The brush fire touched off by last Friday’s minimalist round-up in The New York Times continues to smolder both here and on Kyle Gann’s blog, as well as in recent posts on the blogs of Anthony Cornicello, Marc Geelhoed and Nico Muhly. Personally, I’m loving the passions this exercise has stirred, as well as all the excellent music that’s been mentioned as a result.

One of the more unexpected delights to turn up is the photograph I’ve posted above, discovered in a gallery of photos from the recent English National Opera production of Satyagraha on the Metropolitan Opera’s web site. Snapped by Met PR maven Elena Park, it captures a most unlikely cameo during a performance by kid-rockers Dan Zanes and Friends at Queen Elizabeth Hall. That’s Lascivious Biddy Saskia Lane, a Zanes regular, just past the guest keyboardist’s left shoulder. (Thanks, Richard, for the pointer to the gallery.)

Playlist:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Don Giovanni – Alexandrina Pendatchanska, Olga Pasichnyk, Sunhae Im, Kenneth Tarver, Johannes Weisser, Lorenzo Regazzo, RIAS Kammerchor, Freiburger Barockorchester/René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi, due out Oct. 9, 2007)

Qui – Love’s Miracle (Ipecac, due out Sept. 11, 2007)

Northern State – Can I Keep This Pen? (Ipecac, due out Aug. 28, 2007)

Héctor Lavoe – Comedia (Fania)

Richard Strauss – Also sprach Zarathustra; Tod und Verklärung; Der Rosenkavalier: Waltzes – Staatskapelle Dresden/Rudolf Kempe (Brilliant Classics)

Luckyiam – Most Likely to Succeed (Cornerstone)

Björk – Volta (Atlantic)

Sheila Chandra – Weaving My Ancestors’ Voices (Real World)

Edward Elgar – Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor – Daniel Hope, Simon Mulligan (Nimbus); Symphony No. 2 – Hallé Orchestra/John Barbirolli (EMI Classics)