Bellissima!

Last night I drove to Kearney to fulfill an assignment for my music class: we are required to attend, and file a report on two concerts. It may come as no surprise to my readers that concerts - of any sort - are somewhat rare in the Nebraska hinterlands.  A concert of art music? - the type we are studying in class? - well - let me repeat - I drove to Kearney last night.

UNK hosts a weekly concert series featuring faculty, and others, free of charge and open to the public.  Roughly 60 of us braved the frigid temperatures to gather at the Fine Arts Building on the UNK campus for a flute recital Monday night.  While students seemed to represent the largest portion of the audience there was more than a handful of well-dressed elders in the auditorium.  Audiences always interest me, so it wasn't difficult to assign a general storyline that included years of faithful attendance, regular contributions, and tear-inducing memories, to several of the stately women scattered among the seats.   Given the opportunity I could imagine myself among their numbers.

One of the selections was "Antigone Speaks," written for flute and viola (with brief recitations by the flutist) by Sylvia Glickman in 2004.  It was an elegant and soulful piece enhanced by the subtle accents of German-born Franziska Nabb and underscored by the somber drone-like aspect of the viola.  Bellissima!

Nabb first presented an assortment of contemporary numbers accompanied by a piano and featuring a mezzo-soprano soloist.  She was joined by the aforementioned viola, a cello and organist for a selection of classical and baroque pieces after the intermission, during which she acted as stage hand rearranging chairs and music stands to accomodate the quartet.

The program began at 7:30 and the applause died at 9:00 sending us back into the cold night.