The world-renowned violin master Perlman is coming to Phoenix to perform (picture)

The world-renowned violin master Perlman is coming to Phoenix to perform (picture) Phoenix Wenruo On the evening of January 16th this year, the world-renowned violin master Perlman...

Phoenix City Wenruo

On the evening of January 16th this year, the world-renowned violin master Perlman will hold a concert at our Mesha Arts Center in Phoenix. This is a rare opportunity for music lovers in the Phoenix area to enjoy the wonderful sound of the piano.

Itzhak Perlman was born in Israel in 1945. He contracted polio when he was four years old and relied on crutches to walk throughout his life. Perlman is universally respected in the world. His charm lies not only in the music giant's impeccable playing skills and heavenly piano sound, but also in his tenacity and perseverance, which is a living example that inspires people, especially young people, to strive for progress. My children also played violin and piano in primary school. I remember when they were more than ten years old, they saw Perlman on TV walking slowly on stage on crutches, and then slowly sitting down to play the violin. The child said that he had read a report: Once, a disabled woman saw Perlman and said with emotion: "I see you don't give up on yourself, I envy you so much"; Perlman replied humorously: "Madam, my paralysis is only in my legs, my hands are normal!". Perlman feels that he is a completely normal person mentally. His indomitable spirit of self-improvement and optimistic attitude towards life have given positive inspiration and influence to countless young people.

From September 28th to October 1st, 2012, I will go to New York to attend the "North American Chinese Writers Association" conference. After I made all my flight and hotel reservations, my husband found out online that Perlman would play violin at Lincoln Center on September 27. Perlman is over sixty years old. In recent years, he has focused on conducting and teaching, and the proportion of performances has been greatly reduced. I wonder if he will ever have the energy to continue playing in public as he did in his middle-aged prime? In order not to miss the opportunity to hear him perform live, I decided to change my flight to New York one day in advance to attend this concert.

The concert held on September 27th at Lincoln Center's "Avery Fisher Hall" is called the "New York Philharmonic Opening Gala with Itzhak Perlman". This is a music festival hosted by the New York Symphony Orchestra. I arrived two hours before the show started, and saw that many audience members had arrived early, had dinner at Lincoln Center, and were waiting to get in. Before the show started, a large number of spectators were waiting in the foyer and side halls in an orderly manner. They were dressed in flashing costumes and straight suits. Their attire was as sophisticated as that of the Oscars. This is enough to show that music lovers in the New York area expect and value this music festival. People who attend Chinese writing conferences usually don’t dress too smartly, so my luggage was also very simple. I chose an outfit that I thought was fairly formal, but when I got to Lincoln Center, I felt like I wasn't serious enough by comparison. Anyway, I'm used to living in the west for a long time.

At the beginning, the band played four songs from "Fountains of Rome" under the conductor of Alan Gilbert.

Then Perlman appeared. Wearing a shiny black silk top, he slowly moved his crutches, laboriously and hobblingly moving his legs left and right. The orchestra conductor followed behind him holding Perlman's violin. When he arrived at a wooden table specially prepared for him, Perlman raised his legs slightly and sat heavily on the chair on the wooden table. He gently put down his crutches and took the violin handed to him by the conductor. It was truly an awe-inspiring scene, and applause followed him every step of the way. Although this scene is too familiar on TV and computers, in such an atmosphere, I believe that many viewers at the scene, like me, felt wet in the corners of their eyes.

That night, Perlman played five pieces of music, including: a Russian-themed Fantasia, the opera "Thais" Meditation, a scherzo by Tchaikovsky, the theme song of the movie "Schindler's List", and Spanish Sarasate's "Introduction and Tarantella" dance music.

I am not going to describe the feeling of listening to these five pieces of music one by one here. I was particularly shocked to hear Perlman play the theme song from the movie "Schindler's List" live. The movie "Schindler's List", which won seven Oscars, tells the story of the horrific massacre of Jews by the SS in Poland under German Nazi rule in 1939; the story of Schindler, a German businessman, who saved more than 1,000 Jews from escaping the massacre with his outstanding social skills and a large amount of money. Perlman played the violin version of the film's theme song. With his superb musical attainments and Jewish background, he is indeed the most suitable person to play this song. When Perlman played the theme song again that day at Lincoln Center, the simple and repeated main melody sounded, slow, heavy, poignant and euphemistic, and the strings vibrated and the notes shed tears; modified by Perlman's unique fingering, the sad sound of the piano was filled with the tragic experience of the Jews, the outpouring of human suffering and the call for human compassion. Perlman integrated this piece of music with his emotions in a way that no one could surpass.

Perlman played the most glorious and glorious piano sound of dignity and humanity from the depths of his soul. When the performance ended, amid continuous applause, Perlman handed the violin to the orchestra conductor; he first moved his right leg off the wooden platform with his hands, and then moved his left leg off the platform, propped up his crutches, smiled, and nodded frequently to greet the audience; the audience stood up, and warm and sincere applause echoed in the concert hall for a long time; at this time, I used a small camera to freeze his figure moving forward tenaciously in my memory...

Perlman is coming to Phoenix soon. I look forward to hearing Perlman's performance again; I believe that Perlman will capture the hearts of Phoenix music fans with his hearty smile, beautiful piano sound, and perseverance. (Note: The author Wen Ruo is the president of "Phoenix PEN" in North America)

Audiences waiting to enter the Lincoln Center Concert Hall in New York on September 27, 2012 (Photography by Wen Ruo)

Perlman is moving off the platform after his performance (Photography by Wen Ruo)