This afternoon, as I was driving home from the fitness center, I heard a very moving story about the Minnesota Orchestra.\u00a0\u00a0 The orchestra there in Minneapolis has been shut out for over a year now.\u00a0 The conductor, Osmo Vanska, had said that unless the problems were resolved by October 1, he would have no choice but to resign on the morning of October 1st, he did just that.<\/p>\n
At the same time, he was planning two\u00a0concerts the following week-end with the musicians of the orchestra but these were\u00a0played under a different name, for good reason.\u00a0\u00a0The house was packed and, at the end, he made and very poignant musical good-bye.\u00a0 The piece he chose was the beautifully wistful Valse Triste by Jan Sibelius.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Vanska told the story that inspired this piece, which is the story of a young ballerina who is dancing alone on a stage.\u00a0 After a short time, she finds herself dancing faster and faster.\u00a0 She is feeling very ecstatic as she dances and believes that she is nearing a climactic ending when suddenly, she realizes that she is actually dancing toward death and that this will be her final dance.<\/p>\n
Vanska then told the audience that he felt that this was what had happened to his orchestra.\u00a0 He asked the audience members to listen attentively to this, but at the end asked them not to applaud and to leave the orchestra hall in silence and in mourning.\u00a0 Here is the beautiful, Valse Triste.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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