Metal Reviews

It was 7:51 a.m. on Friday, January 12, the middle of the morning rush hour. In the next 43 minutes, as the violinist performed six classical pieces, 1,097 people passed by. Almost all of them were on the way to work, which meant, for almost all of them, a government job. L'Enfant Plaza is at the nucleus of federal Washington, and these were mostly mid-level bureaucrats with those indeterminate, oddly fungible titles: policy analyst, project manager, budget officer, specialist, facilitator, consultant.

Each passerby had a quick choice to make, one familiar to commuters in any urban area where the occasional street performer is part of the cityscape: Do you stop and listen? Do you hurry past with a blend of guilt and irritation, aware of your cupidity but annoyed by the unbidden demand on your time and your wallet? Do you throw in a buck, just to be polite? Does your decision change if he's really bad? What if he's really good? Do you have time for beauty? Shouldn't you? What's the moral mathematics of the moment?

On that Friday in January, those private questions would be answered in an unusually public way. No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made. His performance was arranged by The Washington Post as an experiment in context, perception and priorities.transcend?

In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look.

Once, when I went to an opera, there was a guy sitting next to the entrance with an accordeon, playing absolutely stunning arrangements. He had a 2 inch layer of coins in his bag, the place where you sit matters most I think...

I saw this on the news a few days ago. I like the idea too, but like AZ said, you can't expect people to stop and be late for their jobs. They'll be losing more than just loose change if they take the time to stop and watch.

Seeing someone who is at the top of their field should be a very meaningful experience. Trading a couple dollars plus a half hour's wages is a bargain. Not that a person's boss is likely to understand that either though...

I'm also wondering how many people would recognize that he's at the top of his field. Like if they had to guess between a world class virtuoso, a college music student, and the lead violinist of the local symphony if they just saw heard/saw them play.. I think the results would be pretty surprising even among those with a knowledge of classical music.

Some time ago, someone here had a monkey paint a whole collection of abstract art, hehe. They placed it in a famous gallery, and all selfproclaimed critics were blabbering how interesting it was, and they could tell all kinds of things on the motives and symbolism in the paintings. Luckely the real critics said something more in the trend of "what kinda crap is this?"

Some time ago, someone here had a monkey paint a whole collection of abstract art, hehe. They placed it in a famous gallery, and all selfproclaimed critics were blabbering how interesting it was, and they could tell all kinds of things on the motives and symbolism in the paintings. Luckely the real critics said something more in the trend of "what kinda crap is this?"

Goddamn buskers. I refuse to give anyone that minutely resembles the homeless money on principle. Not that we get classically-trained violinists in the centre of Manchester....

the guy that draws these FUCKING AWESOME 3d images on sidewalks? i saw a video once. i'd pay him too, he was amazing!