Music and murder

I went to the St. Patrick's day performance of the Boulder Phil the other night. Too bad I had to miss one of the university's Pendulum Series, but Angela Cheng's playing of Chopin's Second Piano Concerto was something I didn't want to miss. She has always been a favorite here and she didn't disappoint. Conductor Michael Butterman also showed great initiative in selecting Andrej Panufnik's "Hommage à Chopin" to precede Ms Cheng. Audiences need to be exposed to more than just the old war horses and this one fit the bill -- accessible and lyrical.

Earlier my wife and I went to the university's performance of "Don Giovanni". The students always amaze me with their professionalism and vocal capabilities. The graduate student Wei Wu, in particular, was outstanding as Leporello.

Something missing in Boulder. though, are reviews and previews of classical music in the local paper, the "Daily Daguerreotype", née "Camera". Granted main stream media is having some difficulties in the Internet age, but if they can pay staff to put together several weeks worth of agonizing detail about a local murderer and his victims, you would hope that management could find a few pennies to promote art locally. Nah! No money in it. Anyway, if the school systems continue to eliminate music in the schools, why worry?