Brief Encounter

Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

I attended Ransom’s Chamber Music Society concert at Tully last night. It was a struggle because I had to work a full day – couldn’t leave early – and then dashed home to walk the dogs. I knew I would be late and in fact missed Ransom’s first performance (Jolivet Chant de Linos) and the second piece, (Martinů Duo No. 1 for Violin and Viola, "Three Madrigals”), but I managed to hear the last work before the interval and then the final two pieces:

Sheng Northern Lights for Cello and Piano (CMS Co-Commission, New York Premiere)
Ravel Sonatine for Flute, Cello, and Harp (arr. Carlos Salzedo)
Arensky Piano Trio No. 1 in d minor, Op. 32.

Ransom played the Ravel, a favorite of mine, beautifully, and I mostly liked the Sheng and truly loved the Arensky, a composer new to me.

But it’s the interval that I want to write about. I had slipped into the last row, not wanting to stumble over people getting to my ticketed seat. I was going to get up and move where I belonged, but, before I could, the stranger sitting next to me asked a question about the concert.

I was struck both by the question and by a stranger’s willingness to ask. He wanted to know who it was that joined the musicians on stage to take a bow. I answered that it was the composer. He then asked another question; I answered that one and fielded one from his wife. It was then my turn and we spent the next twenty minutes talking about music, my life, their lives, the rich cultural mosaic that is New York, pre-conceived notions of what it means to work on Wall Street and several other things beside.

It was a lovely interlude. I learned that they had moved to New York from the Midwest within the past year and were thrilled by all the opportunities the city offered them. It was exciting to hear them talk about drinking in New York’s culture and diversity and I fondly remembered my first years in the city and the excitement I felt.

I rarely talk with strangers and in fact usually take a seat with empties on either side. So last night was a stretch for me and, as with physical stretching, it felt good.

Thank you, newbie New York cultural hounds; you made an excellent concert even more enjoyable.