What Stays With You After the Music Is Over

NMB, Florida October 3, 2001 A.H. Schectman
THINKING ALLOWED
Essays on Issues, Ideas and Reflections on the Times. Published Now and
Then. Opinions Pro or Con Are Welcome.

WHAT STAYS WITH YOU AFTER THE MUSIC IS OVER

I think Florida is wonderful despite what the last election did to its
image. Music is the cause. We are lucky to have the New World Symphony in
its own theater styled as "America's Orchestral Academy" where Michael
Tilson Thomas is its Artistic Director. The theater is located on Lincoln
Road a traffic-less thoroughfare of distinction where there are restaurants
and other theaters and where crowds of onlookers and partakers throng.

Last night we were treated to a FREE concert by the ARYO Chamber Ensemble
in a performance of Musika 2000, a tour that brought music, cooperation and
freedom to a sorely distressed America. The group is the American Russian
Young Artists Orchestra. They played strings, horns and piano beautifully,
expressively and - to my worn ears - flawlessly. But, I must state that it
was not the music that stayed with me. I was awed by the youth and
brilliance of the players and struck, as I often am, by their appearance,
tics and uniqueness. I cannot recall the music because the choices rendered
were neither singable nor memorable. I think the selections sounded to
everyone in the audience as mostly assembled sounds that were cacophonic.
The music was the same through all the selections.

But, I do remember the players. The pretty, lissome first violinist who
was first to appear immediately impressed me. She was, like all the others
dressed in black but had a deeply low cut tight fitting blouse that made
much of a modest endowment - but I don't want to get into that. She had
black high blocky-heeled sandals with two straps each and strode with
assurance to take her seat to the left of the conductor's stand. For some
reason my attention was attracted to her first and I looked for her in the
following pieces - but I don't want to go there.

I thought that the clarinetist had the most interesting face. He has
eyebrows as arched and expressive as those of Nathan Lane and produced the
most animation of any of the musicians. The cellist, a very muscular young
man who had rolled up his sleeves to allow broad movements of his bowing,
seemed to me to dwarf his instrument. His face was often contorted by effort
and he puffed his cheeks determinedly. He would have been more
appropriately situated behind the bass violin where a slight, mostly
expressionless blond young man stood dwarfed by his instrument. He appeared
to me to look distrustfully at the conductor. He doubled as page-turner for
the pianist.

The flutist seemed to munch on her mouthpiece while the bassoonist seemed
to sip on hers. The most expressionless musician was the violist. She had
the only bare arms of the group and these dealt with a large stringed
instrument as though it was a struggling baby.

The music was not memorable. The conductor was. He seemed to be a stick
figure in an overlarge suit and his movements were puppet-like - jerked
about by invisible strings. I must report that many of the harmonics
generated by the instruments made my hearing aids resonate and buzz. I
think it was the "A" note, but what do I know about music?

As I said near the beginning the music was not memorable. The last piece
by Gavril Popov who died in 1972 seemed to me to be tailor made to
memorialize the twin tower destruction on September 11, 2001. It was filled
with the horror of the impact, the flames and the implosion accompanied by
the mourning and anger following the dastardly act. Unexpectedly, the last
performance was by the violist who led us in the singing of "God Bless
America".

I, for one, was impressed by the youth and brilliance of the musicians but
not the choice of the pieces played at this performance. The music was not
what stayed with me, but I will remember the cute dark-haired violinist with
her boyish haircut.
Carol's Evaluation: 10 out of 10.