Four Bass Fiddles

Unbelievable! Four bass fiddles played for an hour at Heinz Hall tonight. I sat as still as I could and let the amazing, low vibrations sink into my bones. String arrangements written only for bass instruments are so rare, that after the quartet ran out, they played arrangements they had come up with themselves...even arranged during down time while on tour to spice up sound checks. The Barber of Seville on basses! Holy cow!

Season ticket holders were invited to come for a behind the scenes tour of Heinz Hall and a short concert and question and answer session. I think I just experienced something incredibly rare...chamber music with four basses. I doubt there are any recordings like that and I doubt there is anything I would like to hear more than that, so I tried to relax and absorb as much as possible. Answers to our questions were: Their fiddles cost as much as a small house or a really nice car. Most were made around 1850 or 1880; the "youngest" fiddle was made 1930. The musicians don't mind carrying them. If they have names for them, they won't tell you.

My thanks to the PSO organization for pulling together MY FAVORITE EVENING EVER!!! I'm trying to write a post that is intelligible, but inside I'm running around babbling incoherently: "OMG! OMG! It was fantastic! It was incredible! Holy cow! It was amazing! You should have seen it! OMG! OMG! OMG!"