Au revoir, Arthur

So saddened to hear about the passing of Arthur Krakower, the 88-year-old wunderkind Peninsula artist. A call or email from Arthur was like a small gem, bright in the palm. He had a way of combining childlike enthusiasm with timeless gentility and kindliness. Manners were never out of style when he was around. And yet he was completely in the modern world. He was even on Facebook.

Arthur's paintings, drawings and prints have wonderful titles. "The Geraniums Were There When We Fell In Love" and "What A Great Day," to name two. No irony there: just the pleasure of finding a third career after two successful ones, of going back to art and immersing himself in it. Retired from retail and real estate, Arthur went back to school and earned a master's in painting and drawing at age 80. What more can one say about dedication?

Last night, Arthur came to my mind at a Music@Menlo concert in Palo Alto. Violinist Joseph Swensen played the elegiac opening of the third movement of Schumann's Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor with such plaintive beauty. I thought of Arthur and of a dear friend who left us two years ago. There was no heaviness about the feeling of loss, though. Rather, I felt the particular warmth that sadness in music can bring, the sense that everyone who is listening to or playing the music, or who wrote it, has moved through the same emotion. Sometimes in a concert there's a feeling of shared understanding in the air. It's comforting.

Then Wu Han took the stage with fellow pianist Jeffrey Kahane to play Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," arranged for four hands at the piano. She is an absolute delight to watch. From back in the audience, I thought I could see her smiling as she found the mischief in the music, and I wouldn't have been surprised to hear laughter from the stage, even in a respectful concert setting.

It wasn't intended that way, but the evening felt like a perfect tribute to Arthur's spirit.

Pictured: Arthur's Facebook profile photo.