A Concert of Winners

Today I attended a free concert at the Richard Nixon Library. It consisted of the winners of the Los Angeles International Liszt Competition. It was very different to see the performers play and not just listen to a CD. All of performers were full of passion as they played the piano. I did my best to listen, I mean really listen to the music. I listened for the loud/forte and the soft/piano and the fast/allegro and the slow/lento. The piece that I enjoyed the most was the Hungarian Rhapsody No 2. The motive at the beginning of the piece was played forte. It was followed by a high pitch melody along with low chords (which I now know gave it its homophonic texture). It was like listening to two people talking, the low notes would answer the high. About halfway through the piece, I recognized it from my Bugs Bunny days :) It brought back happy memories. I also thought about an airline commercial during this piece too. There was plenty of drama in this piece with all of the crescendos and the diminuendos. I took notes all over my program and then had it signed by four of the performers, they were all young adults that were happy to give their autograph. Looking forward to the next concert because I am on my way to becoming a better listener!