Several problems from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Tangled problems, even.
Musician’s pleasing pluck has a hint of pique
The title is confusing. Pique?
No concert is more intimate than a classical guitar concert.
Always good to start with a bold, sweeping generalization!
The softness of the guitar focuses all attention on the player and the instrument.
The focus is on the player and instrument, not the music?
The short duration of each note crystallizes each moment of music.
The focus is on the music? Confused, again. But go on.
Sound envelops listeners like delicate perfume.
Um. Piquant perfume? Surely you’re not describing “spiciness” because the guitarist is Latin or South…
As [Chilean] guitarist Carlos Perez played Thursday evening, he elicited all those pleasant feelings.
…American. Crap.
The friendly warmth filled the auditorium of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
Friendly. Warm. Piquant?
That is lazy enough, but there’s still a problem.
“Pique” is not the root of “piquant”. [From Merriam-Webster Online:]
Piquant (n): agreeably stimulating to the palate, especially: spicy
Okay. But what you did in your title was not that.
“Musician’s pleasing pluck has a hint of pique”
Pique (n): a transient feeling of wounded vanity : resentment
Probably not what was intended, given the pleasant feelings and warmth and perfume.
Pique (transitive verb): 1: to arouse anger or resentment in : irritate
2 a: to excite or arouse especially by a provocation, challenge, or rebuff
b: pride
Clearly you weren’t trying to modify “pleasing pluck” with a transitive verb, right? Right? Right. Last option coming.
Pique (n): 1 : a durable ribbed clothing fabric of cotton, rayon, or silk
2 : decoration of a tortoiseshell or ivory object with inlaid fragments of gold or silver
Unless…unless the guitar was tortoiseshell and gold? No? Wood? I thought as much.
Summary: In the course of trying to invoke lazy Latin stereotypes of spiciness, you misunderstood the root of “piquant”, thus describing the warm pleasant perfume-y playing as a durable ribbed cloth of cotton, rayon, or silk.
Well done. At least I get to use the coveted "food metaphors" tag! Or should it be...failed food metaphors? Crap.