The Sara Davis Buechner was the first time I had seen the Baruch Performing Arts Center. After walking down the stairs I was impressed by the size of the area. There was a lobby with a bar on the lowest floor with another stage. On the higher level was the recital hall where we saw Sara Davis Buechner perform. Before the performance started I looked through the pamphlet to learn about the performer and the pieces she was playing.
The first piece was the Fantasy and Sonata in C minor by Wolfgang Mozart. Before she began the piece she reminded the audience not to clap in between movements. She mentioned this because she said that both within and between the movements, the silence is very important and has a function within the piece. I believe the silence between the movements is to leave the emotion from the previous movement with the audience until the start of the next movement to either create contrast or pickup from how the previous movement ended. Clapping would completely kill the emotion between movements and each movement would feel like the absolute beginning again.
Starting from the Mozart piece, every piece was in the order of the year they were made. As the music went on it was easy to hear the progression of music from Mozart to Chopin to Arensky then to Gershwin. The second piece was Introduction and Rondo in E flat major by Frederic Chopin. The music had a very lively spirit that came along with the Romantic period.
The third piece was the Arensky four salon pieces. I did not know of any music by Arensky before Beuchner’s performance but I enjoyed the songs a lot more than I thought. The final planned piece was the second Rhapsody by George Gershwin which truly exemplified Sara’s performing and arranging abilities.
The performance as a whole was incredible. Sara Davis Beuchner is an incredibly talented and knowledgeable artist.
