Concert at Zellerbach Hall

So I went to Kristian Zimerman's piano concert at Zellerbach Hall on Friday night. The performance itself was interesting. I've never heard his playing in the past, but I liked his second half program more than the first, which is surprising, because the reason for my attending the concert was to hear him play the last sonata of Beethoven, which was the last piece in the first half of the program. He definitely can play modern pieces well, and I was mesmerized by his playing to say the least (for the second half).

But in my usual fashion, the reason for my write up tonight is to comment on someone who was sitting right next to me. I arrived just in time as the lights were blinking in the lobby signaling that the concert was about to begin. I found my row, and saw that my seat was the second seat from the aisle, neatly open between a man about 45 sitting on the aisle alone, and a couple of my age on the crowd side. I quickly glanced at both parties and thought, oh good. Looks like they're here to hear music. They looked educated, and ready for the concert.

But.... as soon as the concert began, the man on the aisle side started to move his neck, his hands and his fingers as if he was playing the piano. He would jerk his wrist, his knees and his legs sometime with, and sometime obviously not with the music. To me it signaled that he did NOT really know the pieces. But in any case, IT WAS irritating.

I see this a lot: people who are overly "intellectual" that they HAVE to show others they know the music. But he definitely did not play piano. His fingers were not moving LIKE those of a pianist, and he obviously made mistakes. (yes, it was so obvious from where I was sitting, that I can tell he did not know the pieces). Besides, when I glanced at his fingers, he had fingernails that would make noises when they'd hit the keys.

In any case, PEOPLE, please realize that there's nothing cool about being able to fake play a piece in concerts. It's just distracting and just plain RUDE. I call these people, conductorfakes.