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Rita Iton Posts: 325 Joined: 28th Jun 2009 Location: USA | quotePosted at 02:53 on 3rd July 2009 There are those moments that make us laugh. But there are also those moments that are so poignant they take our breath away. I will never forget a story I heard about Itzhak Perlman, the violinist. People who attended his concerts regularly knew what to expect whenever he came onstage. Perlman had been stricken with polio as a child and had to walk with a brace on each leg and steady himself with crutches.To see him walk across the stage one step at a time. Was an unforgettable sight,” I was told. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair.Then he sits down slowly, puts his crèches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.The audience is used to this ritual, and they sit patiently, knowing it will be worth the wait. But one evening something unexpected happened. He had just begun to play when suddenly one of his strings snapped. The sound was unmistakable! Everyone in the room must have been aching for him. What could it mean - putting on the braces again, picking up the crutches and limping offstage to get another violin or to find a string to repair the one he had?But no, none of the above occurred. In fact, Perlman himself surprised the audience with his next move. He signaled the conductor to start again. The orchestra began, and Itzhak Perlman, master violinist, played from where he left off.Now everyone who knows anything about violin playing knows it’s impossible to play a symphonic work with only three strings” But that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that.He played with such passion and such power and such purity as they [the audience] had never heard before,” He drew out new sound –perhaps new even to him! And when he was finished, the audience sat in wonder and stillness-but only for a moment. Then they rose to their feet in a sudden burst of appreciation, cheering and clapping, screaming and applauding.And how did the master musician respond? He smiled, wiped the perspiration from his forehead and raised his bow to quiet the room.” Sometimes,” he said, “it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.What a lesson there is here for us. We have to make our music today with everything we’ve got, and when the time comes to slow down, we have to know how to make it with what is left. This is one of my favorite stories, about Itzhak Perlman master violinist. |
Stephanie Jackson Posts: 3911 Joined: 13th Apr 2008 Location: UK | quotePosted at 06:43 on 3rd July 2009 Lovely story Rita. It always seems people facing adversity every day can cope so well with any situation - where it would have completely thrown alot of able bodied virtuosos! |
| Rita Iton Posts: 325 Joined: 28th Jun 2009 Location: USA | quotePosted at 14:01 on 3rd July 2009 Thanks.Stephanie. His story, and his music inspires. Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sand of time Henery Wadsworth Longfellow) Live in love always Rita |
Shirley K. Lawson Posts: 2310 Joined: 17th Jul 2008 Location: USA | quotePosted at 18:52 on 3rd July 2009 Inspiring story Rita, I wish some of our politicans had that kind of thought, it's not how much you "get".... its what you make of what you have. That does indeed require true intelligence. |
Debbie Adams Posts: 2043 Joined: 8th Mar 2009 Location: USA | quotePosted at 01:48 on 8th July 2009 Nice story Rita, Thanks for sharing;-))) |
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