As I was
waiting for my aged mother to come out of the doctor’s office today, I picked
up a devotional magazine, and began reading an interesting story.
It seems
Itzhak Perlman, the world-renown violinist, was scheduled to appear in a
prestigious concert hall in Manhattan. Of course, the concert was sold out
weeks in advance.
After the
audience was seated, and the house lights dimmed, Mr. Perlman appeared “in the
wings” and strode slowly across the stage. Perlman, (of whom fans of stage and
symphony are all too aware) is disabled, and wears heavy braces on his lower
legs.
As the
celebrated violinist trudged laboriously across the stage, the audience
patiently waited for him to take his seat. And having found his seat, and desiring
to be as comfortable as possible, Itzhak bent over and unfastened the clasps on
his leg braces.
And the
music began.
And of
course, Mr. Perlman shone bright and waxed eloquent. After a few minutes,
however, one of the soloist’ violin strings popped with “zinnngg” and which
could be heard throughout the concert hall.
The music
stopped.
The
conductor did a quick mental inventory of any and all violin strings which
happened to be present on the premises; but immediately “drew a blank.” Not to
be rattled, however, the violinist laid the bow on the three remaining strings,
and picked up where he left off.
Of course,
orchestra members and spectators, alike, “waited to exhale,” and the clarity,
purity and fluency of the music continued;
… without so
much as a hint that the violin was missing one string.
The
presentation finally drew to a close, Mr. Perlman bent to re-buckle his leg
braces, and rose to retrace his steps from the stage.
The audience
went wild with applause and appreciation for the performance of a lifetime.
And with
this, the master violinist smiled, took the microphone, and in an apparently
ad-lib moment exclaimed,
“Sometimes
you have to make music with what you’ve got!”
(No doubt,
an allusion to his own disability, rather than that of the violin).
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