I had such a lovely date with my little Izzy last night. We attended the Joshua Bell concert with some friends and this morning, as I go about the demands of the day, my mind is still lingering over how fun it was to get dressed up, meet for a delicious dinner, and make our way over to the concert hall. The music was sublime, there is no other way to describe it. I don't want to belabor the point because once you throw out the word sublime, where else is there to go? The inevitable progression is to gush like a maniac. There are only so many heavenly adjectives (transcendent, supernal, uplifting, etc.) one can use to describe a musical peformance before the description itself starts to take away from what actually happened. Perhaps I should just say he was good and leave it duly understated.
At any rate, we were quite close to the stage and it was incredible to watch how Mr. Bell used his vioin. I would say he didn't waste a single inch of it. Not a square millimeter. Furthermore, I loved noting from the program that he grew up an Indiana farm boy.
Also to be commended was the mesmerizing touch of the pianist, Jeremy Denk. That guy nearly brought his Steinway to its knees, he was so...good. Best of all was to watch the connection and synergy between the two performers--hard to describe, but usually one sees musicians more absorbed in their own performances, with the pianist and violinist (for example) kind of checking in with each other periodically. These guys kept up a running dialogue, I would say.
Though every moment of the night distilled itself on my senses like an extraordinary treat, what made me happiest by far was watching how delighted Izzy was by the experience, the music, the binoculars, her friend and, as she said, by having her mom "all to herself."
On that note, I've been meaning to show you the little music library the girls organized in their room a few weeks ago. It's pretty much state of the art.
Security it tight. Everything has its place--loose cds to the left, cds that have managed to retain their cases may stack up on the right. Don't mess with the system, they run a tight ship.
Just in case there's any confusion as to what's playing...
And now I leave you with a little story/love letter that was waiting for me on my desk when we got home last night. Caroline has been writing up a storm lately. I just adore how boldly she ventures into the world of language:
One raspberry was growing on a tree. One day a girl visit the tree and she pick some raspberries and she put some in her basket. The end.