Meet the Music April 22, 2018

We have moved on from the Little Orchestra Society (see previous posts) with our six-year-old daughter to Meet the Music.  The difference between the two is that LOS is advertised to be for 3-10 years old while Meet the Music is for 6 and up, i.e., it is somewhat more sophisticated than the goofiness of LOS, with more music for longer stretches of time.  The problem is that at the April 22 performance there were many children who did not want to be there (too many were well under six) and there were many parents who did not want to be there either, playing with their cell phones, rustling plastic bags and generally creating distractions. Music is to be concentrated on and enjoyed, not to be listened to because somehow it is "good for you."

Fortunately my wife, son and daughter were mostly able to tune out the distractions and enjoy the music.  I appreciated what Bruce Adolphe was trying to do --finding common themes in Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven --but the didactic part about a restaurant that served only banana recipes was not particularly clear or successful, though the music was lovely:  Mozart's Twelve Variations in C major for Piano and his Trio in G major for Piano, Violin and Cello, Beethoven's variations on "The Magic Flute," and Schubert's Fantasy in C major for Violin and Piano.  Anna Polonsky on piano, Sean Lee on violin and Mihai Marica on cello played intensely and beautifully, seemingly oblivious to the somewhat noisy and distracting crowd.  My daughter, who studies dance, moved in her seat to the allegros and appreciated the beauty of the adagios.