Hudson Shad: Dinner for One
Dec 19th, 2005 by ellen
Tonight I went to downtown for Hudson Shad’s concert “Dinner for one”. I’m so happy I did go there despite of the bulky homeworks to do, bulky books/lecture scripts to review and my great anxiety for the coming final exams.First of all, it was a wonderful acoustic experience. All the five singers are professional vocalists. The pitches and the harmony were really perfect. It’s definitely the most decent band I’ve heard for years. Each of the five gentlemen presented a superb vocal performance. Among them I like the baritone Mr. Eric Edlund most. He is pretty thin however his midrange is very solid, broad and powerful. The most beautiful baritone I’ve ever heard. The pianist Mr. Michael Fennelly was extraordinarily impressive too. 
I’ve been in the local music hall Fest Halle for several times and familiar with the sound of the piano there. Today the piano sounded especially delicate with nuanced sensation though the songs they sang never intended to wrench one’s heart. Mr. Fennelly is very good at controlling the timbre of a piano. He is a Californian, however his stage style is so different from most American pianists I saw. My feeling is that he’s more European than American, his body’s movements are so well-controlled, his emoting was civilized however by no means plain or boring. He’s a real gentleman. 
My seat was at the first row and right next to where Mr. Fennelly sat. What beautiful hands he has! Not every great pianist has such long and slender fingers. At least 1/4 of the whole concert time, I was staring at his fingers.
Then, this concert is actually the local concert for Christmas, so the program was intended to make people happy thus very humorous. I haven’t laughed like tonight for long. The little play “Dinner for one” was about an old lady Ms. Sophy spent the Christmas eve with her servant James in a lonely town. The play was funny, however I was a little bit crushed. I’m going to celebrate the Christmas all alone in my lonely little room in the lonely tiny town Zweibrücken. I have no James, but only piles of text books, homeworks and maybe some music too. They are all that I have for this Christmas….
My next concert will be on Jan. 6th. Local new year’s concert. Still at Fest Halle.
