Dear friends,
Faithful readers (like me) of "Făclia" from Cluj, I want to share with you my impressions after a phenomenal symphony concert, which took place in Toronto on the evening of Saturday, October 28, 2017. But, let's start with... the beginning. At the end of June, after my return from Europe, I received the complete program, namely the TSO calendar (Toronto Symphony Orchestra ), but also the complete program for the 2017-2018 season from "The Met" (Metropolitan Opera House New York). I chose several weekends with an exceptional program, either at the "Met" or at Toronto (TSO).
In the concert hall
Master Zubin Mehta and Dr. George Freundlich
Among my favorites, the (extremely promising) Extraordinary Concert on October 28 in Toronto with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (“IPO”) conducted by the great Zubin Mehta, by far the most famous and famous conductor in the world, took pride of place.
I immediately called "Roy Thomson Hall", the sophisticated and elegant concert hall in the heart of Metropolitan Toronto. I couldn't believe what happened next: the tickets for this concert were almost completely sold out already, 4 months before the concert. Hang in there bro!!! Of the few remaining tickets, I also bought a few, including for Katherine Carleton, my "boss", Executive Director of "Orchestras Canada", but also for Luci Udrea-Prica, my former wonderful colleague at the "Music High School" in Cluj (class of 1975 ). Although they were among the last, our tickets were very good; the explanation is simple, the best tickets in the concert hall are also the most expensive. Usually, those are sold last.
I was looking forward to October 28th. Even during my recent vacation in Cluj, at the "Medicine Faculty Graduation 40th Anniversary Meeting", class of 1982, (how wonderful it was, my dear colleagues!), I often thought with emotion about the great concert that was going to take place in a few weeks Why, is it, that every time a highly publicized cultural event approaches due to its indisputable/extraordinary value, the closer it gets, the more it seems to us that time has stopped..., frozen..., he agreed..., we are no longer "progressing"; and this time I felt the same...
Doctor George Freundlich
With Dr. Monica Bologa
The meeting of Canadian and Romanian doctors But here it is - finally - with difficulty, the big weekend has arrived. I did the "ankle game" on Friday evening, at the "Canoe" Restaurant (on the 54th floor, incredible view), with several doctors and other Serbian friends, including our mayor, Mike Milinkovich. I chose this restaurant because the director and owner is a Serbian, Masha Nikolich, with whom we are friends at the "buckle"! So, Serbian guests, but also a lost Romanian, but a good friend to all.
Saturday was miserable weather and, after coffee, I did "therapy" by shopping (although I bought more for others...)
In the evening, very excited, I prepared for the concert.
Due to the extremely thorough security, the public was advised to show up early, so as not to have any unpleasant surprises.
I was in the lobby of the hotel, when the great Zubin Mehta appeared, with whom we have known since 1996, on the occasion of a "Concert with the 3 Tenors". We talked on the fly (and my coffee got cold, but what does it matter?!), "as everything happens in a newsroom"... After the rigorous pictures, we both headed to "Roy Thomson Hall". which was across the street. We only had to cross the street; on the spot!
Approaching the concert hall instantly reminded me of my childhood, school and, above all, the chemistry classes with Mrs. Susa, with the "magnet and iron filings"... From all directions people were heading towards the concert hall. About 250 seats were added to the 2630 seats, on an "improvised" balcony behind the stage. I arrived early, as is well, and settled into my comfortable armchair; the ticket was excellent. From where I was, I could see very well the whole orchestra and the "slave in the tuxedo", this time the Great Zubin Mehta
When the Orchestra appeared, everyone stood up. The National Anthem of Canada, "O Canada", was sung, and then the National Anthem of Israel, "Hatikva" ("Hope"); this piece of music is well known in Romania. It, in fact, comes from Moldova, where as a piece of folk music it was called "Cucuruz cu frunza-n sus"..., An emigrant, a lover of the Romanian folk song, endlessly hummed this piece, which became a kind of a hit and later became the national anthem. This piece was also appreciated by the Czech composer Smetana, who composed "Vltava", in which we find "Cucuruz cu frunza-n sus"!!!
The first piece was a local suit written by the Israeli composer Amit Poznansky, "Foot Note", a kind of "Ending" of a book. I remembered the former obligation of the "Transylvania" Philharmonic to perform, at each concert, a Romanian piece, for example by Cornel Ţăranu, Toto Herman or Tiberiu Olah, "Prind visele aripi" (and we, the lost students, we used to say,, Catch the wings of the cattle")... It was a successful piece of music, in which onomatopoeia did not dominate!!! This piece was awarded at numerous festivals starting in 2012. It was followed by Maurice Ravel, "Daphnis and Chloe", a more than delightful suite; it is a pity that it is rarely performed because it is extremely difficult for the orchestra.
The interpretation of this difficult piece was Flawless!. Ravel was - without a doubt - the greatest orchestrator in classical music literature. Ravel liked to "stun" by highlighting the wind instruments and writing wonderful solos, but they were terribly difficult to perform. The "Daphnis and Chloe" suite is in many ways similar to the enormously beloved piece, the "Sheherezada" suite (we, the muralists students, called it "Shmecherezada") by the great Rimsky Korsakow, certainly the second great orchestrator after Ravel himself.
The flute, but also the oboe, the clarinet, and the main trumpet stood out - by far. Let's agree, however, that everyone "put their shoulder" in the sensational interpretation of the "Daphnis and Chloe" suite. There was more than frenzied applause, standing, music lovers "floating" over clouds of spiritual delight.
