A Classical Eye-Opener

(The Beaux Arts Trio in 1955, the year of its founding. Violinist Damiel Guillet, pianist Menahem Pressler, cellist Bernard Greenhouse.)

I’m a novice when it comes to classical music. I think that my appreciation of the genre stems from that of my parents. My mother met my father while she was studying at a music conservatory in New York. My father loved classical music and, I imagine, the soporific effect it had on me when played on the car stereo during long drives.

These days, I still find certain performances calming, others uplifting and still others, exhilarating.

If you are in need of a little eye-opener this morning, please visit the Performance Today archive of the Beaux Arts Trio. Listen to their final concert given at Tanglewood, fifty-three years after their inaugural performance held at the same venue. You’ll be glad you did.

(Pianist Menahem Pressler (center) with his current colleagues, cellist Antonio Meneses (right) and violinist Daniel Hope, in 2008, the year of the trio’s final concert.)