Murray Perahia

It was a slightly roundabout way, but I learned about a concert by receiving a email invitation to a group dinner. The invitation to Murray Perahia's concert was on the same day and passed along to show (no pun intended) that they weren't mutually exclusive. I went to both. Dinner was Thai food. No surprises, it met expectations. I really enjoyed the concert afterward.

The summary:

In the more than 32 years he has been performing on the concert stage, American pianist Murray Perahia has become one of the most sought-after and cherished pianists of our time. He has a long relationship with Duke University, having first performed here on the Duke Artists Series as a young rising star in 1979. A multiple Grammy-winner, Mr. Perahia performs in all of the major international music centers and with every leading orchestra. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and has recently embarked on an ambitious project to edit the complete Beethoven Sonatas.

I actually purchased one of his CDs a while ago, and it is quite good. (Mozart: Piano Sonatas K.310, 331 & 533/494) Köchel 331, Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11, is fairly well known mostly for its 3rd movement, Rondo Alla Turca. The concert's program included works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Chopin. At total of 5 pieces were scheduled, but Murray didn't stop there. He went into extra innings, playing 3 extra pieces with standing ovations between each one. Unfortunately, I didn't have the savvy to know the overture pieces. Funny enough, there was an accidental crowd mishap during the scheduled performance. In a three movement piece, the audience applauded after the second movement. Having lost count myself, I am sad to admit I was part of the problem. Overall, the concert was great. All the pieces were new to me, and I was very impressed with the performance. On a side note, I also learned that Murray is a member of the tribe thanks to Wikipedia.