Rocking Out to Mozart

Lady Hiva and I took Lucky to his first Chamber Orchestra Concert!

Our little Dragon that loves music thought that it was amazing. He is constantly drawn to music and he has his own way of singing. His little high pitch voice will sing dada da when he is happy.

The BYU Orchestra was here in Istanbul on tour and Lady and I wanted to go. Normally 9 month old children wouldn’t go, but we took Tau’aho anyway. We sat in the back of the room towards the edge knowing that if he started to cry we needed to get out.

But the first few measures of Rossini’s Overture to Italian in Algiers were so powerful he was mesmerized. It was fun to watch him take all the sounds in. For nearly two hours he sat, we only had one time I had to stand up when he bumped his teeth on the chair in front of us.

Lady and I both enjoyed the music too. Often, when we are listening to classical music we will talk about what pictures we see as we listen. A fight, a war, birds, butterflies in Springtime etc. I am amazed at the people that can visualize the notes so well they paint an emotional landscape for everyone to feel.

As we watched the two featured Turkish artists, one a pianist and the other a Turkish Folk singer, we couldn’t help but be amazed at their talent. The pianist’s fingers must have been moving at top speeds as he played. Watching his face you could see the music transported him to another place. It was natural to him. The Turkish folk singer we beautiful.

The Orchestra made their way through Bach, Mozart, Dvorak and others and Lady and I had our favorites. We both loved their rendition of the Shaker Hymn, Appalacian Spring, reminding us life is a gift. As I watched the orchestra play Rachimanioff’s Vocalise and then to Bach’s Wachet Auf, I couldn’t help but rekindle my life milestone goal to one day be the conductor for a large orchestra.

The musicians were expressing the music so intensely. Some were completely rocking out to it, their bodies swayed back and forth with it. They were lost in the music, which in turn makes the audience feel lost too. I thought about the days I used to play in a symphony and sing in the choir and the sense of accomplishment and euphoria felt when a strong piece ends and you had just given all you had and so did the rest of people around you. The result is the a powerful presentation.

HAHA...the flash was so bright!

 

I am glad Tau’aho liked it. He is one amazing kid. The night concluded with a favorite Children’s hymn from Church: A Child’s Prayer. That was the first duet I ever did in public when I was 9 years old. The words are beautiful.

“Heavenly Father, are you really there? Do you hear and Answer every child’s prayer?” A perfect way to send us all off.