Notes From a Curious Listener

Last night's concert was the one that I was most looking forward to, and it didn't disappoint. The Chopin piano Ballades played by Vladimir Feltsman were gorgeous. The Arensky, Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 32, played by Feltsman, Gary Hoffman, cello, and Cho-Liang (Jimmy) Lin, violin, was incredibly moving.  It was my favorite piece in all of SummerFest.

Being "real", I must admit that the piece by Victor Kissine, Partita for Piano, Harp and Strings (1998), was a bit more challenging for me because it was rather heavy. One of my friends said she enjoyed it because she closed her eyes and pictured the movie, an epic drama. I concur!

I had the privilege of mingling with the artists after the concert. Here are some tidbits, paraphrased rather than directly quoted because I, like them, was relaxing and drinking wine rather than taking notes.

During SummerFest, there are many  free opportunities to peek into the lives of musicians. My favorite is the Master Class, where a professional musician who commands high salaries teaches one who doesn't. What could they be learning? Surely these twenty-somethings, who have chosen a career playing classical music, are already technically brilliant. The Master Class uncovers the difference between the experienced and inexperienced and also shows what every musician goes through during their career - many embarrassing classes with demanding teachers.  

For example, at one Master Class last year, Andreas Haefliger, pianist, was teaching a piano trio. He told the pianist that her playing was not strong enough. While many of the students are timid and too nervous to talk to their famous teacher, this one spoke up and said that she was afraid of drowning out the others. He snapped back, "Don't worry about that! Never worry about that!" 

Why had no one ever told her that the piano will not drown out a violin and cello, obvious to any audience member? Surely she had had lessons for most of her life, but perhaps the trio had never had a lesson together. The young pianist got the message and played much stronger thereafter, greatly enhancing the sound.