About two weeks ago, we all went to see Angela Hewitt, a renowned pianist, perform Bach’s “The Art of Fugue”. At first, I was really excited to watch the performance because I love listening to music, and it was my first time going to watch a solo professional instrumentalist. The only times I have seen live musical performances was when we watched Otello and Elektra, and when I watched my little brother’s fifth grade band concerts. When there are a lot of people performing simultaneously, it is hard to focus on all the various sounds, instruments, and people. When there is only one person and one instrument, it is much easier to pay attention to all the details. However, this is not always a good thing.
Upon entering the theatre, I noticed that the stage was much smaller than the ones at the Met Opera and Carnegie Hall. I also noticed that there weren’t that many seats. Then, I remembered that there was only one performer, so it would not make sense for her to appear on a humongous stage, which would make her seem unimportant. I looked around, and most of the audience consisted of people over the age of fifty, which honestly did not shock me.
After I waited about ten minutes and the last few people settled into their seats, the lights dimmed. When Angela Hewitt stepped out to greet us, I couldn’t help but look at her sparkly eggplant/ruby dress because it seemed to boost her confidence (also because it was shinier than the piano). Even though I like music, I am not particularly familiar with musical history or musical terms. I did not expect Ms. Hewitt to bombard us with facts about her upcoming piece, but I respected everyone who understood and laughed along with her witty jokes. On another note, the “opening commentary” was quite long.
When Ms. Hewitt finally began playing the piece, all my attention drove to her hands, where all her fingers deftly stroked many keys on the piano. I regret not following my program book because I found myself lost in the order of “Contrapuncti” (did I spell that correctly?) she was on. I recalled from Ms. Hewitt’s introduction that she explained how each “Contrapunctus” was different from the next. However, certain tunes repeated themselves, whether they were played in the melody or harmony. In my opinion, the styles slowly fused together, making me forget about the individual “Contrapuncti” and just listen to the piece as a whole.
Although I truly respect Ms. Hewitt’s endurance and talent in playing “The Art of Fugue”, and since everyone already knows the extent of her amazing piano skills, I felt it was unnecessary for her to play the entire piece in one sitting. 90 minutes is nearly the length of a movie! I fell asleep multiple times during the performance because I was already very tired, and the classical music did not help. I was not the only one; I’m sure we all saw people around us who slept. Even the Bach-enthusiasts who sat in front of me drifted to sleep mid-performance (and dared to glare at me when my water bottle made a small pop noise, tsk tsk). Anyway, I think it would be interesting to have Ms. Hewitt shorten her opening speech, and explain the different musical styles featured in “The Art of Fugue” as the performance goes on. Instead of playing through the 90 minutes, she should pause after each “Contrapunctus”. This way, the audience would have to stay awake to be introduced to the next segments, and we would know which “Contrapunctus” we are on.
Overall, this one-person concert was a unique experience for me. Initially, I was really excited, but after failing to stay awake several times, I found the performance hard to pay attention to, and therefore boring. I appreciate and envy Ms. Hewitt’s skills, but seeing her display them for 90 minutes is just not my thing.
It is good to know that I was not the only one who had absolutely no idea what all that musical terminology meant. I am also not well versed in music or instruments. Despite my failed attempts at playing a variety of instruments, I can still barely clap on beat. Which would explain why I also had a hard time staying awake throughout the entire performance. I, too, was envious of Ms. Hewitt’s skills but know that you were also not alone in thinking that 90 minutes is far too long for a piano performance. You described feeling as if the entire night felt like listening to one giant piano piece, for the melodies and sounds all seemed to meld into one and became less and less distinguishable throughout the night. I especially identified with this and can only hope to acquire some sort of knowledge of classical music before I see another musical performance such as Hewitt’s “The Art of Fugue.”