Last night, Liza wrote a note herself for the school newspaper “Belozerskaya 13.” She chose the topic “Our trip with dad to a concert.” Found it on the computer today, publishing it.
“For the second year now, my dad has been taking our whole family to classical music concerts. My mom and sister successfully resist going, so all his love for music and concerts falls on me. Dad believes that every person should be well-rounded, and I completely agree with him.
This month, we went to the Moscow Conservatory for a concert with the intriguing title: “A Children’s Concert for Adults.” Since mainly students performed, the hall was almost empty. My father and I took a place on the balcony and set our sights on the stage.
Then the orchestra came on stage, followed by the conductor—a man in his early forties to mid-forties… After clearing his throat, he glanced around the hall and mischievously began: “Do you all remember the songs of your childhood? ‘Chunga-Changa,’ for example?” — a few people in the audience timidly nodded, while the rest looked at the man expectantly, wondering what would come next. He continued: “And, of course, everyone remembers ‘Chizhik-Pyzhik.’ Let’s sing it together!” A young man started playing the melody on the piano, the conductor sang in a loud voice. The hall burst into laughter, but the people, already quite relaxed, began to sing along. The conductor finished singing, then pondered—what would ‘Chizhik-Pyzhik’ have sounded like in Mozart’s childhood? Or Bach’s? Beethoven’s? The orchestra played well-known pieces non-stop…
I think the concert wouldn’t have been as interesting and funny if not for the conductor’s wit. He pulled out a scroll from inside his coat and read wishes from his childhood: ‘For ice cream to never run out, not to catch a cold or go to school, to get all A’s and do nothing, for America not to bomb Europe…’ — he corrected himself: ‘Sorry, the last one I accidentally took from my current wish list!’
In short, not all classical music concerts are boring. You just have to pick the right conductors :-)”
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 