Classical Underground Vs. The Philistines

IN my decade and a half writing about artists and cultural figures, i never met anyone as passionate, committed and outright insane for art as alexey steele, a soviet born painter who runs a monthly "classical underground" series in his artists loft. (here's my piece.)

but at first, i thought the whole thing might be a joke -- that alexey, who comes on a little bit like borat (check this out) might be putting me on. "i am overloaded!!" he shouted when i came to see him in an elaborate loft not far from LAX one night. he was wearing a fedora, reeking of sweat, and holding a hammer which he gestured with widly as he made points about art, malevich, the marketplace, and within a minute or two, the power grid was overloaded too: the fan and all the lights in his loft suddenly shut off.

a few minutes later, power restored, he runs off to get us some glasses and a bottle of the excellent angel city beer. cue broken glass. "sonofabitch!" i hear from the next room.

besides some fascinating (and overheated) conversations, alexey also showed me one of the most memorable classical concerts i've ever seen -- a chamber music show that included the first bach cello suite and a prokofiev piano sonata, in a casual warehouse space with near-perfect acoustics. my only hope is that the exposure my times piece brings does not change what alexey and his co-conspirators have labored to offer.

Photo credit: HighArtForever