Mainly Mozart Festival

Went last night, TSRI Auditorium is small, with excellent acoustics, we were in the center section, about 4 rows back from the stage.
Anne-​Marie McDermott, Pedja Muzijevic, Anton Nel and Stephen Prutsman played four pianos. I’m not a classical music guy by any means, but the program was rousing, moving, entertaining and moved briskly.
The evening started with Mainly Mozart Founding Executive Director, Nancy Laturno Bojanic and Curator Anne-​Marie McDermott addressing the crowd. Then the four consummate musicians took their places and began playing.
Now, I am not exactly sure what I saw, but the program said:
Czerny: Quartet for Four Pianos in C Major, Op. 230
Bach: Concerto for Four Pianos in A minor, BWV 1065
I. (no tempo markings)
II. Largo
III. Alegro
I do know that the second piece played was Saint Seans Danse Macabre, which was awesome just played with pianos.
They finished up with a Piano piece for 8 hands, that’s right, 4 people playing on one piano, I think the composer was Prokofiev. The performers stayed on the stage and had a quick Q&A with the audience that is most unusual and quite informative and refreshing.
I would go again. We left (as music intends) with greater appreciation for the medium of piano than we did before we arrived, and with hungry minds and burning questions. If you get the opportunity to attend, it’s highly recommended.

hmmm. idk if i’m writing my review at the right place bahahah where’s juan street? anyway this review IS for the mainly mozart festival which i had the pleasure of partaking in at the auditorium at the scripps research institute. 4.5 stars for that! i was blessed enough to score 5 tickets normally $ 75 for free (Thanks Luis @ Mainly Mozart!!). i’ve been wanting to watch one of the concerts for forever but they’re just so dang expensive! up to over $ 100! WORTH IT! but steep.
the night that i went, the festival hosted a lecture on the basis of musical feeling, but it happened quite early in the day and we couldn’t make it in time. we did make it for the wine reception which had an open wine bar and a few beautiful spreads of cheese, crackers, fruits and nuts. a wonderful way to start off an enchanting evening of music.
i actually am not well versed in classical music. i don’t understand exactly what’s going on, all i know is that i love the execution. what was nice about this event was that leader, one of the violinist of the St Lawrence String Quartet gave a little run down of each of the three pieces they played that evening. so he said ‘ok listen to the feud’ and i’m like ‘what? what does that even mean’ but he was talking about how the two violins would go back and forth between each other almost like they were arguing! and it was true! you could pick up on it! and he talked about themes and a little bit about the history of the pieces. really helps you appreciate what you’re listening to and helps you pick up on the little nuances in the melodies. for me it was a wonderful experience. i’ve been to instrumental concerts before, i’m actually a big fan of Bond, the string quartet of the UK. but i’ve never been to a concert quite like this which was formal and intimate. for me, it was fun zeroing in on a particular musician, trying to find which voice belong to him and then closing my eyes to see how he blended his melodies with the other three. the St. Lawrence String Quartet is amazingly talented they made 4 ppl sound like 20 their fingers were so agile and the melodies were so intricate.
what’s funny is that they didn’t play any mozart. which i guess is why the festival is called MAINLY mozart lol. if i could i would love to catch the festival at the balboa theatre with a full orchestra, although chamber music is euphoric as well. if they have some kind of crazy deal for it on groupon i’m gonna be all over it!