One of my greatest, shining moments playing music occurred in the Spring of 1982. I was seventeen years old. We moved to Omaha in the Summer of 1980, and I joined the Omaha Area Youth Orchestra. David Hagy was the Music Director, as well as my violin instructor. Maestro Hagy had a natural ability to communicate with young people...he had the right balance of motivator, disciplinarian and friend. He shaped a diverse group of young musicians into a well oiled machine who played with confidence and attitude. In June of 1982, we embarked on a tour of the East Coast, playing concerts in Des Moines, IA, Indianapolis, IN, Morgantown WV, and Washington, DC. We also attended concerts at Kennedy Center in DC, Lincoln Center in NY, and the Mann Center in Philadelphia. We saw Pinchas Zukerman, Robert Craft, and Eugene Ormandy. (holy shit...I get goosebumps just typing this all these years later!) We returned to Omaha for our final concert on June 18, 1982. As it so happens, my parents had a small cassette recorder, and they recorded the performance of Scheherazade. The tape was in a box for 37 years, until last week when my mom found it and took it to a local shop and had it digitized. The link is below. I couldn't help help getting emotional when I heard it. A lifetime ago....a bunch of teenagers made some great music. Enjoy.
6-18-82 Concert at UNO [not the Orpheum] (Friday)
Fanfare for Brass & Percussion Donald Erb
Academic Festival Overture Brahms
Adagio for Strings Barber
Suite for Chamber Orchestra (from both suites) Stravinsky
Just a few short thoughts for you this evening. One of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas that I like the most, and that often comes into my head while I am running is the Sonata no. 21, also known as the Waldstein. From the opening bar, or the "get go" as old timers might say, this Sonata is off and running.
Two intersecting thoughts this week. One....my ability to move...to walk...to control my body on my own. My mom has a friend who just moved into a nursing home. She can't move on her own. Diabetes and time have taken her mobility away. She lives a life requiring assistance to do anything. She is placed on the toilet with great difficulty and often left there for long periods before someone comes to help place her back in her bed. Her legs don't work. Her room has bed bugs. Cheryl and I went to see the Kansas City Ballet this weekend. The feature production was Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, but the two preceding dances were Tulips and Lobster, and Petal. Petal was my favorite, The music is by Philip Glass and Thomas Montgomery Newman.
Watching the incredible dancers of the KC Ballet, I was reminded of the stark contrast between the unbelievable power, strength and grace of these dancers and the sad state of my mom's friend. God help me if I ever find myself in her position. I give thanks every day for my health...my ability to RUN, to feed myself and move about planet Earth without anyone's help.
The music of the dance called Petal is great. Here is a clip form the Atlanta Ballet's production of Petal. (No offense Atlanta, but KC was better!)