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Symphony Marvels
North Miami Beach, Florida 2-28-2000 Aaron H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on issues, ideas and reflections on the times. Published now and
then. Opinions pro or con are welcome.
SYMPHONY MARVELS
When Carol and I attend concerts we are often saddened by the lack of young
attendees. We enjoy concerts and particularly the spectacle of large
numbers of musicians working together to assemble marvelous, crisp and
fleeting moments of gorgeous sound. I know and you do too that young people
would benefit greatly by being exposed to the marvels of the symphony.
Yesterday we went to Fort Lauderdale and heard the Minnesota Orchestra
under the direction of a Japanese conductor, a Canadian violin soloist
(Pinchas Zukerman), two harpists, several timpanists, a xylophonist and a
large string section with over three quarters of the musicians women. I
only point these things out because of how difficult it must be to
coordinate such a large body of individuals to produce the blending of
sounds that produce beautiful music.
His name is pronounced Ay Gee Ohway but the music conducted by Eiji Oue was
Mozart, an Austrian of 300 years ago, Shostakovich, a Russian of the first
half of the 20th century and a present day Canadian, A.J. Kernis. The event
was sponsored by a couple, the Pecks, who were listed among a large number
of people, concerns, and organizations eager to pay the large costs of
bringing culture to South Florida.
The ushers are a large group of people whose last name is "Volunteer"; at
least that is what their badges proclaim them to be. One told me last night
that at the awards ceremony for the volunteers, they were told their
services saved over $750,000 a year bringing music to the paying patrons.
Indeed, the price we pay here for such entertainment is far less than what
seems to us to be outrageous costs in New York City. Here, we parked for
free and walked along the Las Olas "Riverwalk" and ate dinner in the
excellent Himmarshee restaurant as part of a special day.
Most remarkable was the quality of the music on this occasion. Oue has the
most expressive hands and with them he drew exquisite sounds and nuances
from the orchestra without looking at a score. All three pieces were
marvelously interpreted and caused a breathless audience to rise to a
standing ovation at the close. The reception of the performance was such
that the audience did not make any mistakes and applaud during the break
between movements of any of the pieces. And Oue, after conducting what must
have been an exhausting Symphony No. 5 of Shostakovich, led his musicians in
an electrifying encore.
The day was one of the best Florida had to offer. It was warm, sunny and
the skies were clear. The show-offs in their yachts and fancy motor boats
were out and about on the Las Olas and people were thronging the walks in an
extreme range of costumes. They, too, were showing off.
Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.
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