Virtuoso Violinist Plays in DC Metro Station

[dlgood]

I thought alleynyc would find this particularly interesting...

Pearls Before Breakfast
Can one of the nation's great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour? Let's find out.

By Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, April 8, 2007; Page W10

Joshua Bell is one of the world's greatest violinists. His instrument of choice is a multimillion-dollar Stradivarius. If he played for spare change, incognito, outside a D.C. Metro station, would anyone notice?

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Comments

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Did those folks really read Gene Weingarten's piece, or his chat? He goes on about Kant, and is very clear that he's aware that it's not a great time for busking. Especially, at a place where you have Gov't workers who get docked if they show up late.

The choice of time and location was made because it was basically the only time and location he could use. And he wasn't writing to judge people for not stopping. If anything, the agenda wasn't "people are philistines" so much as "our modern hectic lifestyle crowds out our ability to stop and recognize beauty". It's melancholy, but not judgement.