Translation Sniper

The better half and I went to a classical music concert this past Friday

György Kurtág …quasi una fantasia…
Mozart Piano Concerto No 9 in E flat major, K. 271
Kodály Mátrai Pictures (Matrai Pictures)
Bartók The Miraculous Mandarin

This was an interesting concert – the only piece that sounded like typical classical music was the Mozart piece. I wasn’t that familiar with this piece, but really enjoyed the back-and-forth between the piano and orchestra. Interestingly, the somber, second movement didn’t sound like a normal Mozart piece.

The third piece was an interesting chorus piece – basically a three-part song based on Hungarian folk tales. It was quite short but powerful.

The first and last pieces, however, were….well, to this un-educated ear (when it comes to classical music), it was the equivalent to listening to hip-hop or something. Nothing sounded musical. There was just no base of reference to use when listening – just a bunch of random noise.

I know some other Bartok pieces that I actually like. Apparently this piece – The Miraculous Mandarin – is quite famous – in part because of its scandalous story line (I can’t believe this was on the program for what was supposed to be ‘family night’!). But I personally didn’t really care all that much for it. It was still preferable to the first piece, that was really just a bunch of random noise. Here’s the first three sections – it’s quite short, only a few minutes each.

quasi una fantasia – movement 1
quasi una fantasia – movement 2
quasi una fantasia – movement 3