In a few hours we’ll be saying “Welcome to 2019”. I know.
But before that, I just wanted to leave my brief comment about the concert I played last month in Budapest which I hadn’t.
Duna Palota (the Danube Palace) was literally booked in full audience (we also had the presence of the deputy of the Japanese Embassy in Budapest), and I could feel the eager anticipation from the entire venue before the 5-crochet timpani opening of the Beethoven Violin Concerto took off.
This was THE scene I spent more than a whole year envisioning for myself while practising it, and the feeling I gained right there on the stage when it finally happened was just “indescribable”.
After 45 mins of presenting the world the great Beethoven depicted in his handwriting and hence indulging in it, the concerto finally came to the close.
Was there a big applause from the auidence?
―Yes, the reaction was very satisfactory for me in fact and honestly it was really unbelievable for me to see them applauding so feverishly after performing a masterpiece of this level.
Did you play anything else at the end as an response to their earnest applause?
―No lol It did cross my mind because they were all clapping their hands in rhythmic unison calling for an encore, but I decided not to this time before making my exit from the stage for the 4th time!
The reason is simple: the maginificence of the Beethoven’s music was beyond all magnificence that I believed no small showpiece could follow to replace or add any meaning to it.
This is one of the nights I will distinctively remember for the rest of my life, and I am very grateful for this wonderful opportunity to share the thrilling experience of musical appreciation in such an amazing place of the world.
My utmost thanks go to my assistant there Laszlo Blaskovics who involved with all the management, along with many of the Hungarian musical lovers and some of my friends present that night and I aknowledge the cooperation of everyone else who supported this concert 🙂
HIKARU MATSUKAWA 