Rule #9 – Do not fear your emotions.
Music is a universal language. It is an education of its
own. It is history, mathematics, art, psychology all rolled into a package that
anyone can appreciate, no matter where they live. Music is a proven healer. It
is one way many students deemed “special” by the educational community can
communicate with others. Those who do not respond to words, respond to music.
This blessing is nothing short of magic.
I allowed myself to enjoy the magic that is classical music,
courtesy of the Apollo Chamber Orchestra. This orchestra is local to the Washington
DC area and features young musicians and
their mentors playing side-by-side in an informal atmosphere. It also helped
that two of my treasured friends “Handel” the double bass duties in the
orchestra. We brought a complete cheering section for the low strings section.
The program this evening focused on four Eastern European
composers. The orchestra, led by an energetic Stephen Czarkowski, began the
evening with the Russian Easter Festival Overture, Op. 36 by Nikolai
Rimsky-Korsakov. The melodies of this piece started by honoring Passion
Saturday and moved to a joyous awakening on Easter. The intense celebration of
Easter was felt with the rising crescendo of the notes. Just try sitting still
through this piece! I dare you! You can’t do it. Throughout the audience, feet
were tapping, arms were moving, and excitement was building during the entire
performance of this overture.
Our psyches were then treated to a wonderful gift in the
form of baritone Javier Arrey. He appeared courtesy of the Washington National
Opera’s Young Artist Program. This Chilean native sang five of Dvorak’s
Biblical Songs, Op. 99, in
Czech. The
compositions were personal for Antonin Dvorak, who took the words from the Book
of Psalms during a time of personal crisis. Arrey was true to the beauty of the
music Dvorak composed in his mourning. His voice carried without microphone
assistance in the concert venue. Powerful, and prayerful – and the sounds
melted my own sad heart.
Mr. Arrey then sang a portion of Handel’s Messiah, “Why do
the Nations so Furiously Rage Together?” We were told, by the conductor, that
Mr. Arrey was recovering from a cold. But no one in the audience could tell. We
were taken on a magic carpet into Georg Handel’s musical masterpiece. What
could be better? How about an encore from the “Barber of Seville”? Mr. Arrey
did not just sing this piece – he performed it. He moved among the audience
singing directly to the crowd. The only thing missing was a hundred-pound
costume. Catching my breath was taking effort! The performance brought the
audience to its feet and to tears of joy.
Intermission gave all of us a chance to catch our breath and
come back down to earth. But it didn’t last long. We made a journey to Stalin’s
Russia with
Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 in
D Minor, Op. 47. This symphony has quite a tongue-in-cheek history. Stalin sat
in on its first performance. The music was supposed to document the greatness
of Communist Russia. The notes in the beginning created mental images of abused
peasants and elitist class under Czarist rule. The music moved to a feeling of
chaos, but the listener can not really tell if it is the chaos of the
Revolution, or the chaos from the aftermath of the Revolution. I felt that
Shostakovich was trying to find beauty in the current state of Russia
and it just wasn’t happening for him. I felt the music pull my strings as if I
were a puppet, which is the image in my mind of how Shostakovich may have
really felt about his government’s attitude toward its citizens. The last
movements were supposed to document the triumphant Russia
under Stalin’s rule. There were some notes and chords throughout that section
which told me Shostakovich thought Stalin’s version of Russia
needed – let’s just say, a bit of – improvement.
We aren’t sure what Shostakovich really meant in this
composition, since he passed away before the Gorbachev era. We can only
speculate based on what we do know of the composer and his history in Russia.
The orchestra, however, allowed us in the audience to feel the tension and
imagine what was going on. We were permitted to put ourselves in Russia,
to feel what it was like to work in the factory, to search for beauty in the
midst of dictatorial sameness.
The Apollo Chamber Orchestra members do not know how much I,
personally, needed their music. The prior week for me was a frustrating one. I
returned from a week’s vacation to a mountain of yard work, weather that
refused to cooperate, the one-year anniversary of the death of my trusty Rusty,
and experiencing yet another hurricane. I do not have a good, recent track
record with hurricanes. But, as if preordained, the rains cleared in time for
me to pack up some friends and head out to the concert. The traffic on the
Washington Beltway moved smoothly in our direction. We had no problems getting
to the venue or home. We were meant to be there for this concert.
Life is good, especially with a side of music. Self, you
must seek out more concerts in the local area… especially from the Apollo
Chamber Orchestra.
Videos included are from YouTube and not from this particular concert. They are for your musical enjoyment. Experience these pieces for yourself.
