Charleston, SC
The wonderful Charles Wadsworth serves as Artistic Director of Chamber Music at Spoleto USA. He regaled us yesterday from the stage of the Dock Street Theater here with stories of the incomparable Gian Carlo Menotti, founder of the Spoleto Festivals in Charleston and Spoleto, Italy.
Menotti passed away this year, but his music lives on here through the talents of impressive young performers such as cellists Edward Arron and Andres Diaz. Their musicianship created intense moments of passion and pain, as can be the singular province of the cello.
In watching these two demonstrative men yesterday, I was reminded of the powerful story of the Cellist of Sarajevo. At one point during the '90s civil wars of the former Yugoslavia, Vedran Smailovic continued to play his cello on the streets of Sarajevo after 22 of his neighbors were killed by a mortar while standing in a bread line. He played long and loud as bombs and sniper fire continued to plague his town. When asked by a reporter if he was crazy, the cellist replied, "You ask me am I crazy for playing the cello, why do you not ask if they are not crazy for shelling Sarajevo?" (Appleseed Records website) It's no wonder that Pete Seeger said that Smailovic was "one of the great heroes of the 20th century." Indeed, Gian Carlo Menotti taught us the indisputable heroic force of music.
p.s. Add Cintra in Charleston to my lists of Best Restaurants (September 13, May 27 and March 29, 2006.)
The wonderful Charles Wadsworth serves as Artistic Director of Chamber Music at Spoleto USA. He regaled us yesterday from the stage of the Dock Street Theater here with stories of the incomparable Gian Carlo Menotti, founder of the Spoleto Festivals in Charleston and Spoleto, Italy.
Menotti passed away this year, but his music lives on here through the talents of impressive young performers such as cellists Edward Arron and Andres Diaz. Their musicianship created intense moments of passion and pain, as can be the singular province of the cello.
In watching these two demonstrative men yesterday, I was reminded of the powerful story of the Cellist of Sarajevo. At one point during the '90s civil wars of the former Yugoslavia, Vedran Smailovic continued to play his cello on the streets of Sarajevo after 22 of his neighbors were killed by a mortar while standing in a bread line. He played long and loud as bombs and sniper fire continued to plague his town. When asked by a reporter if he was crazy, the cellist replied, "You ask me am I crazy for playing the cello, why do you not ask if they are not crazy for shelling Sarajevo?" (Appleseed Records website) It's no wonder that Pete Seeger said that Smailovic was "one of the great heroes of the 20th century." Indeed, Gian Carlo Menotti taught us the indisputable heroic force of music.
p.s. Add Cintra in Charleston to my lists of Best Restaurants (September 13, May 27 and March 29, 2006.)