Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Onto The Classics

There are many possible relationships between people that one doesn't normally even think about. This evening, I went to a classical music concert at the conservatory and the piece that left the most tangible impression was an unscheduled addition to the program. The show had started one hour before schedule to make room for this piece (at my puzzlement, a friend succinctly explained: this is Russia). I don't even know the name of the near-forty minute piece, but it had my undivided attention for the entire time. There were two grand pianos on stage and a man and woman played on them, facing each other (with the audience to one side of them). Sometimes their eyes met and at other times they concentrated on the frenzied movements of their fingers on the keys. The piece had several sections, ranging from the passionate to the disconsolate, the frivolous to the heavily serious. As the sections changed, so did the relationship between the two pianists, who remained oblivious to the audience throughout the piece. They played in perfect synchrony, without either of them looking at any notes. I hadn't paid much attention to classical music before, but this was simply beautiful. I must have grown old, I guess.

3 comments:

cringe-all said...

Yoohoo I think I can read it! Vladimira Vasiliyevitch Protopopova.
Is that the name of the performer in this 15th Oct. concert at Moscow?

Tista said...

Congrats! Yep, that's the name, but in the big text, all three words of the name end in "a" (genitive case endings in the case of the first name and patronymic).

And he's not the performer, but the celebrity whose 100th anniversary was being commemorated at this concert.

Unknown said...

I think I'll never be able to listen to this music fully concentrated on the music) I'm just not for it (or maybe I'm not yet grown up=) )