October 14-20, 2004
musicpicks
Teng Li
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classical
What's the difference between a viola and an onion? Nobody cries when they chop up a viola. There are probably more viola jokes than there are for all other orchestra members combined. But this ugly duckling of an instrument can also be a swan, especially when music for it is written by the likes of Brahms and Hindemith. Those composers found a richly humanistic voice in the alto range of the viola's strings, even without the penetrating tone of the violin or the chocolatey ooze of the cello. The music is featured in an Astral recital by the superb young violist Teng Li, with pianist Meng-Chieh Liu. Milhaud and Paganini are also on the program. And leave the viola jokes at home; Teng Li has heard them all. Oh all right, one more: How can you tell when a violist is playing out of tune? The bow is moving.
Sun., Oct. 17, 3 p.m., $5-$15, Trinity Center for Urban Life, 22nd and Spruce sts., 215-735-6999.
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