May 31th, 8pm in 2017, Seoul Art Center Concert Hall was filled with the sound of music that Gidon Kremer known as one of the greatest violinists and András Keller, the international level of a soloist, an art director and chief conductor of Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra naturally released the mastery performance from the bottom of their soul. The audience were mesmerized by their sophisticatedly delivered beauty of music. The virtuosos were living in the music in the "moment" on stage.
It seemed there was no need to describe the performance by Gidon Kremer even with a word. The music notes that he played were just as noble crystal drops of water very carefully holding on with his hands, interweaved all together to pull out a silky thread. The phenomenon was just an intangible art theater.
A collaboration between Gidon Kremer and András Keller, playing Bach Concerto for Two Violins, Strings, and Continuo in D minor, BWV 1043 built a courageous, yet honest-to-goodness contrast as they were an interlocutor each other. They created a conversation in their self-referential language of music, and the audience were fully saturated within their perfectly coordinated blending of music in the "moment." It was just a fascination.
Through the exclusive interview, András Keller explained what is the unusual exploration in music to both Gidon Kremer and him, saying "Gidon Kremer and I just enjoy time for gathering to play music because we like to play music as we are playing the work for the first time. We would like to discover what is like living there in that certain minutes and what happens with us. This is very interesting." It was obvious for them to project their joy and openness to the people in the hall last night with every moment of refreshing music.
Philip Glass Double Concerto for Violin and Cello and Orchestra played by Gidon Kremer and Giedrė Dirvanauskaitė, the chief cellist of the Kremerata Baltica was majestic, constructed upon the Philip Glass' minimal rhythms and well-blended sound texture comprised of the brass, strings, and percussions.
The performance, Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition was clear and grandioso. András Keller conducted with Kremerata Balita and Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra as an ensemble, the sound of which was distinctively unique and playful to delineate one of Mussorgsky's most figurative works.
The conductor András Keller explained, "This is phenomenal that there are eighty people on stage. We harmoniously ensemble the same work, while everybody has his/her individual artistry, openness, fantastic musical sense, and great technical abilities. I believe that this is the way my orchestra has its own sound."
Gidon Kremer emphasized, "music is not the matter of consolation, but of the expansion of mind." Even one note played on his fiddle string was to expand our thought of view overarching the entire performance. As András Keller described, there was no need to classify each piece of the program covering from Bach through Mussorgsky to Glass. It was the creative completion of the work that the greatest virtuosos could present to the audience for our soul!