When Cathy and I started dating a movie came out called Shine about the Australian pianist David Helfgott. It was a very good movie and Geoffrey Rush gained a lot of praise for his performance. As a result of the success of the movie David Helfgott did a tour of the world. His tour of the world included the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington. Knowing that Cathy had done a music degree and was at that time working in Parsons I bought her a ticket to see David as a special treat. It was very expensive and the event was sold out. Cathy said later that when she saw the tickets her heart sank for me, because she had heard through the grapevine that Helfgott was not up to it.
The performance was utterly awful. It was awful because he was obviously not well and couldn't play. Throughout the performance he would do a sort of moaning accompaniment that was flat and droning. The worst thing about the performance though was that he got a standing ovation from the entire house (minus myself and Cathy) that lasted for at least ten minutes. I was outraged. In the end I was angrier at the audience than I was at Helfgott.
Two weeks later Cathy and I went to see another pianist. The tickets were a third of the price of the Helfgott concert, the Michael Fowler Centre was about one-tenth full, and the pianist was not very well known (I can't even remember his name). It was a wonderful concert. He played a piece by Ravel, I think, for the left hand. Fantastic. Although the audience really enjoyed his performance he did not receive a standing ovation.
6 comments:
So, what's your point,one armed social studies teacher? Did you think that life was fair? Why couldn't you swallow your pride and stand up for Mr Helfgott? Didn't staying seated look just a little precious? And what about the pianist you liked? You liked him so much that you can't even remember his name? Come on! Maybe Mr Helfgott played really well, but you've been spending too much time listening to wankers like Ornie and can't recognise a tune anymore. Maybe you need to reacquaint yourself with Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music:
"Doe a deer, a female deer..."
...and what was the significance of Cathy working at Parsons? Was this mentioned because Parsons is within walking distance of the Michael Fowler Centre and you were too damn lazy to pick her up? Come on social studies guy! Cathy deserves better than that!
And why let Cathy know that the tickets were very expensive? Is she supposed to owe you something? Are all social studies teachers this calculating? Then, next time, you took her to a cheap concert! Lousy bastard! So, next time she gets to listen to your transistor radio at a bus stop? And, what next? Oh, yes, 'Random sound Ornie'!
Dignified silence.
Pity Ornie didn't think of that!
Well, he was quite dignified.
A bus driver can be "quite dignified". "So what?" ...to quote Miles Davis.
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