Concert

This afternoon we attended a concert that was fun and entertaining and a little odd. The venue was the local Anglican Parish church, St. Luke's. Today was warm, but the stone, unheated building was cold. We sat on very hard benches and enjoyed some good music.

There was a violinist, a pianist, a singer, and a second violinist for one of the pieces. The first half of the concert was piano. He was not amazing. He is technically very good, but there was a distinct lack of passion driving the music. His high point was a virtuosic pice by Listz, and even here you sort of got the feeling that he was a bit detached. Very good, but not inspiring.

The concert proper started kind of odd. Very informal. Our MC, the violinist, introduced his colleague the pianist, and told us about their travels. OK. But once the music began, he continued to run around fiddling with things. Adjusting the heat, turning on a microphone, adjusting things. When the first piece ended, he came back up front to start complaining about a noise from the PA system and asking how to turn it off. The pianist started out the side door of the church and had to be called back for the next piece. A real circus.

We had no programs. We were told there was not enough time to print them up and if we'd put down our address or email, we'd get them sent to us. ???

During the second half, in one piece of music, the violinist (very good, I might add), dropped his bow, caught it and after about one second, was right back in the music. This the sign a strong musician. Recovery from an error with no drama is the mark a real professional.

There was a piece with a vocalist with piano accompaniment and a piece with two violins. the second violinist was a woman in a dress with bare shoulders and it was clear that she was freezing.

All-in-all good concert in spite of its initially odd start and, at times, lackluster piano performance. We heard a very, very good violinist and lots of music we had not heard before.