Notes From a Curious Listener

Which SummerFest concert am I most excited to hear? It is a tough question; but, beside Opening and Closing Nights, I choose Wednesday, August 25th, An Evening with Vladimir Feltsman. Being a child of the 60’s and 70’s, I’m fascinated by anyone that grew up behind the infamous “Iron Curtain”. Feltsman was a piano sensation in Moscow starting at age 11 when he debuted with the Moscow Philharmonic. In 1979 he applied for an exit visa and was, sadly, rewarded with, according to Feltsman himself, 8 years of "virtual musical exile". He was banned from playing in public and his recordings were suppressed.

He was finally allowed to leave eight years later. He is now an American citizen, and enjoys a career spanning the globe. He performed in Moscow in April 2008. How sad that politics cut short Feltsman’s artistic work; but it does show that eight years is, in the grand scheme of things, a short period of time. Feltsman’s life story provides me with perspective.

Back to the concert, I’m also excited about this particular performance because I listened to the Recommended Recordings suggested by LJMS.   They found a recording from 1994 of the second piece to be played at the Feltsman concert. It was written by Anton Stepanovich Arensky, a late 19th century Russian composer.

Haochen Zhang, piano prodigy, was invited to America to attend the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 2005. He was chosen from 115 outstanding candidates; but this was not enough to convince our government to allow his mother to stay and take care of him after her 6 month visa expired. What I found touching is that Haochen, 16, ate nothing but Kentucky Fried Chicken and $5 Chinese food after she left. The Woo family, including La Jollans Dolly and Victor Woo, unofficially adopted him when they discovered his plight. Haochen won the prestigious and nerve-wracking Van Cliburn piano competition last summer. I was there with Dolly and Victor and saw the pride in their eyes. Haochen is now 19; but Victor still babied him at the awards gala celebrating the winners. Haochen was the hit of the evening; but Victor made him leave the gorgeous, google-eyed girls, sit with us and eat dinner.