Rain has totally gone but still Cloudy.26CI kept thinking that we are extremely lucky to have all these fabulous musicians coming all the way to our small little to share their musical talents with us, may he/she be an uprising star or a Carnegie Hall regular.
Tonight, we have Midori in town. She has given us a powerful and vivid performance of Brahm's violin concerto. (No encore, but she scheduled to meet with the audience after the concert, which I didn't stay for.)
I finally think that size does matter even in being a concert performer. No matter how good your techniques are, or how eloquent your musicality is, there are certain pieces, or even just a small passage, requires all of the physical strength you have. I don't play the violin so I don't know all the details, but Dad said that for a few certain strings/notes, Midori was unable to bow over and so the intensity broke off before it could reach the peak. And that's probably why she is a very physical performer - her body movements are larger than most of the violinists than I have seen, and freer, too. But those movements have somehow transformed her body to become part of the violin and the music that she's playing. It's amazing, it's as though the chords, the staccatos are not only coming from her violin, but from every part of her body. Personally, I think the facial twitching was a bit too much for my taste, but it didn't distract me much as the music was way more overwhelming.
We went to see Hilary Hahn last year when she came to play the same piece, but I could hardly remember much from the concert. Maybe I was too tired back then and have slept through most of the piece; Midori's performance has definitely impressed me a lot more.
since when Midori becomes 宓多里 instead of 美島莉? Or how about simply call her XX綠?
ReplyDeleteOkay I like her male counterparts like Cho-liang Lin more... (blur.) don't ask me why.
But still, I prefer "美島莉"
i think that's actually her name in Japanese? 綠 is the literal meaning of midori but not necessarily used for names.
ReplyDelete美島莉sounds a lot more beautiful, somehow 宓多里is very mainland, and asexual (? neutral??) :)
Cho-liang Lin, i think i've seen him on TV or sth. i actually don't remember musicians' names very well =.='
wow, brahms is like my favourite! u guys r so lucky.
ReplyDeletei know!
ReplyDeletedame te kanawa was here last year too :) i missed her singing pokarekare ana...
wow~ and ppl call hk cultural desert, cmon gimme a break.
ReplyDeletewell... actually, you have to take the situation under scrutiny. what % of the audience are local hk ppl? what % is ex-pat? how many of them do they really understand it or do they just come to socialize and mingle? do the same ppl always go or is the penetration quite large? what's the demographics like?
ReplyDeletethe more often you go to these concerts, you'll see that it's a small circle's business. no wonder the govt is rather reluctant to spend $$ on arts - the audience is too concentrated.
what's arts for the rest? um... :)
:P i still remember being taken to concerts when i was little. hahahaha. it felt very weird for a kid like me to sit still for so long. :P
ReplyDeletebut u definitely have your point.
i think i've whined about it before. i'm totally up for bringing kids to classical music concerts - provided that they have a genuine interest. but how many kids would show interest at that early age? unless they are really talented or... they are rather eccentric? :P
ReplyDeleteand to the kids... it's a torture, too. and that goes a perfect ticket for a keen music student who have trouble (either no $$ or connection or have forgotten) to get the ticket. :P