Colin’s friend
Exactly 10 years ago this week, I was a new resident of Dresden, Germany. After a challenging month, I had finally found a place to live, started taking German lessons and slowly began to feel a little more comfortable in my new surroundings.
I had accepted the job without visiting the city. When I received the offer, I went on Google maps to get the lay of the land as my only exposure to Dresden were the mentions in history class and a piece composed for band. I cannot recall the name of the piece but I remember the haunting flute solo at the very end that depicted the falling of the bombs. Fast forward a few years and I found myself sitting in the magnificent Semperoper in Dresden — one of the many places destroyed by the war.
As I sat in anticipation, an older man walked in my direction and indicated that he had the seat on the other side of me. I stood up to allow him to get by and heard, “Thank you very much.”
My ears immediately perked with curiosity and a sense of relief. ENGLISH!!!!! As the man sat down, I immediately started talking to him. I was so excited to attend my very first Staatskapelle concert and I had to tell him all about it.
[Program that evening:
Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1
Janáček Taras Bulba
Sibelius Tapiola
Mitsuko Uchida, piano and Sir Colin Davis, conductor]
I asked him, “Do you also live in Dresden?” He casually replied, “No, I’m here because Colin is a friend of mine.”
At that moment, the concert began and I was musically paralyzed from what I was experiencing. I was listening to a world-class pianist with a world-class orchestra led by a world-class conductor in a stunning opera house — in the former East Germany.
During the intermission, I turned to my new friend to express my excitement with what I had just experienced. He smiled and asked me why I was in Dresden. As I began to explain my big move from New York City, he mentioned that he lived in New York City, Upper East Side to be precise.
Then he inquired about my education and training. I mentioned that I had studied at The Juilliard School and had continued my training at the Metropolitan Opera.
“Did you work with Jimmy? He is also a good friend of mine.” He was referring to the Metropolitan Opera’s former Artistic Director, James Levine.
“Who is this man that casually mentions that he is friends with Colin and Jimmy?” I shrugged it off and assumed that he was a patron who enjoyed traveling. I told him about our masterclasses with Jimmy and even included a story about a memorable moment I had with him on a Schubert lied. Then somehow I segued into how much I missed New York City, a place I had called home for 6 years. He smiled and listened to me rattle off a list of some of my favorite restaurants and neighborhoods. I mentioned my love of K-Town, the lovely few blocks of NYC devoted to Korean food and culture, and insisted that he has to go there if he hasn’t been already.
Then the lights dimmed for the second half of the program. For a few short moments that evening, I forgot that I was in Germany. I forgot about my homesickness and my frustrations with the language. I slowly stood up after the rounds of applause, as if I was savoring each second until the very end, and turned to say goodbye to my seatmate. As we parted, he asked for my name and introduced himself as Ron Wilford. He wished me luck and walked in the opposite direction, a path I later realized led to the backstage area.
I walked home and googled “Ron Wilford NYC” thinking that by typing “NYC” after his name, it would help me find out some information about this man. I did not need it. Ron Wilford was one of the most powerful American music managers whose roster once included Herbert von Karajan, James Levine, Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Muti, Colin Davis and many other legends. I laughed and thought, “did I really just recommend K-Town to this man?”
In front of Starbucks:
”After the air raids on February 13-14, 1945 in Dresden,
6865 corpses were cremated at this place.
I thought I had moved to the opposite side of the world — to a place where I only knew a handful of people and its dark history of WWII seemed to linger everywhere.
To my surprise that evening, I had what I considered to be a “NYC moment” on a random Tuesday which actually inspired me to start my first blog in 2010.
It was the first time after my big move that I thought, maybe it will be interesting on this side of the pond.
Maybe I will have an adventure.