Today it was laugh out loud joyous wit and lyricism in the Bach Fantasy and Fugue in G minor, played from memory, stunning in every respect.
The utter focus of his playing is the source of extreme delight, redoubled in that it so focuses my attention that I am haunted by a specific dissonance, and by the power of metric motives balanced by exuberant ornamentation.
If the playing were merely virtuosic I would not respond like this: there would be no musical traction. Houlihan grasps the vocal impulse behind Bach's organ music so that the listener is moved on many levels at once, and between levels without belabored transitioning.
Highest praise.
