We Roll Over to 2010
It’s been a long dry spell since the last performance I attended in 2009,
a Dame Myra Hess piano recital by May Phang on December 23rd.
May began with Scarlatti (Kirkpatrick #213, for those who know them
by number 
Not being the warhorse sonata (K. 380) we all hear all the time,
I enjoyed it and then the follow-up of “Etude Homage Scarlatti” by Marc-Andre
Hamelin. Having been satisfied by the 1st two pieces, I escaped before the
Johann Neppomuk Hummel and Gershwin Broadway songs hit the fan.
In between the two holidays, there was “Icarus” playing at Lookingglass that
sounded interesting, but turned out to be very less than expected. It was a
hodge-podge of Greek mythology with the story of Icarus & Daedalus tacked on,
presumably to put it in context. If any reader has seen it you’ll know what I
mean when I say it had some significant “baggage” dragging along and had
“strings attached”. If you’re curious and like a good aerial performance don’t
hesitate to see it.
So into January 2010…
The 1st Monday of the month concert by the Chicago Chamber Musicians
at lunchtime under the Tiffany Dome was devoted to a single work (unusual
for the Cultural Center), the Dvorak Piano Trio in f minor. It was performed
by Jasmine Lin violin, Wendy Warner cello and Meng-Chieh Liu on piano.
Meng announced that this was one of most romantic trios by Dvorak and
the ensemble will be playing it at an alumni reunion at the Curtis Institute
in Philly this spring.
After a 40 minute performance the nearly-packed house expressed their
appreciation to the players. Afterward, several piano aficionados (and me)
walked up to stage to see the electronic tablet that Meng was using on
the music stand. I’ve seen it before but never got this close. It was a tablet
ala Kindle, but larger and made by Fujitsu. Page flipping was by a wireless
BlueTooth connection to a foot-pedal Meng had by his left foot.
Later in the day I went to a performance by the new mix & match ensembles
of Stereo and The Bell Cycle in Wicker park. With that teaser, I’ll post my
complete thoughts on this amazing concert later…
Bruce Oltman
