MUSICIANS ON TOUR

Last week I was very affected by the TV broadcast of the New York Philharmonic's concert in North Korea. Give it a try if you haven't already. I'm not a big fan of classical music on television, but there was something about the coverage I saw that seemed just right. Beyond that, the telecast alternated concert footage with glimpses into the highly regimented life in North Korea that reminded me of how starkly different ways of life can be, and just how stifling certain systems can be to nonconformists.

Most of the musical selections were fairly ordinary for this type of concert. Amid the national anthems and works by Bernstein, Bizet, Dvorak, and Gershwin (plus the Korean folk song "Arirang"), the most curious choice was the opener, the Act III Prelude from Richard Wagner's opera Lohengrin. It's a glorious piece of music, but it's composed by a notoriously nasty man whose work is closely identified with Nazism. I guess one could rationalize the choice as illustrating how the beauty of music can transcend its social and political context, but I can't help but wonder what might have been better choices. I mean, conductor Lorin Maazel's Lohengrin is one of his claims to fame, but was an overture to Beethoven's Fidelio even considered, or would the possible anti-tyrant message have been too problematic? How about some Copland (Rodeo, Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring) or Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite? Or how about "Jupiter" from Holst's The Planets?

Anyway, as I watched the broadcast I recalled my own experiences visiting the People's Republic of China as a trombonist with conductor Martin Dreiwitz and the Long Island Youth Orchestra in 1980. This didn't get quite the same attention as the New York Philharmonic's debut in North Korea, but it was still a pretty big breakthrough, as China was only in the very early stages of opening itself up. Our programs included Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, Gershwin's An American in Paris (with tuba solo by Paul Siskind), the Chinese Butterfly Lovers Concerto (featuring Eugene Carr as cello soloist), selections from Bizet's Carmen (with soloist Ellen Rabiner, whom I recently saw in an excellent Manon Lescaut at the Metropolitan Opera), and Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever, which inspired Chinese audiences to try their very best to clap along in time.

I still remember how impressed I was at the power of a Sousa march to rouse audiences wherever we performed. When we were in China, we also participated in little "musical exchanges" where we got to hear Chinese musicians show off their stuff. What I remember best were the demonstrations of the versatile erhu, or Chinese fiddle, which New Yorkers probably hear most frequently today on subway platforms. Impressive!



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Another recent experience that triggered memories of my orchestra tours was seeing The Band's Visit (top right). The movie, about an Egyptian band lost in a small Israeli town, is modestly charming, but its images of musicians abroad, trying to get their bearings while mixing with locals, really struck a chord with me, especially because I made my own passage from Egypt to Israel with the youth orchestra in 1984.

I notice that the upcoming Long Island Youth Orchestra tour includes South Korea as well as Birobidjan on its itinerary.