Chautauqua Institution

In 1994 I went to Chautauqua for 5 weeks, to study and play chamber music and in the student orchestra. I had a great time meeting new friends, some from Europe, others from the US. I remember playing Bartok first quartet with a first violinist from Finland, Lotzi from Romania on second and a violist from Cleveland Institute of Music. It turned out that the Finn and I had the same birthday. Bragging to everyone there about it, Aurora, another violinist confessed that she had the same birthday as well (July 11). Needless to say we celebrated it together in the only bar in town, having some beer and chicken wings. Jeffrey Solow, who was one of the professors there joined us and it was fun.

One of the unusual things about the Institution is the fact that it is a dry campus. Note that this is a small town, with houses and restaurants, and no alcohol could be served or purchased. This year, one of the restaurants was allowed to sell wine with dinner for the first time. SINNERS!!!

The principal cellist of the resident orchestra is Chaim Zemach, a wonderful person with a rich youth. Born in Bulgaria, he emigrated to Israel, and the the US, where he still teaches at Montclaire College in New Jersey, right outside New York City. I recall spending a lot of time with him and a bunch of other soccer aficionados watching the 1994 Soccer World Cup. Some of the other soccer fans were Marius Tanau (he plays with Detroit Symphony now) and Calin Muresan, principal cellist now with Lansing Orchestra. We all knew each other from Romania.

So, this summer I went back for a day, just to check out the place and hear a concert by the Chautauqua Symphony. Colin Carr was playing Shostakovich second concerto, one of my favorites, the same concerto that I am playing this season in January. As I am walking down an alley (cars are not allowed on a regular basis on campus), a man on a bike, wearing a helmet, passes on the left at a fairly high speed. It would have been practically impossible to recognize anybody, but I had a strange feeling that I might know this man, so I yelled: "Mr. Zemach?" The man stopped, looked at me and said: "Ovidiu, how are you?" Shocked that we both recognized each other so easily, I told him that it had been 14 years since we saw each other and almost as long since we had any contact. He replied: "Has it been so long?" Mr. Zemach is probably now in his 70's, but he is going so strong. I guess is the cello and his passion for life and music. Later that night, he seemed to have a great time playing; looking at the program, I noticed that all musicians had by their name the year they began to play in the Chautauqua Symphony. Only one person was new, most had at least 10 years, and several musicians had been there for 30-40 years.

That night the orchestra sounded wonderfully. The highlight was the Shostakovich cello concerto, it was "so" exciting. Carr played like a monster, he spent a ton of energy and had it all right in his fingertips. The character and the sound were excellent. At the intermission, he was friendly, and we spent several minutes talking about the performance and the different editions available. We'd met two summers ago, when he played with the West Chester University Orchestra in Italy at a summer festival in Catania. That concert was conducted by Daisuke Soga, so we did not collaborate directly. Then, he played Schumann, but he did not impress us, it seemed rushed and lacking a certain sentimentality that is so pervasive in Schumann's concerto. In any case, his Shostakovich was much more exciting and in character. Another wonderful musical element were the acoustics of the Amphitheater, so lush and resonant, probably the best open air theater I have seen. I hope to be back next summer.