The break followed; in the foyer, Cluj-Napoca dusty?!!! – Luci Udrea-Prica, Dr. Monica Bologa, a convinced woman from Cluj (as her parents - the famous Prof. Dr. Sandu Bologa and his wife Grete were in Cluj -, Monica was on call at the symphony concert), her cousin, Maria, and the undersigned..., all from Cluj get-beget. Maybe there were others, but it was hard to spot them in this real "Tower of Babel". The concert hall has become a kind of "Who's Who" of music, but also "moguls" developers from Dubai (the van is ready) and from North America. By the way, next to me sat a family who came specially by plane from Edmonton, meaning a trip like Cluj-Stockholm ("beauty on water")...
In the second part of the concert, one of the reference compositions of the great Richard Strauss was performed, the symphonic poem "A hero's life" (we, the losers, called it "A zero life"). Deeper and more sophisticated than "Don Juan", "Till Eulenspiegel" or "Zarathustra", "A Hero's Life" can be considered Strauss's second great composition, after the "Symphony of the Alps" (Opera de the genre "Ariadne of Naxos" cannot be compared to symphonic music itself).
The superb interpretation of the ultra-difficult poem "A hero's life" made me freeze in my chair. The entire audience watched, overwhelmed with emotion, this poem IMPERIALLY interpreted by a mega-orchestra of 120 virtuosos under the direction of the greatest conductor in the world, the great Maestro Zubin Mehta.
The one who stood out the most was the first horn player, Jamie Cox, who masterfully interpreted everything put in front of him, starting with Till Buhoglindă, Cesar Franck, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, etc. I confess that my eyes were wet, thinking nostalgically about our dear friend, Vasile Oprea, the great horn player from Cluj, who has been gone for almost two years!!! Jamie Cox was absolutely fantastic and so were the brass soloists, de wood", but also from the other brasses. I couldn't help but make comparisons with the "Transylvania" Orchestra from the 70s, with Gavril Costea on flute, Ioan Rittes on clarinet, Marton Szoverdi on oboe, Arpad Sorosan on bassoon, Gh. Muşat on trumpet, Vasile Oprea and Ioan Olteanu on horn, and Ghita Lungu on trombone.
They were all "SUPER", just as "SUPER" were also "the new kids on the block" - Pisicut, also known as Dorel Marc, Bobita Purcarin, Vasile Toda, Ilie Munteanu, Ioan Raţiu, Nicolae Dosa and others…
The quality of the concert I just watched was STRATOSPHERIC; all the members of the orchestra tried their best to be, each one of them, a useful "cog" in this well-oiled gear that gave the impression that it could go by itself... But it didn't go by itself; it went amazingly under the magic wand of the Great Zubin Mehta.
At the end, he applauded, again, on his feet, frantically. Naturally, Zubin Mehta raised those with soloist responsibilities to their feet first and the crowd applauded deliriously. Then he raised the whole orchestra, and he stood proudly on the podium, sharing the joy of the orchestra, but also of the ecstatic audience of a concert "that Paris has never seen".
An "encore" was also performed: one of Dvorak's Slavonic Dances. It was a delirium…
Zubin Mehta has been leading the IPO since 1962, and since 1970 he was named "Music Director For Life at IPO". By a strange coincidence, IPO was formed in 1936, and also in 1936, Zubin Mehta was born in the Indian State of Gujarat and raised in Bombay by a doctor father of international reputation. Over the years, Zubin Mehta was - in parallel - also a Music Director in Montreal, Los Angeles, New York, and Bavaria. He received so many diplomas, medals, and distinctions that not even a computer can count them.
When we met - before the concert - we wished him "Happy Diwali", "Happy New Year" (he was born in Gujarat, where the "New Year" was celebrated) and "Happy Kite Flying", a big holiday in India on January 14. He thanked me for the wishes and asked me how I knew all of them... Perhaps he did not know that I am a great admirer of India, a country that I have traveled long, wide, and diagonally, as few have- o..., or maybe he didn't know that many call me "Mr. Google".
Absolutely delighted (almost overwhelmed with emotion) by the concert, we went - together with a small group of friends (including Luci and her husband Mircea Prica) to a bar across the street; I told the story "in ignorance" and we were "pinching" to realize that everything was a coincidence and it was not a "mirage"..., a dream..., in paradise. The next day, Sunday, I attended a fabulous festive meal with the most famous doctors in Toronto and even in Canada.
Our beloved Cluj was represented by Prof. Emeritus Dr. Claude Kortas (a Lebanese colleague, more Romanian than the Romanians!!!) Director of the Internal Medicine/Nephrology Program at the famous UWO (University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario) and by the undersigned, the musician and doctor emeritus, Director of the "Bingham Memorial Hospital" in Matheson... Not really from there... Not all that bad... and, look, we had an unforgettable weekend. I returned to Matheson on Sunday night. This extraordinary weekend has made me a better man, a better son for my nine-year-old mother, a better doctor, more generous, and more understanding. What I've been saying since I was 32 years old was confirmed again: - "It's never too late to have a happy childhood"!
P.S. Correspondence of our friend from Canada, George V. Freundlich from Cluj - trained as a musician at the Music High School in Cluj - renowned doctor (disciple of the Cluj Medical School), awarded with the most high Canadian medical titles, acquired through dedicated work, high performance, and full of altruism, made us happy, as always. How happy we were to find in his story Cluj and its people, from today or yesterday, who haunt his most beautiful memories and existence every moment. (m.b.)
