The music of our lives...

CAN MUSIC BRING US TOGETHER?

Although I remain a cynic, the performance of a German masterpiece linked below, performed by Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim, German opera singer Waltraud Meier, an orchestra comprised of Israeli and Middle Eastern musicians and named after the work of German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, co-founded by Barenboim and Edward Said, a Palestinian, is mesmerizing. The music is not about race or culture, but about life. I'm sure Wagner would be touched by hearing this, and I hold out hope that maybe a few terrorists would find a shred of humanity in themselves.

Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde is a remarkable tale of unbridled and irresistible passion. The closing aria, know as the "Liebestod", or Love Death--against the composer's wishes, who desired it be called "Verklaerung", or Transfiguration--is one of the most famous moments in operatic literature, sung by the heroine Isolde as she realizes that she and her lover Tristan can only be united by passing through the door of death--or rather, as Wagner would have it, the door to transfiguration.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra was established in 1999 and is based in Seville, Spain. Its members come from Israel, Spain and the Middle East. The renowned pianist Martha Argerich has partnered with Daniel Barenboim many times and was named an honorary member of the orchestra in 2015. The orchestra draws its name from a collection (divan) of poems by the great German poet Goethe, inspired by his reading of works by the Persian poet Hafez. The formation of the orchestra stemmed from the friendship of Daniel Barenboim, a Jew, and Edward Said, a Palestinian. Today, the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin sponsors music students from Israel and the Middle East.

It is sad to contemplate that on October 6, 2023, Gaza and Israel existed in (relative) peace. The next day shattered that illusion. Peace cannot be achieved until the hostages are released.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu02skyFCyI