TBT

Earlier this month, I was chatting with a colleague backstage before a concert, and he mentioned that he's been in the orchestra since 1966. After the concert in which we played Beethoven 7 (a piece that's VERY familiar...even if you've just heard it for the first time, it will feel familiar by the end...), we were putting away our instruments, and he burst out, "Isn't that the most amazing symphony!" Then he proceeded to enthusiastically describe all his favorite parts of the piece. And I thought: After half a century of playing in the DSO, during which he's probably performed Beethoven 7 a hundred times, he's still proclaiming how much he loves it, with the sincerity and gusto of a child discovering it for the first time.

That reminded me of a moment last year, when the same person and I bumped into each other during break after rehearsing Beethoven 5 (if possible, an even more familiar and often-performed work). I was in a pretty good mood, and when he asked how I was doing, I couldn't help exclaiming that I LOVE Beethoven 5. Then I added something like, "I'm not crazy about the conductor, but I'm just going to enjoy the music." He smiled at me like I'd won the lottery, patted me on the back, and said, "That's the key."

Which in turn reminded me of an entry I wrote in here about five years ago...


September 30, 2010
What Feels Good

If I made a Top-10 list of the things that make me feel good, somewhere near the top would be playing a great concert. Tonight was the first NEC orchestra concert of the year, and it felt good. First of all, Jordan Hall was literally full to the brim...I counted maybe five or six empty seats. Second of all, it was like a football stadium, with all the cheering and roaring, even before we played a note. But most of all, the energy generated in each piece was so tangible and present, like a ball of fire coming from the players, being spread to every corner of the hall, and bouncing off the audience back to us. It's a kind of energy you only get from "youth" orchestras...this wide-eyed, passionate, even overzealous eagerness to share the music. I like to look around when I'm playing in orchestra, and these are some of my favorite snapshots: a man in the front row with his eyes closed and a smile stretching across his face the entire time; the kid next to him with a huge afro nodding along to the music as if it were rap or heavy metal; a wave of string players with their faces and bodies swaying to a whirlwind of sound; and little smiles between stand partners.
Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself how amazing it is to be able to produce sound. I've been playing violin for so long, it's easy to take this luxury for granted, but just think--with your two hands, you can create a medium of expression encapsulating ideas that have spanned centuries. Out of your instrument can come sounds that draw the darkest secrets and strongest feelings from deep within a listener's mind. And into your instrument can pour all the emotions and experiences that have been stored in your body after a lifetime of living...it's a miracle, really, if you think about it.
If, by divine will, I am able to do such a thing for the rest of my life...well, I pray I will never ever take it for granted.