Music is a wonderful gift that strikes a chord in us all. We may have been born with the capacity to enjoy music. Wherever you go in the world, there is music and there is dance that moves your body to the music. Even if you just hit something, it becomes music. If there is a heart there, it can move the hearts of those around it.
Even if you don’t speak the same language, music can bring people together. And when we hear beautiful music, when we hear a heartfelt performance, no matter who plays it, our hearts are filled with happiness. No, some music makes us feel sadness, some anger, some relief, and some joy. That’s how it moves us.
I love Europe, I have been travelling there since I was a student, and the reason why I love it so much is because the streets are filled with classical music, which I love. Every square I went to, there was always someone playing some kind of instrument. At the Salzburg Festival, you can hear beautiful music and the sight of beautifully dressed people on the beautiful city streets, looking so happy before a performance and talking about it afterwards over a glass of wine late into the night, is enough to bring tears to my eyes.
The performances in the final round of the Chopin Competition earlier today were excellent from all the contestants. The Japanese player, Mr. Sorita, was absolutely wonderful. Mr. Sorita played with great care and attention to every single note. The pianissimo sound was especially beautiful and colorful, and the bass sound was solid and massive. The conductor and the orchestra seemed to be full of joy to play with him. It was not only his technical ability, but also his mature tone that made us feel the stories and scenes in the concerto, which grabbed our hearts and moved us greatly.
I don’t know how much practice he and everyone else on the competition stage has had to put in to get to this level of performance. I believe that anyone who can perform on this stage has a natural gift for music, but to make that gift shine brighter, it takes practice, like polishing a gemstone day after day until it shines as a beautiful jewel. But when we listen to a performance, we forget about all this, we let our whole body and mind fall into the beauty of the music, we let our mind fall into the beautiful sound of the notes. How wonderful music is! I can’t stop crying.