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^{The Movado Hour is considerably more highbrow than this Plattsdeutsch “Oompa Festival” concert I attended because my Dad was in the band. Moreoever, the Movado hour offers canapés and white wine before and afterwards (so you’ll have to bring your own Jägermeister and herring sandwiches!)}

You can’t beat live music for free. Even my Dad’s Oompa Festivals are a pleasure for knowing that the fat old men playing their lurching polkas are playing just for us.

But my Tuesday evening was spent in a considerably more highbrow manner at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC), listening to a little Schubert octet, played live in a candle-lit, intimate setting, with city lights pleasantly perceptible in the background through tall black mesh windowshades. I spotted TNY’s Russell Platt two seats away. I’m not sure what my dad would think (he’s very picky, even finding fault with Lincoln Center’s acoustics), but I thought the sound in that room was perfect, the music enclosing the audience like a small egg in a velvet glove.

I’m no stranger to classical music, having grown up with a father who was a recording engineer for CBS and Sony and who told me stories about working with Glenn Gould and Wynton Marsalis, among others. So my take on the music was this: it’s funny how some music can sound exactly like a bunch of socialites at a high-class tea party engaging in animated gossip, suddenly transformed into musical instruments. The first allegro was for classical music what “Summer Dreaming” was for Grease. Well, maybe a cross between that and Cole Porter’s “What a swell party this is!” (I hope Russell Platt isn’t reading this nonsense!)

I saw other people with their eyes closed, absorbing the chords and harmonies and trills and crisp little curlicues, all very dignified and worthy of the music. But me, I was smiling. I was feeling tickled. I think we all should reach the point where a one-liner by a bassoon at the end of a musical jaunt can make us laugh a little inside. Here’s a shortcut to that point (or a life-saver if you’re just plain bored): just imagine it’s all the soundtrack to a classic pre-1957 Tom & Jerry cartoon.

Have a look at the schedule, maybe there’s something you’d like to hear played live for free. And even if not, try it, you might like it. Everything’s nicer when you hear it live, and it’s only an hour! Plus, Baryshnikov will be there, and he’s still very nice to look at: The Movado Hour at the Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC)

Posted Wednesday, April 12th, 2006 at 6:00 am under art, literature & other distractions. Feel free to trackback from your own site. All images on newyorkette.com are the intellectual property of Carolita Johnson, and you must ask (and receive) express permission to use them or reproduce them in any way whatsoever.