It has been a pleasure to have the opportunity to return to Marlboro as a participant after a period of forty five years. It is that much more meaningful since it is the Sixtieth Anniversary and the evidence of the content of those years is very present.
My participation as a young cellist in the sixties was filled with inspiration and challenges. In 1962, I came first for the Casals Master Classes and then returned from 1963 until 1966 as a full participant. Those years gave us Casals’ Magic with music. That heightened exaltation in his musical involvement which carried over into everything we did. Serkin’s giving of 200% in everything he did and willing us to stretch our own boundaries. Felix Galimir’s insisting on our getting inside the understanding of the works of Schoenberg and Berg when we played then with him, and indeed they are still with me these years later. These were precious and unforgettable experiences. There were also the forming of musical friendships which have been renewed through the years with a very special quality. And to balance that intensity, there were the goofy high jinx!
And now? It is the same and different. The administration has done everything to make my stay as a “senior” pleasant and productive. There is the high level of very talented participants. There are extremely well prepared and studied performances and for some, they can be a life changing experience. The younger participants are perhaps more a part of deciding how long a work is going to be rehearsed, since only a small portion of those studied are performed. This is fair, but it also means that there can be some limiting of the possibilities of ones musical discoveries. Still, one learns when one is ready to learn, and the possibilities of what a person can find at Marlboro are there in abundance, when one is ready.
I am grateful for the chance to bring my own Marlboro experience full circle.
