a little Beethoven

Our friend Jules was going to be in town (high school reunion), so she suggested a meeting. I noted that the Beethoven Center at San Jose State would be having one of their brief noontime concerts, so remembering Jules' agreeability for concerts, I suggested that.

So the three of us - her, me, and B. - met up at the event, fortunately arriving early because the tiny room was packed, and heard a faculty pianist named Frank Lévy play "Für Elise" and the two sonatas in E Major (Op. 14 No. 1 and Op. 109) in a rather heavy, galumphing style. Also, a rare treat, a movement from Beethoven's arrangement of Op. 14 No. 1 for string quartet. This is a full quartet by Beethoven that's almost never played or even heard of. (If you want to hear the whole thing, it's here.) We sat up front so B. could look at the strings. She knew the violist from her brief stint at the Winchester Orchestra, where he's concertmaster. (B. plays both violin and viola herself, not an unusual combination of skills.)

Then we adjourned to Poor House, the best Louisiana-style restaurant in NorCal, where we all had baskets of cornmeal-fried catfish slivers for lunch. A good little outing of the kind that doesn't happen much any more.