Celebrations Abound!

17 December 2018
WRITTEN BY
Cindy Albracht

Cindy Albracht

Musician

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Looking back on this tour I can hardly believe I got to taste so much musical and human beauty and fun, and precious inspiration!

This year 2018 the wind was blowing in my life, due to my health and the passing of my father I had to cancel quite a number of tours.

On my way to Schiphol I found myself feeling childishly happy to be able to go on tour with my MCO family again.
Celebrating our 21st anniversary in Landshut, the city where our “Gründungskonzert” took place, where it all started!


Bedroom chords
In 1998 we played with Iván Fisher, whom we never saw again, unfortunately, and now we made our appearance with flamboyant Pekka Kuusisto, our Artistic Partner whom we will see again, fortunately.
We rehearsed for the first time in a beautiful town called Biella, at the feet of the Alps, which is famous for its (wool) pyjamas.

What I love about Pekka is that he completely transcends the “normal”.
Instead of concretely addressing “the dynamics”, he will say:
“Please play this accent in a most private way”, or ‘”It is a room! Not a gesture!” He talks about “bedroom chords”, and playing with Chanel nr. 5, and advises us to “make sounds made of paper.”

Feel the Music
In between the concert in Torino and our concerts in Bayern one week later, a few of us met for a workshop with deaf children, for the MCO’s famous “Feel the Music” project. This time in Nürnberg. For Mizuho, Piotr and me it was the first time doing the workshop, but luckily we had FTM expert Yannick joining us as well. He also led the session with the children and the orchestra, in a unique way.
I guess deaf children must live with the feeling that they miss out on a lot. However, I noticed these children were consequently so sociable! We “normal hearing beings” do not need to miss anything, but we are often so stuck in ourselves it seems. I was struck by their care, warmth and attention towards each other and us, making sure every one got a change to “be heard and seen”. It was one of the most touching musical experiences in my life, the moment after we played the second movement of Mozart’s oboe quartet, with some of the deaf children expressing they had to cry. They seemed to be able to grasp and feel the true power of music directly. It was so moving.

21 in Landshut!

Back in 1997-1998 (see picture) we were sharing rooms and the hotel in Landshut where we always stay had another name, but for the rest of the tour-scenery, hardly anything has changed. Can you believe it! Even the backstage area was exactly the same as 20 years ago, with the same placement of black oversized leather chairs. Or, maybe, backstage areas are often “musea” and “holy places”. Never change the room where “nn” stayed before going on stage to give this historic breath-taking concert!

So in Landshut I felt like coming home. Probably the other founding members felt the same.

The concert was unforgettable. (The backstage area will not change for the next 20 years).
Pekka… I love him. He just conquers all stereotypes with such flair and takes all the dust from the shelves, a real “free” artist. He played “The Night Watch” of the violin concerti (Tchaikovsky) in a way as if we heard and played it for the first time. You may read this lightly but it is actually something very special. Imagine you suddenly decide to eat miso soup with grass for breakfast and you take a golden helicopter to fly to your work. What a taste, what a view, why did you never do that before? So exciting!
Pekka playing Tchaikovsky was like that.

For our 21st birthday occasion we were standing on stage again, as we did in 1997 (see photo), like a choir, straight in line, but with candles this time.

The Mahler Chamber flame was lit in 1997, and will keep burning strong and bright far in the future!! Merry Happy Jolly Birthday Christmas MCO!



Photos: Geoffroy Schied / Cindy Albracht / Ulrike Weizsäcker

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