[live shows] Chopin Without Piano, Sat. 10/24/15, Lang Concert Hall, Swarthmore College
A few weeks ago F and I had a date night! We went out for dinner (with a $50 gift card!) and then went to a concert on Swarthmore's campus. The show was Chopin Without Piano, an interpretation of two of Chopin's piano concertos (No. 1 in E Minor, and No. 2 in F Minor) but (obviously) without the piano. The piano was replaced by a spoken-word performance, a meditation on Chopin's music and life, on what Chopin means to Poland, on the nature of nationalism and art and creativity and inspiration. Entirely in Polish. (There were subtitles running on a screen above the stage, like at the opera, and the full text in translation was also printed in the program.) It was fantastic. It was also the US premiere, and it was free and a packed house. Really exciting to see real art happening and to be among the first to see it in this country.