Tag: Classical

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Fingers on Fire

Invited weeks ago, I attended a piano recital by fiancé reminder for Julian Lawrence Gargiulo; and Italian-born classically trained pianist living in New York. When I think of recitals, I go back to the days of elementary school, when the C-Pod would be hallowed out and filled with rows of chairs for supportive parents to come and watch their kids perform on the riser stage. I had pursued the drums so there wasn’t much I could do as a solo artist in the drumming field except annoy the neighbors with my off beat rhythms.

This show was more personal, located at the Yamaha Hall or better known as the Piano Salon in mid-town, a comfortable venue for about 100+ listeners, professionally designed to sound more like Carnegie Hall than an apartment flat. Much like a recital, the audience had close friends, friends of friends, admires of Julian, his work and even his mother. This was the CD release party for his latest of 5 professional recordings.

I’m a fan of most music live; I’ve even been to my share of some country concerts so this wasn’t something I’d be adverse to. Electronic music has it’s roots in classical composition and art as a deep form of expression in sound and rhythm without the necessity of vocals or time constraints tied to the majority of contemporary music. Julian has a solid understanding of the music he’s playing with the charisma of a true performer for people – engaging directly his audience between tunes.

Yes that was me closing my eyes in the 5th row, but only to shut down one of my senses to concentrate on the story of the music. I fully enjoyed the show, and would recommend anyone that’s into classical to check him out. The full program from the recital is below.

Solo Piano Recital – Fire in Music Program:

Manuel de Falla: Ritual Fire Dance
Felix Mendelssohn: Capriccio No. 1 Opus 33
Claude Debussy: Feux d’artifice
Frédéric Chopin: Nocturne in C-Sharp MInor
Alexandre Scriabin: Vers la flamme
— INTERMISSION —
Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 23 Opus 57 in F Minor ‘Appassionata’
-Allegro assai
-Andante con moto – attacca
-Allegro, ma non troppo – Presto

When I open my eyes I must sigh, for what I see is contrary to my religion, and I must despise the world which does not know that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
— Ludwig van Beethoven, quoted by Bettina von Arnin, letter to Goethe, 1810

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Holidays at the Met

My woman and I took part in some traditional (and traditional I can refer to early 1800s music, or the whole act) New York experiences. We attended an evening classical concert at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last Thursday. We arrived shortly after work, and settled into the Medieval Sculpture Hall of the MET for the concert. An intimate setting in front of the classically decorated Christmas tree and a vivid 18th-century Neapolitan Baroque crèche. The embellished with a profuse array of diminutive, lifelike attendant figures and hovering, silk-robed angels, adorns the candlelit spruce. Aside from the Nautica dressed brats in the rows in front of me, the scene took me back to a 1700s church reception for the birth of Christ.

The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Official site) played two sessions of Johann Sebastian Bach’s, Cantata No. 133, Ich freue mich in dir, and Cantata No. 40, Dazu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes; each if you can’t tell by name were sung in German. We attended the latter performance at 8:30 with a few friends.

Ordinarily I’m put off by classical music, primarily because I don’t listen enough to it, to understand it. Although when I do hear it, my experience with vocal-less composures of modern dance music, have trained my ear to hear the nuances of each cord, expressions in each beat, and melodies of the pieces so as to understand the difference between typical composures and great ones. I tend to close my eyes to hear better at times, and of course my girlfriend took this as napping but none the less, I did enjoy the performance and it was well worth my time.

I had intended to take pictures, however, after taking just this first one, I was reprimanded by museum staff that photography was prohibited. Notice the no camera sign in the picture below.

The serpent that in paradise
Upon all Adam’s children
The bane of souls did cause to fall
Brings us no danger more;
The woman’s seed is manifest,
The Savior is in flesh appearéd
And hath from it removed all venom.
Take comfort then, O troubled sinner!