Sunday, October 15, 2006

5 Things about the Juilliard Concert

Here's a new "deal" (feature) for this blog...instead of reviews (okay, ocassionally I'll wax poetic!) I thought I'd share five things that come about or around concerts that I attend (and believe me there are tons of concerts coming up this season!)
So here goes for the Juilliard String Quartet at the Whitaker Center on Sunday October 15th, celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Market Square Concerts and the quartet's 60th Anniversary! The program was Mozart's Dissonant Quartet, Bartok's 3rd Quartet and Schubert's Death and the Maiden.
1. The Schubert really stood out, kudos to violinist Joel Smirnoff who especially played well. The Bartok was well crafted - too bad they didn't do the whole Bartok cycle here.
2. According to the program, Bartok was born in 1811 - whoops! That should be 1881.
3. Talking and coughing were very annoying throughout the first half...I know its the cold season, but it seemed everyone waited for quiet passages to unwrap cough drops and of course during dramatic pauses were the only time someone had to sneeze. As for talking, don't people realize concert halls are designed for sound and therefore whispering is just as annoying as talking out loud? Guess I need to get my "SHHHHH!" sign out for my suit pocket...
4. Overheard in the lobby, "Ugh, that Bartok! Awful music - beautifully played." Ugh, audience members!
and
5. Talking with the quartet afterwards, it seems the construction at Lincoln Center/Juilliard is creating quite a bit of noise AND will demolish the room the Juilliard Quartet has rehearsed many of their 60 years.

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