Entries in "Music"
Beethoven Probably Had A Better Curve Ball...
It occurs to me that in the months I've been posting with no great regularity to this blog, I've neglected my love of music in favor of computer-babble, to the point that I don't even have a music category.
As you might not know, I play classical violin and have since I was four. (Luckily, the intervening 18 years did make a certain positive difference in my skill level. Though I'm a few weeks out of practice at the moment -- it's so easy to let it slip, which is why I'm grateful that we have an orchestra available for non-music-majors here at Case. It keeps me honest.)
I just picked up a recording of the Beethoven concerto and a Bernstein serenade by a recent favorite of mine, Hilary Hahn. I haven't listened to the Bernstein yet -- I'm much more of a Beethoven fan -- but the concerto is gorgeous. The orchestra's performance isn't really overwhelming or underwhelming, other than a certain apparent lack of dynamic restraint, but the solo comes with all the clean, intellectual vibrancy that I would characterize as the hallmark of Hahn's work. The third movement is absolutely fantastic.
