The Washington Post ran this story, "Pearls Before Breakfast," about Joshua Bell, a world-famous violinist, who played for about 45 minutes at a D.C. Metro stop during rush hour. Bell, who has played before heads of state and whose tickets cost $100 for the worst seats, agreed to work with the Post for the story, by appearing as a street musician.
The resulting story is really interesting. It's kind of a cultural study on what busy commuters will do in the face of a master (the answer: Not much). It's also a profile of Bell, who is used to being received as a virtuoso by sophisticated audiences and finds himself feeling nervous and awkward in front of the Metro users.
Writer Gene Weingarten did a great job at weaving in facts about Bell, classical music and and the commuter's behavior making the piece really dense, but fascinating. There was a hidden camera at the stop, so the reporter was able to go back and review the expressions of people and their actions when passing the musician (you can watch video clips as part of the story). Weingarten also talked to several of the commuters who passed by. My favorite anecdote was from a rushed mom who was taking her 3-year-old son to daycare, and the son kept craning his neck, trying to slow her down so he could listen to the music.
Anyway, check out the story when you have some time (it's long) and share what you think.
Wow, very cool story. Didn't have time to read the whole thing yet, but so far, I especially like this line:
ReplyDelete"mostly mid-level bureaucrats with those indeterminate, oddly fungible titles: policy analyst, project manager, budget officer, specialist, facilitator, consultant."
I read this story a couple of days ago. I'm a violinist (since third grade), and I'm not really surprised by this. Everyone has a different opinion on beauty.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story. Makes me think about how much time controls us. We're always going somewhere, doing something, etc. We don't always stop to smell the roses of life. Nor do we always recognize a rose when we see it. I think we're probably all guilty of this to some degree. There are deadlines to make, places to be at certain times, etc. We tend to be on paths that we're afraid to veer off of. But sometimes the greatest pleasures in life are found my going off the path. I'd like to think on this particular day I would have stopped and listened. But I'm not entirely sure I would have. The question I guess I would need to ask myself is why not?
ReplyDeleteI think probably because it was someone on the side of the metro, so many of us might think: no time for that. But you could also do the reverse and take an amateur high-school musician, put them in a big-name hall, do lots of publicity, charge $100 for a ticket and people would find time and money for that. I think so much has to do with the facade of quality rather than the actual substance.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the dialog without everlasting attribution. I enjoyed learning about a musician I've been ignorant of. I do believe I would have stopped to listen. - I love music, street musicians, and especially spontaneity. The article became a bit too long.
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