Last Night's Entertainment

Thank you my dear friend, Gregg!

Last evening I was a guest of my dear friend, Gregg at a piano concert entitled :: Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel :: Robert Schumann:: Fantasies--Forbidden and Fulfilled. It was nothing short of fabulous, of course.

The most interesting and astounding thing that occurred all evening was finding out that my dear friend graduated in piano performance and I so apologize for not getting the name of the major accurate. I think it is a BFA but I am not entirely positive. Anyway, I was stunned to find that out about Gregg and I simply love picking up new and delightful snippets or tidbits of people as relationships grow and mature.

Performed on the Hamline University campus at the Sundin Music Hall, the other delightful part of the evening was that Jeffrey Siegel does a combination of stunning piano performance coupled with telling the stories of the Schumann's. In other words, Mr. Siegel uses both the professional and personal lives of the Schumann's as a back drop for the pieces that will be performed and how the original composer and Siegel decided upon them. It piqued my curiosity about the somewhat tragic lives of Robert + Clara Schumann, yet Siegel spoke clearly of Schumann's incredible talents as composer and musician. I also thought it sad to know that the minute Robert married Clara her days as a gifted composer in her own right, died. Apparently, Germany in the mid-1800's was not good for clever, talented female musicians, nor was a jealous and ambivalent husband. Tisk. But, boy was she ever a baby making machine! Together they put out a total of eight children. You go girl!! After Schumann's death at 46 in a mental hospital Clara devoted the remainder of her life to profiling and protecting his enormous body of work. The layering and texturing of his musical style was immediately recognizable to my naked ear and it was such a gift to close my eyes and LISTEN.

I also think that Mr. Siegel has quite the following in terms of audience attendees. The last sentence that he utters that puts an end to an incredible evening is :: Keep Listening! and several people chimed in when he spoke the words. Even that got me to thinking because there are so many ways to listen, however, last night's version was one I will always cherish.

Thank you again, Honey Man. You rocked, no, opened up this snippet of my world and I appreciate it.

See you next week and.....

Keep Listening!

Oh, and I am holding you to letting me listen to you perform...and sooner rather than later. xxxooo