There Stands the Glass

I was disappointed when an elegant forty-year-old woman walked into Polsky Theatre on Monday, March 3. Prior to her entrance, I was a contender for the youngest person in the audience of about 125. The piano duo of Jeffrey and Karen Savage performed impressionist works by composers including Claude Debussy and Isaac Albéniz at the free noon recital using the unfortunate moniker 88 Squared. As the youngest person in the room busied herself with a to-do list, a few geezers seated near me napped. I’m not mocking them- I aspire to their refusal to stay home in their eighties. A transcription of a slightly dissonant composition by the Savages’ UMKC colleague Sean Chen was balanced by an unsuitable medley of songs from The Wizard of Oz. Only then did I feel as if I were confined to a dreary nursing home.

Had I realized I’d be able to watch a video of the concert the next day, I probably wouldn’t have dragged my poor human body to White Recital Hall on Monday, October 3. But I would have missed the privilege of sitting 15 feet away from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Zhou Long. An interpretation of his “Spirit of Chimes” (13:30) thrilled me. I also enjoyed monitoring composer Mathew Fuerst’s reaction to a rendering of his “Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano” (33:20). I moved to the back row for Felix Mendelssohn’s “Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49” (62:25 mark) ater intermission. The piece initially struck me as stale, but I gradually became invested in the reading of the 1839 composition by pianist Karen Hsiao Savage, violinist Hyeyung Sol Yoon and Gregory Beaver. And for better or worse, had I stayed home I wouldn’t have been troubled with the knowledge that less than 50 people availed themselves of the free offering on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Sweatin' to the Oldies

Concert Review: Karen Hsiao Savage, Hyeyung Sol Yoon and Gregory Beaver at White Recital Hall