So I was walking around the musical instruments wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Tuesday. As I gawked over very old pianos, drums, woodwinds, horns, and violins, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit wistful. The sad truth is, most of these instruments will probably never be played again.
The way I see it, it’s one thing to hang Van Gogh’s “Wheat Field with Cypresses” on a wall.
Paintings are meant to be viewed. It’s another to display a Stadivarius cello behind a glass case. An instrument like that is meant to be heard. Don’t you think?
I’m a little bit torn because it IS pretty cool that there is a place like the Met where we can go and see these instruments up close. But wouldn’t it be great if once a year or something, they could put on a demo concert with pieces from their collection? Maybe invite musicians to come and play that cello...
that golden harpsichord...
or that crazy looking stringed thing from Africa.
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