Just another dimension?

Saturday, July 28, 2007
Inspirational Notes -vvz

It seems like I'm attending more classical concerts this year than usual. I went to another one on Friday named Inspirational Notes, which featured works by Ravel and Tchaikovsky.

Ravel is not a composer I'm very familiar with. Besides Bolero, I've never really heard much of his works. It turns out that the first piece of the concert, Ravel's Alborada del Gracioso was quite a delightful Spanish tune. There are parts where I thought I heard motifs that appeared in Bolero. And I learnt that you can actually bounce the bow on the strings of the violin to produce an effect that sounds like castanets.

The second piece was Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major, featuring guest pianist Chen Sa, who is the primary reason I noticed this concert in the first place. I can only describe the concerto as unusual because frankly, I've never heard anything quite like it. It is indeed very different from the Romantic piano concertos most people are used to hearing. After the concerto, the clapping went on for so long my arms felt like they were gonna fall off. Fortunately, Chen Sa came back and rewarded the audience with a short piece by Granados.

The last piece of the night was Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor. I know the title doesn't ring a bell with most people, including me. But this turns out to be one of those tunes that you know you have heard it before but can't really put your finger on it. Anyway, this is good Tchaikovsky stuff.

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Yiheng made 11:50 AM

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