery andnsuicide; The Makropulos Case is aboutnthe despair of a woman who seeminglyncould not die, and her relief in finallyndoing so after 300 years. The CunningnLittle Vixen was inspired by a cartoonnstrip depicting the adventures of a vixennin both human society and the forest.nFrom The House of the Dead is based onnDostoevski’s novel of the same name.nThe Cunning Little Vixen interminglesnanimal and human in novel fashion.nThe two are distinct but interact withinnnature, which enfolds them both withinncyclical currents of loss and renewal.nThe love duet between the fox and thenvixen is as dramatic and sensuous asnopera has to ofiier. The music is neitherncute nor syrupy; it is filled with delightsnand great energy, e.g., the vixen’s weddingnand the ballet for the fox cubs. Thenopera spends its last scene with the gamekeeper,nwho reflects in a long, autumnalnmonologue on the mysteries and magicnof nature, which he knows is overtakingnhim as well. We are left with the mixturenof old age in spring, of sweetness andnpain. Janacek called this opera “a merrynpiece with a sad end.” The end so movednhim that he asked for it to be playednwhen he died.nWiihFrom the House of the Dead, wenenter the gloom of a czarist prison camp.nBut the gloom is not overwhelming. Innfeet, this opera is tremendously exhilarating,nwith a compactiy powerful andnmoving score; straining for the inexpressiblenreaches of the spirit, it almostnshouts to God. On the title page of thisnopera Janacek inscribed, “in every creaturena spark of God.” During its compositionn(his last), he said: “I’m finishing perhapsnmy greatest work—^this latest opera.nI feel so excited as if my blood wanted tongush out.” Yes, that’s evident. This is anwork of extremes, veering between desperationnand hysterical joy; it is exhaustingnbut not enervating, and there are lyricalnrespites. It is one of the most original,npowerful works in the world ofnARTnStrange but SuggestivenMichel Foucault: This Is Not a Pipe;nUniversity of California Press; Beriseley.nby Stephen MacaulaynMarx and Engels were wrong. Notnsurprisingly. Religion is not the people’snnarcotic. Artisanal productions, or, morenprecisely, “vulgar art”—^popular novels,ngreeting-card verse, movies, art-fairnpaintings—^tend(s) to be. People havenbeen and are luUed into a set pattern ofnexpectations. For example, narrativesnshould have, they sflendy insist, a formula,nthe last figure of which is: “Andnthey lived happily ever after.” One reasonnnnopera. The London recording is definitivenin its exciting performance and itsnspectacular sonics.nLaurel Records has provided a nicenrelease of piano trios by Rubin Goldmark,nHaydn, and Beethoven (LR-112). This isnfourth in a series featuring the exceUentnplaying of the Western Arts Trio. Haydn’snTrio, HOB XV, No. 27 in C is a deliciousnpiece that reminds us that Haydn shouldnnever be underrated because of his lacknof neuroses. Balance, grace, and energynwithin a restraint that gives it power, arenall present in this lucid work. More enjoymentnfoUows in Beethoven’s TrionOpus Posthumous in B Plat, a singlemovementnallegretto of sweet and mUdndisposition. The novelty is Rubin Goldmark’snTrio Opus 1 in D Minor, heardnhere in its first recording. Rubin Goldmark,nnephew of Karl Goldmark, thenopera composer, was student of Dvoraknand teacher of such notables as AaronnCopland and George Gershwin. Thisnmusic, though, is solidly aligned with itsndedicatee, Dvorak, who must have beennpleased with its mellifluous charm andnmelodic grace. The Western Arts Trio’snperformances and sound match thisnexceUence. Dnwhy Hitchcock’s productions are considerednfilms (elite) rather than moviesn(vulgar) is that he refrained from employingnthis grid. Just as people can’tnstand to permit a ringing telephone tongo unanswered—even when they knownthat they aren’t the addressee of thenmessage-in-the-making—they cannotnhandle loose ends. Nor flexible beginnings.nThis is clear in the treatment ofnpaintings. Several artists—^Klee, Kandinsky—^arenoften designated through variousnmonikers; abstract is the handiest.nThese painters indicate, on one level,nthat a painting is a painting by providingn”illustrations” that cannot be capturedn•45nDecember 1983n