Monument house concert review – part 2

Concert at the Monument house

The second night of this two night series was different in several ways. The food, the attendance and the events. Some things were changed in the program due to time constraints. Therefore this evening’s program excluded the panel discussion. The food came out a bit later than expected but it was well worth the wait!

Delicious Vietnamese dinner

We had a classic Vietnamese style dinner including a Vietnamese coffee at the end. An addition to this nights concert came from Katies Cookies. A gracious 100 cookies were donated for guests to enjoy and taste while a full box was added to the silent auction for Robert’s scholarship fund. The guest who won those cookies was very happy indeed!

Robert Bekkers performs for the audience

What was not clearly mentioned in my first review, unfortunately, was that the opening act for each night was Robert Bekkers with his own program on guitar. The music was so memorable and extraordinary that I signed up a bid in the silent auction for his exclusive 3 CD collection: Live performance in Makawao, Maui, the Nelson Music Room at Duke University and the Capriccio. Fortunately, I won the set! During his performance I found myself wondering if Robert had an extra set of hands since it was not clear to me how so many notes could be strummed at the same time. This music is a pure joy to listen to and immediately sets you in a romantic frame of mind.

Brendan performs the classics for a full house!

To complete the evening was the highly anticipated Brendan Kinsella. Brendan’s performance would follow several well-known, albeit deceased, composers such as, Beethoven, Liszt, and one of my favorites, Debussy. He remarked that they all have one thing in common; they are also pianists themselves. Since his was more of a traditional type of concert, I reminisced on when I was young and learning the piano. The hours it takes and the concentration it musters in a performance setting. While I had only achieved a small placing at a competition I could never realize the brevity of a debut performance in Carnegie Hall as Brendan had just done a few months before this concert. Knowing this about him and listening to his flawless playing without a single sheet of music sitting on the piano stand, I also came to realize that most pieces I ever performed were dwarfed in size by more than half of what he was playing. One piece in specific was his Beethoven, Sonata in C Major, op. 53 . In my piano days it would have been a 2 minute piece at best. This opus was 20 minutes in length and ever-changing in intensity. I was simply amazed. After he completed this well-known composition, he stood up and graciously bowed for a standing ovation. Immediately Brendan took the piano chair and said, “I know I shouldn’t do this but I already took a seat so I am going to play my favorite piece.” You could see clear exhaustion on his face but he still managed another 5 minute rap of Schubert’s Erlkonig! A few members of the 40+ audience whispered to each other while he played that this was an incredible feat. Brava! Brendan for treating your new fans in Netherlands to something spectacular.

Anne Ku, hostess, thanks the audience