Neil Georgeson concert: an uplifting ‘out of body’ moment
There remained with me hours after the event that slight ‘out of body’ feeling that you get when you receive an energy lift like the one I, and many others, experienced on Saturday night.
Mareel, as usual, had a very healthy turn out for Neil Georgeson who left Aith for the big city to return a seasoned and accomplished performer. The entertainment we had that night reminded us what professional musicians are really capable of.
It is nothing short of a miracle, really, that a human being is capable of stringing thousands of notes out, all in the correct order, length and velocity for our entertainment while incorporating deep and powerful emotion.
His theme for the night was Fireside Tales, bringing to our attention that music is not just tones strung together in infinite ways, but emotions and events intertwined within.
Neil had put together the programme, the stories and some visual accompaniment projected on the backdrop of the stage. It was imaginatively done and added to the complete experience beautifully.
I was pleased to be able to tell him at the end of the night that it was probably the best concert I had ever had the good fortune to attend.
The sheer quality of the entertainment was recognised and acknowledged by the huge and raucous applause at the end. Not so common in Shetland to get a standing ovation for playing Schumann, Liszt, Debussy and the like.
Threaded through the concert was Neils warm and dry wit. His sense of humour added so much to this event.
The programme notes contained an insightful introduction to what we were about to experience and made good reading. He wrote: “There often seems to be something in music – especially in music without words – that speaks to us in a way we can’t really fathom or realise. Listening to a piece of classical music is in many ways like listening to a story.”
I listened to the chatter as we left the building, ‘what an astounding night’, ‘what a talent’, ‘what a wonderful sense of humour’, ‘can’t believe it was two hours, the time flew by’. Just goes to prove that everyone, even now in this digital age, likes storytelling.
Let us rejoice and be happy with the fact that there can still be high-quality entertainment out there with minimum technical input: one man and his acoustic piano along with a damn good story.
Carol Jamieson
Tresta
