Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas remain landmarks in music history, works that pianists in every generation have felt the desire, the inspiration, the need to take on.

A new recording by Jonathan Biss is recently out, the first of nine to be released over nine years, that will eventually include the entire cycle. Biss has also written a long essay about the project, titled "Beethoven's Shadow," which was released in Amazon's Kindle Singles series.

I spoke to Biss last week:

A transcript will be posted soon.

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Children view Richard Ansdell's painting, "The Hunted Slaves," at the International Slavery Museum on Thursday in Liverpool, England. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images.

A roundup of the week's arts and culture headlines.

The nation of Qatar purchased a Paul Cezanne painting, "The Card Players," for more than $250 million, the highest price ever paid for a work of art, via Vanity Fair.

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Uruguay's first biennial art show will open next fall, via The Art Newspaper.

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Artists and intellectuals in Hungary are concerned about increasing tension between the government and cultural institutions, via The Art Newspaper.

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La Scala fired a ballerina for alleging high rates of anorexia in the company during an interview, via The Los Angeles Times.

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A nylon star designed to improve air quality was selected as the winner of the 13th Young Architects Program. The nylon is treated with a chemical spray that neutralizes pollutants in the surrounding air. The design, by architecture firm HWKN, will take its place in the courtyard of MOMA PS1, via The New York Times.

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Laura H. Kahn discusses the relationship between science fiction and public understanding of scientific ideas.

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The Eisenhower family objects to the designs of the forthcoming national memorial to the former president. Famed architect Frank Gehry designed the plans.

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Kalamandalam Radhakrishnan touches up his make-up before his Ottanthullal performance Thursday at the Soorya Festival in Ahmedabad, India. Ottanthullal is a type of classical performing art from Kerala, India, featuring dance and storytelling. Photo by Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images.

Mark Rothko was one of the giants of American art in the 20th century, known for his luminous abstract paintings, rectangular fields of color and light, which for many had an almost spiritual quality to them.

Rothko died in 1970. His life has been turned into art in the play "Red," written by John Logan. Staged first in 2009, "Red" is now at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in a production directed by Robert Falls.

Actor Edward Gero plays the role of Rothko alongside Patrick Andrews as Rothko's assistant.

I spoke to Gero last week about his role:

A transcript is after the jump.

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Stormtroopers in London promote Friday's release of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace 3D." Photo by Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images.

Here are four arts and culture videos from public broadcasting partners around the nation.

Starting in the late-1960s, Swedish journalists traveled to the United States to document the anti-war and Black Power movements. Premiering Thursday (check your local listings), Independent Lens will air "The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975," which combines music, the journalists' original 16mm footage, much of it never seen until now, and contemporary audio interviews from leading African-American artists, activists, musicians and scholars:

Watch Looking Back at the Black Power Movement on PBS. See more from Independent Lens.

NYC-ARTS is the new name of the WNET program formerly known as SundayArts. The new website and weekly magazine program, which airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at noon in the New York City area, made its debut last week:

MN Original profiles Christopher Poor, founder of Arms and Armor. Poor and his artisans research, model and create pieces for theaters around the world, including Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, as well as many museum and private collections, feature films and television productions:

WHYY's "Friday Arts" for February looks at Pennsylvania Hospital's "Flowers to Pharmacy" exhibition, profiles Suzie Brown, a cardiologist who has found a second career as a singer-songwriter, and explores the first major exhibition devoted to Henry Ossawa Tanner's work in 20 years:

Watch Friday Arts for February 2012 on PBS. See more from Friday Arts.

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A visitor looks at "Haran II" by Frank Stella, which is part of the exhibition, "Guggenheim Collection: The American Avant-Garde 1945-1980," at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome. The exhibition, running through May 6, showcases more than 60 works produced after World War II from the Guggenheim museum's permanent collection. Photo by Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images.

By Nick Flynn

The thin thread that holds us here, tethered / or maybe tied, together,
what / do you call it--telephone? horizon? song? Listen / to yourself
sing, We are all god's children / we are all gods, we walk the earth /
sometimes, two sails inside us sometimes / beating, our bodies the
bottle, a ship inside each / until one day, for no reason, it sails--
hello? / damn phone--until one day it sails / out of sight, until one
day it cuts out of / earshot, bye-bye muttered into your cupped palm,
bye-bye / boat, bye-bye rain--Look / maybe this is the place we've been /
waiting for, maybe this place / is the day, inside us, inside each /
corpuscle, the day, that day, everyday is / inside, my body, your body,
everyday is / this thread, everyday you said, come / get me, everyday
you said, it's been way too long / you said, bye-bye, bye-bye, not a day /
went by, the thin, the thread, so thin, this thread, are you still / here,
is it still, your heart, is it well / well welling?

Nick Flynn is a poet, playwright and memoirist whose most recent book is "The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands" (2011, Graywolf Press), a collection of poems that are linked to his latest memoir, "The Ticking is the Bomb" (2010, W. W. Norton & Company). He teaches creative writing at the University of Houston.

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Children participate in Monday's celebrations of the Chinese Lantern Festival in Zibo, China. The Lantern Festival marks the last day of the Lunar New Year celebrations. Photo by Hong Wu/Getty Images.