Commentary
Marina Salandy-Brown
TT’s National Philharmonic Orchestra (NPO) pulled off a cultural coup last Wednesday when it nearly packed the 1,200-seat NAPA for a purely classical music concert. It must have been a surprise not only for the orchestra, as it was unprecedented, but also for the most pleasant concert leaders, the French and German ambassadors to TT, Didier Chabert and Ute König, as well as for the Ministry of Tourism, Culture. and Arts funding the NGO as well.
We all watched in blissful disbelief as the audience poured into the highest levels of NAPA and included all sections and ages of TT society. It must be the culmination of the NPO’s proactive outreach programs since 2014 and recent social media teasing by orchestra members that made the difference, as, according to concertmaster Simon Browne, the concert date was only confirmed three weeks ago . He believes the recent open trials at NAPA – one every three months, which the Ministry advertises and which attract about 200 people – may be a contributing factor. It wasn’t the first free concert organized at the venue, but this time no tickets were needed and that might have changed that. The good news is that it tells those who believe our culture is all carnival and soca that people have an appetite for diversity in cultural expression, and they can appreciate music that feeds their soul as much as music that makes them love and wine and take. in bad.
The NPO, founded in 2014, seeks to perform local and international music at the highest level and play a role in the development of our creative sector by encouraging an appreciation and awareness of classical and symphonic music. Currently, around 40 musicians – almost all of them past UTT students – make up the orchestra (strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion and steel) which is under the tutelage of music director/conductor/composer Dr Roger Henry, whose compositions are 20th century in style, but incorporate Caribbean and TT musical themes so that local audiences instantly recognize a catchy rhythm and melody. His success was evident last week when the NAPA audience roared to Henry’s composition “Alone Together,” which he composed during pandemic lockdown and is emotionally charged and could easily be the score for a cinematic drama.
Under the direction of violinist Simon Browne, the orchestra stayed on stage for a very long time (for them, though not for the audience) some two hours, without an interval, with the strings playing throughout the perfectly balanced six-piece program from the french. German and Caribbean composers. The opening Ouverture L’Amant Anonyme was by none other than the dubiously named “Black Mozart”, the Chevalier de St Georges of Guadeloupe, the extraordinary and renowned violinist and composer in his 18th century days, who is believed to have influenced Mozart. compositions with violin strings. A Nocturne by Werner Jaegerhuber of partly Haitian-German origin, Romantic Meditation by Jules Massenet and Symphony no. Italian 4 by Mendelssohn which Dr Henry believes deserves something of a revival.
The occasion was to celebrate 60 years of friendly Franco-German relations in the wake of the brutal wars in the 1900s between France and Germany, two of which turned into world wars. The Elysee Treaty was famously signed in 1963 by General de Gaulle and German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. DeGaulle did not support a fully integrated Europe, but he understood the need for close ties with Germany and the importance of friendship between former enemies. As Ambassador König underlined in her heartfelt welcome speech at NAPA, “No other country in Europe maintains such close contacts in all fields… Our Diamond Jubilee will show you, our friends, the determination of both our countries to continue their shared responsibility for a geopolitical Europe that is more sovereign and able to assert itself in a global context characterized by a multitude of crises. This does not preclude differences of opinion – they exist in all couples.”
The timing of the concert was fortuitous and her speech touching. The two diplomatic missions began discussing a celebratory concert some time ago, but the actual date coincided with the potentially game-changing official news that Germany had decided to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine, enabling a broad coalition of countries to send heavy armor in Ukraine. front lines. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appeared to be resisting definitive policy change. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s persistent pleas had her sharp supporters fuming, and there was much speculation about the strain German reluctance was putting on the crucially important relationship between France and Germany. It turns out, according to commentators, that Chancellor Scholz was devising a clever and successful plan to draw first allies, such as the US and Britain, who are also now sending their least desirable tanks to Ukraine, so that he could sell better. movement to the German people and not to make it appear that Germany was going alone. Finally, Poland, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Spain are also likely to send their Leopard tanks.
Germany has been at peace since the end of the Cold War, and this massive shift in politics should require the state to prepare its war arsenal, with all that entails, financially and otherwise, for Europe’s richest economy. These are big changes in the heart of Europe and the long-term effects are not yet visible, but we can no longer pretend that Russia is not at war with the West. It is troubling to all who recognize that peace in Europe is no longer a given and we are living through a critical time in world history.
Ambassador König talked about international language or music; if only it could bridge the divide as well as help us celebrate friendship and nurture our inner selves. If only the deaf could hear the harmonies.
