REVIEW: Chamber Music Soicety of Lincoln Center, with Jeremy Denk

I reviewed the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center with pianist Jeremy Denk for The Kansas City Star.

Not only is Jeremy Denk an amazing virtuoso, performing with also fantastic musicians, with a program of excellent selections, but – to the specific interest of this blogger – he has read À la recherche du temps perdu all the way through in three different translations!!! That’s 21 volumes, people! I bow to him.

His blog “Think Denk” is an inspiration and you can’t fault someone who posts rarely when the posts are so, so good. Okay, so maybe that one appeals more to the geeks out there. This one is more general-audience good and funny.

I enjoyed this performance, as the review states. It was a relevant performance, meaningful. Too often in classical music it seems we’re told a performance is important or the music is important. We’re not shown that the music is important, that the notes are important, the phrasing, the pulse of it. Not so Saturday night.

It was so engaging, in fact, that I could for the most part ignore the girl behind me shredding candy wrappers throughout the performance, even after she was shushed and admonished by the person with her.