A remarkable new experience at 92!

Oh  I'd been to many concerts before, hundreds, maybe thousands if you count organ concerts at church. But I never had the almost out of body experience as I did recently at the Concert Hall of the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. I was literally "blown away" in a number of ways.

Most of my concert going has been in the nosebleed section where the sounds are blended and somewhat muted. From there,looking over a sea of patrons, we viewed the cooperative effort of anonymous and almost faceless performers. This time, however, Linda managed to get tickets that were not only in the Center Section, but were in the Second Row!

From the beginning of Bach;s Fugue for Strings I knew I was in a different world. As the violins began over here, there were violas over there and then they were joined by the cellos in the back. I could see the intensity of individual players and the effort exerted to fly their fingers over the strings and fling their bows in unison at their instruments. It was Stereo on Steroids live and in person!

But it only got better! As Leila Josefowicz played Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in F Minor just 15 feet from me, I saw unmitigated genius and dexterity at work.  Such concentration and intensity in blending mind, body and spirit!  She appeared to be dancing with her violin as her partner.

After the intermission we had the opportunity to concentrate on conductor Gianandres Noseda's and his magic fingers. Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments was apparently performed by flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, and a tuba. We couldn't tell because they were all hidden from us by the vacated chairs and music stands of the string section.  Truthfully to me, the music seemed to emanate from the fingers of the Conductor as he waved in various directions. As he turned to the audience to bow we could see the perspiration streaming from his face, and I was particularly warmed as, in response to my loud, "Bravado", he looked directly in my eyes in apparent appreciation.

But the climactic "climax" came with Mozart's Symphony Number 39 in E Flat Major. It was a chance for me to close my eyes and revel in beauty and contemplation. I thought of the effort and diligence of the performers and of the enjoyment  I shared with so many others.

But there was one added thing that drew my attention as I left my prized second row seat. I felt the need to greet more warmly a person in the first row. She was remaining until someone could escort her out. She was blind! How striking to learn from  our conversation that she had enjoyed the concert as much as I.

Yet another new/old experience

How thrilling on Easter Sunday to see once again Jesus Christ, Superstar; But in a totally different format and style on television. And for the first time three generations viewing it. The original performance heard by my young family so many years ago was so very meaningful to us. It was their Hamilton! They memorized every word. And here it was again bringing tears to us in a new exciting format.

I'm not sure though that I could tolerate anyone messing with 

Menotti's

Amahl and the Night Visitors

That March 25th Rant was my last! But.............................

You might recall that in it:

http://ronlehkersrants.blogspot.com/2018/03

I promised to enlarge on several of the items that give me hope. And here I begin

Advice for young people:

• While I have thrilled to see their vigorous response to the gun issue, I sincerely hope that they not only have the conviction, courage and endurance to follow through, but they must realize that they not be a "single issue constituency".
• And while I know I run the risk of being turned off and considered an, "Old fuddy-duddy" (or something much worse) for giving advice to young people. I'm still going to suggest a first area for their consideration.  And there may well be more to come.

The environment:

For 20 years or more. I've done my darnedest (that's as close as I can come to swearing on the printed page) to understand and do something about geting more than 10 states have a bottle refund deposit law. From personal experience in several states, from research and from the example of almost every developed country in the world but ours, it has been a boon to improving the environment. It's well-known that we have failed to extended such laws to other states primarily because of the lobbying of the bottle industry.

From my experience with young people I know full well that the environment is (and should be) a major concern of theirs. It also appears to me that they are among the greatest users of disposable plastic, glass, and any other kind of container. Thus I would challenge them to look at the issues that are involved ranging from personal choice to governmental issues and lobbying to determine an appropriate course for our nation as a whole to join in this environmentally sound the practice. There are times and conditions that necessitate dramatic events. The gun protest was one. The ingenuity of youth can find many ways to protect the environment. Perhaps it's time for boycotts of products or study and debate groups looking at the issues that would be involved in individual states or nationwide.

A marvelous view of a changing society

This made my day!

It was at the end of a grueling trip – and almost any flight today is grueling when you're 92 years old. I wondered if – in order to save money – I had made a mistake by taking a bus instead of Uber to get from BWI to my apartment in DC. And the three block walk from the connecting Metro stop seemed interminable to my aching back.

But it was worth it! Crossing Macomb Street, just one block from home, were two middle aged gentlemen. Walking with them was a beautiful, smiling, child of about four years of age of a totally different racial composition.

And then as I entered my apartment complex, I again saw a male Caucasian speak to a two-year-old African-American child saying, "And daddy is upstairs fixing dinner."

How fortunate I felt that fate enabled me to have these two experiences. Certainly I made assumptions. But I could only feel joy that the bounds of love and caring in my lifetime have been expanded. And that no amount of pseudo-intellectual discussion could dissuade me from knowing the improvement I have seen in this lifetime of mine.

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Quite a change from my previous very lengthy rant, but I hope you'll check it out. It's my testament to a hopeful future.