For Valentine's Day, G had something great planned, something epic! It was also something I knew nothing about beforehand, but with the discovery of two potential obstacles to the plan came his insistence that it MUST be done, due to its ephemeral nature. Hmm.. intriguing.
Before sunset, we drove to Half Moon Bay, about 25 miles south of San Francisco. Armed with a picnic and a small bottle of Julian hard apple cider (a shout-out to one of our favorite weekend destinations in SoCal), we parked then walked to the coast, where a lone baby grand piano was installed upon on a bluff overlooking the ocean, facing the setting sun.
The Story Behind "Sunset Piano":
Argentina-born local artist Mauro Ffortissimo is known for taking apart pianos and reconstructing them into unusual sculptures. He recently acquired a 1917 baby grand piano, but no longer had room to add to his collection. He decided to drag the piano out to the nearby bluff to perform outdoor concerts nightly, playing Chopin, Debussy, and Schumann to see how the elements would affect the sound and the tuning of the already deteriorating piano. The experiment, dubbed "Sunset Piano," was cut short when a city code enforcement official informed him that he was encroaching on public land without a permit. He was given a brief grace period (until the 14th) to continue the concerts, which had begun just before sunset on February 1st. As a final farewell, Ffortissimo's intention was to burn the piano on private land, as he never meant for the concerts to go on forever. "You know the bottom line it's about the impermanence of all things," he says. "Things are always changing. And it's good to basically be a bit loose about things."
It felt like a spontaneous combustion of happy people, magnetically congregating to enjoy the music as the sun set over the Pacific. There was a barefoot interpretational dancer who weaved in and out of the crowd, an upright bassist played along, a poet spoke to the beat, videographers documented the event, a wonderful older lady welcomed us to her community (and even introduced us to Mauro himself!), and around 200 adults, children, and pets united to appreciate this special, singular, fleeting moment that ended simply, not long after the sun was below the horizon. Here are some cell phone photos I took, edited on Instagram.
The view. Courtesy of G.
Mauro and his entourage.
The crowd.
A close-up.
Happy Valentine's Day! Courtesy of G.
And here is my short video of the concert. Forgive the sideways shot in the first few seconds - I forgot that my camera doesn't adjust for angle. If you listen closely, you can hear through the loud melodica to the quiet, slightly off-key serenade of the antique piano.
What a romantic, thoughtful Valentine's Day surprise, don't you think? Nice work, G!
