Piano Recital

I just returned home from a piano recital given by Grigory Sokolov, a (somewhat) famous Russian pianist. The National Academy of St. Cecilia (basically Rome's symphony orchestra) is putting on a series of piano recitals featuring five "great" pianists. Tonight's was the first, and it was very enjoyable.

The pieces on the program weren't too familiar, and I wouldn't really call them crowd pleasers, either, but it was good music and I enjoyed it.

The best part of the evening came after the program was finished (about 11:15 p.m.) and the audience clapped poor Grigory into 6 encores!! I only recognized two of them, but they were all good. It seems that Grigory prefers slower, more expressive pieces to the fast, showy ones.

Anyhow, the show finally ended at 11:50, and I got home at 12:30, so it's way past time for me to go to bed...