50 and beyond

I was first introduced to TwoSet Violin during the COVID pandemic. D1 showed me this hilarious clip and from there, I went on to binge watch their other clips. They were entertaining and funny. I also found them educational. I know very little about classical music except for what I hear over the air on FM92.4. I think they have contributed a lot to bringing classical music to the general mass like me.  

I missed their last two shows in Singapore because I wasn’t a big enough fan to go online at exactly ticket-opening sales time to jostle for tickets. However, this time round, I somehow happened to remember just at the moment they were releasing tickets for an additional night. I went online and there was only a 3-minute queue ahead of me. I bought four tickets, and sold 3 of them to a grateful friend who brought her two teenagers to the show.

Of the three concerts that I watched so far this year—Rach 2, Rach 3 and TwoSet Violin—TwoSet Violin’s was the most expensive. The gallery seats I bought for Rach 2 was one quarter of the price of that of TwoSet Violin’s. My Rach 3’s Cat 1 tickets were half the price of TwoSet Violin’s. I guess it’s because they don’t receive funding to help defray costs. Our seats were good seats though. They only used mics for their voices, and not for their instruments, so I was glad I got good tickets. I wonder if the acoustics of the Esplanade Concert hall was good enough for their playing to be heard from the top floor circle seats.

Sophie Druml was their accompanying pianist, and she did a Liszt piece at the start. Liszt is never easy to play. I have never heard of this piece and yet, it captivated me throughout. I must say that I think her solo piece was more difficult than any of the violin pieces of the night, and she played the piano way better than they did their violins. I’m not saying they played badly; I’m just saying that she played very well.

The show was very entertaining. It even had a storyline. The duo bantered with the audience, involved the audience at times and played some nice pieces. The crowd, mainly teenagers, were clearly smitten by their charm.

I enjoyed myself very much. It felt like I was watching a 2-hour long youtube clip. They used their familiar repertoire of jibes and jokes. Their show was reminiscent of MoZart which my family caught last April. In the same way I was super impressed when this chap from MoZart used a balloon to play the tune of Can’t Help Falling in Love, I was quite amazed to see the duo play the entire  Meditation while hula hooping! That piece is longer than 5 minutes!

Would I watch them again if they came again? Well, yes. I think they have got something going here. Keep up with the creativity and I think they can go onward for a few more years before they start to look older and have no more appeal to the teeny-boppers.