Arneis Ensemble Monday Afternoon Concert

When it rains it pours...  I'm just back from another fantastic concert.  This has been quite the musical weekend with an opera at The Met, Vento Chiaro's lovely concert yesterday and today's lunch time performance by The Arneis Quartet!  Life can't really get any better.



It was a fantastic treat to hear these guys play again.  Today's program by Arneis featured the first movement of the Brahms a minor quartet, the first movement of Bartok's second quartet, and an early Haydn quartet.  They sounded polished and professional after a coaching with Mark Steinberg, violinist, in New York this past weekend.  Heather Braun, violin, played the tar out of the Haydn and Dan Doña's chocolatey viola sound was delicious in the Brahms.  Rose Drucker, violin, and Agnes Kim, cello, both played really well in the Bartok making some interesting color changes in the supporting roles that helped shift moods in the erratic work.  It's exciting to hear them sounding better and better in every performance.  I hope that they will continue this series of afternoon concerts because they fit my schedule very nicely!  I could see going once a month to hear such wonderful musicianship and fabulous music.

Hunneman Hall at the Brookline Public Library is not only a great place to see a concert, but you can also see art on display there in shows that rotate every month or so.  Right now there is a lovely exhibit of Chinese watercolors and a few calligraphy pieces. The free exhibition is in honor of Opera Boston's commission of Madame Whitesnake by Zhou Long and features work by artists from the Chinese American Fine Arts Society and the Newton Chinese Language School.  The exhibit opened on January 7th with a concert performed on traditional Chinese instruments followed by a calligraphy demonstration.  I'm sad that I couldn't attend, but everyone has to work for a living. Below are some snapshots that I took of the pieces with my trusty iPhone.  I enjoyed seeing the work after the beautiful concert by Arneis and look forward to more exhibits in the future.