Last week torrential rains tore through most of the state of Minnesota. Many roads are still closed and countless citizens are waiting with their hearts in their throats to see if sandbags will hold while the rivers and Minnehaha Creek crest this week. This dire condition is consistent with the events transpiring surrounding me and die zauberflote.
Early in the MO lockout I sent very respectful letters to Michael Henson and Osmo Vanska describing why I consider myself to be a part of the MO family and asked to be heard again on the stage at Orchestra Hall, where I once was regularly encouraged to practice. I even recently sent a last letter to Gordon Sprenger, asking for his help in bringing me and die zauberflote to the public at the level of the press. I have not been granted the courtesy of a reply, so have no choice but to move forward on my own. Still, it seems somewhat ironic that they insist on staying mum about the player one of their own has let slip is the “most exciting musician since Mozart.” Other players in fact, made similar dazzling statements before running away as fast as they can.
So no I am starting to prepare a group of concerts that will be, appropriately, called “Locked-Out Concerts.” They will feature, I hope, the music of some whose suffering makes my experiences look utterly superficial — the women composers who were interned in camps in the Holocaust. And the program will also include pieces by Mozart, for yes, he was indeed locked-out of his rightful position and financial security by those who deemed him, alive, to be a threat.
Le Chant du Rossignol...(song of the nightingale) 