Saturday, September 13, 2014

Playing Without a Printed Program

The season takes off with a new experiment:   No printed programs.

I did my first such program last night with astonishing results.  I had planned the program, even announced it on-line; the composers' names were the subject of the evening.  But I decided not to distribute programs until after the playing.  The result was amazing.

It freed me to hear as I wanted the listeners to hear, as if every note were a challenge to pay attention, to become immersed in a never-to-be-repeated moment.  It was truly like an improvisation.  And my interpretation of a Clementi Sonata (F# minor - a great work) was entirely different from the last time I performed it several years ago.