Town #7 Hartford (visit #1)

Sunday, January 20, 2008
West End String Quartet * Giancarlo Bazzano, clarinet, at St. Augustine Church

Bob read about Bazzano in the Cal section of the Courant, and realized we had a copy of his CD, given to us by a friend. After listening to it, we were awed. He plays so phenomenally that we had to go to his concert. It was at St. Augustine Church, and the front doors were locked, as was a side door. We began despairing that we'd read the date wrong until we saw someone enter a different side door. Good thing we did, as he plays so beautifully that it would have been a shame to miss it. He’s from Italy and played several solo pieces before joining with the West End String Quartet, four talented young women, and playing Mozart’s quintet for clarinet and strings. He plays very expressively, which made it easy to overlook the fact that he was a bit of a diamond in the rough as far as his appearance went. His accompanist was also wonderful. (no fee or offering accepted) (Jan)