One of the many things I am deeply grateful for in this lifetime is being able to appreciate and enjoy classical music. I remember as I was growing up and forming my personality, likes, dislikes, preferences etc., that I was drawn to the classics as a young child. This budding interest began when I started my ballet lessons at the tender age of six. That was the first time I ever heard the music of Chopin. It was played as accompaniment for the classes I took once a week. Not long afterwards, my mother took me to see the Bolshoi Ballet perform Swan Lake. That exposed me to the music of Tchaikovsky and marked the moment when I fell hopelessly in love with ballet. It is not uncommon for many young girls to become enamored with ballet, but I quickly determined that that was the path I wanted my life to take. It was that same year for the holidays that I received my first phonograph player with some of my mother’s classical LPs as well as the set “Leonard Bernstein’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”. I must have played those records all day long, just adoring the sounds that I heard. They introduced me to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Chopin and Tchaikovsky. It was if a giant gate swung open and I was ushered into a secret and beautiful world full of amazing sounds. My imagination and my heart were instantly fueled and have remained so ever since.
The road of classical music discovery, onto which I had ventured, would be a glorious one. While continuing my ballet studies through late elementary school and into junior high, I was also taking piano lessons. As far back as I can remember, I recall seeing my mother play the piano in our home. I will forever link one of Chopin’s beautiful waltzes with her. Naturally, it was a love of mine as well, but I had to make a decision on which performing art I’d place emphasis. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I have large hands and long fingers, perhaps ideal for piano. But they also know that I have long legs, which are exceptionally well-suited for ballet. I had studied piano from the age of ten at Interlochen National Music Camp for 3 summers and had wonderful memories and experiences at that exceptional cultural haven. It was not an easy choice, but I decided to pursue my love of ballet.
My choice to dance certainly did not cut me off from the music I loved. Many times, I would hear a new piece in ballet class – we were fortunate enough to have live accompaniment by a piano player who selected wonderful excerpts for our ballet combinations. I couldn’t wait to run to the library so I could rent the full recording of those pieces and hear them performed professionally. Each weekend, I heard a new composer and expanded my musical repertory knowledge. Those were the days when everything was on LPs and I learned to endure the scratches and skips that came with that territory. Another lovely memory is one of having done a final exam project in my 11th grade Humanities class about the life and music of Tchaikovsky, for which I received an A. It was a perfect symbiotic relationship between dance and music and I felt as if I were in heaven.
This passion has never waned throughout my life. I continue to enjoy discovering new pieces of music to this day. Matter of fact, when Peter and I travel, one of our greatest joys is securing tickets to a symphony, ballet or opera. We have been fortunate enough to hear a performance of the world-famous Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, Germany, to see Aida performed at the Vienna State Opera House as well as taking in ballets in both London, England and Sydney, Australia. An interesting experience occurred not long ago when we were traveling through Switzerland. I had switched on the radio in our hotel room while staying in Lausanne. It happened to be on a classical station that definitely caught our ears and our attention. We really liked the assortment of music and were sad when it came time to leave. I said to Peter, I wished we had a station like that in Los Angeles … that played such a wonderful assortment of classics. We learned that that station was available via the internet through live streaming. You cannot imagine how happy we were. Now, I have your attention, right? For those that would like to check it out, simply navigate to Radio Swiss Classic.
Well, the piece of music that brought me to write this blog is still playing in my mind. I stumbled on it quite literally as I was doing a general search for something else. Those are the miraculously serendipitous moments that I just love! The piece is by one of my favorites: Robert Schumann. It is his Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26, the Intermezzo section (IV) that inspired me to write this entry. If you have iTunes, you can hear it through that platform, otherwise, click here to access the short 2 minute, 6 second clip. Simply click on the PLAY symbol next to #4 Intermezzo. Tell me THAT isn’t glorious! As a postscript to this blog, I wanted to include the YouTube performance onto which I initially stumbled. You will be equally impressed with the young Japanese pianist that performed this beautiful piece. Her name is Ayane Shoda. She uploaded her video a little over one year ago, when she was 13 years old. That's impressive.
