This weekend, I attended a concert at the Boston Symphony Hall - presented by the Yan-Huang Performing Arts. Yup, the music was mainly Chinese (with a bit of Brahms thrown in). I was most impressed with the violin concerto, performed by Bin Huang, which was almost flawlessly executed - the melody was really beautiful, and her expressiveness could be felt all the way in the back corner of the auditorium (where I was sitting). There was a little bit of awkwardness during the duet between the violinist and the cellist, but that was forgiven by the audience's standing ovation.
The piano concerto, on the other hand, was a huge disappointment. During the entire piece, mistakes were as frequent as conductor cues! Probably even more frequent, if I dare to tell the truth. Aside from finger slips, there were times when the pianist was off-sync from the rest of the orchestra. I felt so terrible for Li Fan, I would excuse the hiccups and put my faith in hopes that he would improve - faith that would be shattered in a matter of seconds. I can honestly say that I have never attended so poor a performance by a professional musician - he brought an entirely different meaning to the concert's name: The Yellow River.
After the piano concerto, a choir appeared on stage. It was actually kind of amusing because the entire chorus was Caucasian, but they were all singing in Mandarin - very well, I might add (not that my opinion counts for anything where language is concerned)! The balance between the singers and the orchestra was choreographed perfectly, and ended the night on an upbeat note. Literally. The entire audience was clapping in rhythm by the end of the show.
Last night, I attended a performance of the musical 42nd Street by a group in Nashua, the Actorsingers. I'd never seen the musical before, but it ended up having a pretty decent plot - girl from a small town goes to Broadway to make a name for herself, lands a role as a chorus girl with a famous director, then eventually becomes a star. What impressed me was the tap dancing - they sang, they acted, and boy, did they dance! The non-profit group (at least, that's how they seemed to me) obviously put a ton of work into the show, and pulled it off without a hitch. It reminded me very strongly of when I performed in my high school's production of The Music Man. Good times.
The piano concerto, on the other hand, was a huge disappointment. During the entire piece, mistakes were as frequent as conductor cues! Probably even more frequent, if I dare to tell the truth. Aside from finger slips, there were times when the pianist was off-sync from the rest of the orchestra. I felt so terrible for Li Fan, I would excuse the hiccups and put my faith in hopes that he would improve - faith that would be shattered in a matter of seconds. I can honestly say that I have never attended so poor a performance by a professional musician - he brought an entirely different meaning to the concert's name: The Yellow River.
After the piano concerto, a choir appeared on stage. It was actually kind of amusing because the entire chorus was Caucasian, but they were all singing in Mandarin - very well, I might add (not that my opinion counts for anything where language is concerned)! The balance between the singers and the orchestra was choreographed perfectly, and ended the night on an upbeat note. Literally. The entire audience was clapping in rhythm by the end of the show.
Last night, I attended a performance of the musical 42nd Street by a group in Nashua, the Actorsingers. I'd never seen the musical before, but it ended up having a pretty decent plot - girl from a small town goes to Broadway to make a name for herself, lands a role as a chorus girl with a famous director, then eventually becomes a star. What impressed me was the tap dancing - they sang, they acted, and boy, did they dance! The non-profit group (at least, that's how they seemed to me) obviously put a ton of work into the show, and pulled it off without a hitch. It reminded me very strongly of when I performed in my high school's production of The Music Man. Good times.
Comments