As a music director I believe that my position is one of privilege more than one of power. The true power lies in the opportunity to uplift and to lift up through the music we perform. All of us at one time or another wait for a letter, message or email to let us know what the next step in our own personal journey or career path will be. A letter I received recently though, put into even sharper focus that it’s about the next step in our audience’s journey and the privilege of being able to take it with them that defines success for me……
On February 14, one of the works on our program was the Warsaw Concerto by Richard Addinsell. I have always been a fan of this piece being that it was supposed to have been written by Rachmaninov but when the makers of the film Dangerous Moonlight (Suicide Squadron in the US) couldn’t afford him they turned instead to Addinsell to write in the style of Rachmaninov. It has the required drama and “big” theme and ends right when the ideas end! It’s a good attempt at premium ice cream, just when you begin to think it doesn’t taste like the real deal, it’s finished and all you remember is that it tasted good! Our soloist was Andrew Russo, who as you will see by the duration of our performance doesn’t hang around! He is a powerhouse performer and also played Rhapsody in Blue plus Maple Leaf Rag as an encore. This is is significant because the audience here doesn’t typically ask for encores.
On the Tuesday after the performance I got an email from Margi Burtin, I was floored by it. What she wrote beats any compliment we could have received hands down, and is an example of why live music is so important (printed with her permission):
Dear Ron,
I must write to tell you how magnificently moving the Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s performance of the Warsaw Concerto was for me.
I am a child of WWII, having been born in England in 1939. My parents were amateur musicians who made music a major influence in our family. My mother had the most beautiful contralto voice I have ever heard, and even though she never progressed much beyond church choir soloist, she was good enough to be presented the opportunity to sing a duet with Sherrill Milnes. Most of my childhood memories in both England and the US are tied to music
The Warsaw Concerto has always taken me back to my early childhood in England – mother turning the radio up when the Warsaw Concerto was played, waiting for the postman to bring a field letter from my father, picking up bomb “shrapnel” in the garden, playing with my government issued gas mask, the wail of sirens, the snacks in our air raid shelter.
David Aspinall wrote the following on Audiophilia web site. “The Warsaw Concerto has the enviable distinction of instantly evoking an era (WW2) and, with it, a whole complex of associated feelings.” These feelings have always been rather pleasant to me, like memories of going on a picnic or playing at the beach. But on Saturday night, the effect of your music took me to a deeper place in my memory. It took me to my unconscious memory rather than the conscious memory of previous trips. I went to a place of hurt and fear that I had never reached before. This has never happened when listening to recordings of the Warsaw Concerto. Your live performance got me there. You are to be commended.
Thank you for the hard work you have obviously done to enthusiastically meld together the beautiful sounds from so many talented individuals.
Sincerely,
Margi Burtin
Camdenton, MO
Here is the performance:
Hi, mr William!
I am construction worker who was listening your performance twice…I am originally from East Europe
I do not want to bother you a lot with myself, just want to let you know that you are great, and me would be going to listen to your orchestra more often
If you played more Bethoven, Motsart, Bach, Haidn,and Hendel
I believe some of my construction buddies would do the same instead of going to listen AC/DC(paying $800
for a ticket)
Wish you all the best, Sir
Yours Juri Divovich