July 2000 - Nr. 7
For the love of it!
This
concept came spontaneously across when we visited the local Danube Swabian
Club to hear real gypsy music. Sandor Deki Lakatos and his Gypsy Band were
in town again. The hall was sold out before it was really known that this
performance would take place. Anyone who had heard the band before was there
and had brought friends. Germans, Austrians, Swiss, Hungarians and
nationalities turned out en masse to listen. Even Mr. And Mrs Weller, our
printer, who are of Hungarian decent, turned up to enjoy the sounds of their
"Heimat".
Gypsy
music is like jazz, just more passionate and more folkloric. To watch a
master like Sandor or his son on the violin is an unforgettable experience.
Sandor obviously does not think when he plays, at least not for his own
part, but he does think for the other musicians that make up the band. His
son is much the same, and a "play off" between the two could make
hearts stop. It is simply breathtaking. They know how to extort sounds out
of their violins that can be heard nowhere else. 
They
are on e with their instruments. Together with the sound of a magnificent
cembalo, clarinet, another violin and bass they create pure magic! They had
brought a Hungarian born singer from California along, but not being
Hungarian, I could have done without him. The vocals could have been
haunting but were a bit too monotone and lacked lustre in comparison to the
extraordinary skills of the band.
No
matter what was played, operetta, folk melodies, or original gypsy sounds,
each piece was a jewel fit for a crown.
I highly recommend catching them when they hopefully come back next year. And a big Bravo to the club for inviting them!
Classical conspiracy
The
Goethe Institute of Toronto, in conjunction with the German Consulate
General, has a series of concerts on the program in this millennium year,
which offers a few extra special morsels for music lovers. Often they are
not especially advertised, especially when space availability might be a
problem. Thus the little hall at the institute was packed when we added our
public notice in Echo Germanica to the private invitations, which had gone
out. Nina Karmon, violin, and Nina Tichman, piano, had teamed up to present
a program of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Tichman, American born, has been
hailed as "one of the leading pianists of her generation" ( Neue
Musikzeitung). She is at home in music centres of the world as soloist and
in recitals. Her artistic development was fostered by some of the greats in
music, including Wilhelm Kemmpff. The most prestigious festivals have
invited her regularly to play, including Frankfurt Feste, Rheingau
Musikfestival, Tanglewood, ect. In 1993 she was appointed Professor of Piano
at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Cologne.
With this extensive expertise she was a superb choice to accompany the younger Nina Karmon, who already has many credits to her career. Tichman is extraordinarily giving while never loosing site of her own distinct style. She understands to underline the partnering instrument, but never overpowers it. In such a small room this is of vital importance, especially if the acoustics are not ideal.
Nina Karmon was born in Stuttgart into a musical family and received instrumental instruction from an early age, first from her mother, a Finnish cellist, and her father, concertmaster at the Stuttgart Radio Symphony. At age 11 she gave her first concert as soloist with Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Chamber Orchestra of Tuebingen. Since then she studied with many famous violin players, including 3 years with Pinchas Zuckermann in New York. All this training and the early experience afforded her opportunities to play with some of the finest international orchestras. Quite an accomplishment for one so young and still developing her art.
Tichmann’s
warm piano set an interesting contrast to the crisp and vigorous violin
approach of Karmon, emphasized by the smallness of the room. In Bach’s
Sonata, by no means an easy piece to play, both displayed considerable
virtuosity. Beethovens Kreutzer Sonata started with confidence and a certain
temperament, which caused Karmon’s hair band to slide over her eyes,
blinding her. Admirably she played on and right through her rescue by "moi",
never missing a note! After a short intermission the Brahms Sonata
reverberated again with warmth through the room, luring listeners into the
music.
Two entirely different musicians, of different age and temperament, interpreted three very different composers in a space so small that the knees of the first row occupants could almost touch the artist. This created an intense intimacy for artists and listeners. Both sides have to love what is happening, and they did. That was abundantly clear. The two Tinas also share other things in life, as they told us, and we can be certain that they will team up and play together more often. This can only be considered a fortunate marriage of talents.
Political plays
Most politicians love their work and it shows, but we often do not like what they do. In our regions we are fortunate, because we have a few men in the game who do often succeed in producing what we want.
Tony Ruprecht and Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals are doing something, which is highly overdue. They are working hard to push the acceptance of foreign professional credentials through a reluctant house. At the end of last month a few awards were handed out to leaders in the business environment who have allowed foreign trained professionals into their ranks and fields, accountants for instance.
The Canadian protectionism must end. After all, there are very fine, and often superior learning institutions, in other parts of the world. Canadian standards can only be enhanced, not hurt, by allowing foreign trained experts into the workforce instead of letting them become entrepreneurs, which often does mean nothing else than delivering pizzas or driving a cab.
Yes,
this strategy means that extremely bright people are performing every day
services for us, but they would be better utilized elsewhere. Or are we
afraid to find out that people from other countries can outperform us?
There
was no doubt in any our minds that Mel Lastman would run again for mayor of
our mega city. Now we know that we were right. At a press conference were he
looked back at his time in this office he was still cautious about the
subject, but hailed Toronto with his usual enthusiasm. He did well for us on
almost all fronts. We are willing to overlook the few failures, for now
anyway, and let’s hope he can keep it up.
Until next time
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
Comments to: sfr@echoworld.com
