First Monday at NEC
This is shaping up to be my season for attending concerts.
Tonight I caught the second half of NEC’s First Monday concert (they were playing Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, which I’ve played twice now). It’s so nice to be able to hop in the car, zip down Soldier’s Field Road/Storrow Drive and then on to NEC, find a free parking spot nearby, and hear a free concert in one of the nicest halls I’ve ever been in (Jordan Hall). It’s actually quite convenient if you know where you’re going, and know where to find parking (if you don’t, it can be quite an ordeal - Boston streets are terribly confusing, and parking can be a nightmare).
Anyway, I went because Marcus (my teacher) mentioned he was playing. Otherwise I wouldn’t have known about it. There are so many concerts in the area it’s hard to keep track of all of them.
I didn’t know any of the other musicians who were playing, but I guess they must all be NEC faculty. I thought the performance was quite good, and definitely exciting (like the break-neck speed they started the last movement!) The first violinist seemed to force her sound a lot, but besides that her playing was very good. And I learned that even for professional musicians, the second cello part in the last third of the second movement can be tricky to get in tune with those low fifths. Overall, it was a lot of fun, though. Marcus did a neat little slide from the low A to an open G in the big viola melody in the third movement that I thought was pretty cool.
Concerts coming up: Keuna, Jen, and Josh are playing the 19th, and there’s a BCMS concert the 20th (they’re doing Brahms G major string quintet).
