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銀行のホールで音楽番組の公開録音
車で通勤している雅子さんは、運転しながらラジオを聴いています。よく聴くのはクラシック音楽専門局で、その中でも、10代の音楽家たちを紹介する "From the Top" という番組が大のお気に入り。今度、近くでその番組の公開録音が行なわれるというので、早速、聴衆の一人として参加することにしました。
Making music in a bank
"From the Top" is a classical music radio show that is based in Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston. I took piano lessons for several years at NEC where I occasionally noticed the show being taped in the auditorium. However, it never occurred to me to listen to a live performance. I'd never heard the show on the radio. I didn't know what I was missing.
When I lived in Boston, I rarely listened to the radio. Now that I have a car and spend a lot of time in my car, I listen to the radio quite a bit. My favorite station is a public classical music station that broadcasts popular classical music programs including "From the Top" by Public Radio International. The program, which features talented teenage musicians, is one of my favorite shows.
It is through the radio that I heard that "From the Top" would be taped at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall near Albany. The cast often travels and the show is taped in halls across the country. Local young musicians are given opportunity to perform both in front of a live audience and a nationwide radio audience.
The kids are also interviewed by the host, which lends a personal touch. The combination of good music and lighthearted conversation is very appealing. While I was listening to a recent broadcast of the show, I realized that I knew one of the young musicians being interviewed. It made the show that much more interesting to me.
When I heard that the show was coming to the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, I immediately knew I wanted to go. Not only did I want to listen to the kids, I also wanted to see the composer Peter Schickele appearing as a guest. Another major draw of the event was the music hall itself. Although it's a small concert hall located in a sleepy town in upstate New York, it's well-known for its superb acoustics.
One thing that surprised me when I first arrived at the hall is that the ground floor of the building is still a regular bank. Nothing suggests that it's a world-famous hall. Concert halls often have a grand lobby, perhaps with red carpet, oil paintings and winding staircases. This building had a small, cold hallway with an unspectacular elevator and boring white steps. But after climbing up a few flights of stairs, the concert hall revealed itself. The interior was simpler than other concert halls I've been to (including a few in the Albany area) but the true luxury was that almost every part of the hall was over 100 years old.
The hall was built above a bank in 1875, and most of the details of the interior have remained intact. Even the chairs are the original wooden chairs with hat racks built under them. The hall rents cushions to those who find the wood uncomfortable. I've heard the primary reason the chairs have not been changed is because people still haven't figured out why the hall sounds so great, and they don't want to tamper with perfection.
In a sense, it was unfortunate that the performances were being taped for the radio, since the sound was amplified with microphones, and I couldn't enjoy the natural sound of the hall. However, the fact that it was being taped added other levels of excitement. One thing that I've always liked about "From the Top" is that the interviews are informal. It highlights the fact that the performers are human. Watching the show as an audience member, I realized that the performers are also children. They all did admirably well (I probably would've flubbed from the first note) but I noticed the tension in their young faces, and I realized they were not at the level where they could truly communicate to adults.
I don't know if it's because I felt sympathy for the kids or if it's because I felt nervous being part of a studio audience, but I've never felt as jittery as a listener. I clutched onto my program, lest I drop it and create a rustling sound. Now that I've been a part of the live audience, I'm looking forward to hearing the show when the recording is broadcast on the radio in the end of January.
Shukan ST: Dec. 5, 2003
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- is a classical music radio show that is based in 〜
- 〜に活動の拠点を置く
- New England Conservatory
- ニューイングランド音楽学院
- being taped
- 収録される
- auditorium
- ホール
- it never occurred to 〜
- 〜しようとは思いつかなかった
- I didn't know what I was missing
- 逃したものの価値に気付かなかった
- rarely 〜
- ほとんど〜ない
- quite a bit
- とてもよく
- favorite
- 好きな
- station
- ラジオ局
- public
- 公共の
- broadcasts 〜
- 〜を放送する
- features 〜
- 〜を取り上げる
- talented
- 才能ある
- cast
- 番組関係者
- audience
- 聴衆
- nationwide
- 全米の
- host
- 司会者
- lends a personal touch
- 人間味を与える
- lighthearted
- 陽気な
- appealing
- 魅力的な
- immediately
- すぐに
- composer Peter Schickele
- 米作曲家ピーター・シックリー
- major draw
- 大きな魅力
- located in 〜
- 〜にある
- sleepy
- 活気のない
- upstate 〜
- 〜州北部
- superb acoustics
- 見事な音響設備
- ground floor
- 1階
- Nothing suggests that 〜
- 〜とは分からない
- grand
- 威厳ある
- oil paintings
- 油絵
- winding staircases
- らせん階段
- hallway
- 廊下
- unspectacular
- パッとしない
- boring
- つまらない
- steps
- 階段
- after climbing up a few flights of stairs
- 階段をいくつか昇ると
- 〜 revealed itself
- 〜が全容を現した
- interior
- インテリア
- including 〜
- 〜を含めて
- luxury
- ぜいたく
- details
- 細部
- have remained intact
- 昔のままだ
- wooden
- 木製の
- hat racks
- 帽子掛け
- rents 〜
- 〜を貸し出す
- those who find 〜
- 〜と思う人
- uncomfortable
- 座り心地の悪い
- primary
- 主な
- haven't figured out why 〜
- 〜の理由が分からない
- tamper with 〜
- 〜に手を加える
- perfection
- 完ぺきな状態
- In a sense
- ある意味
- unfortunate
- 残念な
- sound was amplified with microphones
- マイクで音が増幅された
- highlights 〜
- 〜を浮き彫りにする
- admirably
- 見事に
- I probably would've flubbed from the first note
- 私なら最初の音からしくじっていただろう
- tension
- 緊張
- felt sympathy
- 共感を覚えた
- felt nervous
- 緊張した
- jittery
- 極度に緊張した
- clutched onto 〜
- 〜を握りしめた
- lest 〜
- 〜しないように
- rustling sound
- カサカサいう音