The comparativist

A s Christ Church wraps up another successful year of concerts, I'd like to crunch the numbers of the data I've collected while covering their concerts, which I'll do over two articles. On the next one I'll be looking at the numbers of the year as a whole: I keep tabs on the audience reactions, composers performed, and attendance figures. Now, dear reader, do keep in mind that I might have missed a few concerts, and that I'm an optimistically inclined counter of attendees. For this recently concluded autumn season, the most played composers were, in a six-way tie, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Ravel, and Granados— each played twice. No clear winner here! In terms of audience reactions, it seems to me that the very first concert of the season, which was the one by pianist Maria Stratigou, received the crowd's longest and strongest applause— some even stood up to thank Stratigou's masterclass in Louise Farrenc! Her cheerful yet academic presentations surely help he...