Author: mara.ahmed

review: “the morini strad” by willy holtzman at geva theatre

went to see a reading of willy holtzman’s play in progress, “the morini strad” at geva theatre yesterday.

based on a true story, the play recounts the meeting and gradual friendship that forms between erica morini, one of the most talented violinists in the world (famous for her muscular technique), and brian skarstad, a gifted violin maker/repairman.

they meet for the first time at erica’s fifth avenue apartment. luxuriously furnished yet showing signs of wear and tear, it’s obvious that the apartment has seen better days. erica morini is now in her nineties. a child prodigy who made her new york debut at carnegie hall when she was but 14 and who was able to transition into a successful music career as an adult, erica’s fingers are now arthritic. she can no longer play but she retains much of her diva disposition. she is brusque, standoffish and relentlessly sarcastic. initially, it’s hard to discern some of her dialogue – mostly staccato repartees to brian’s every question and comment.

after much ado she brings out her 1727 stradivarius, a legend more than a violin. brian recognizes it instantly. he is blown away. he also sees that it’s damaged – too much solvent ate right through the wood. he is confident that he can repair it: “it will be invisible” he says.

as he begins to work on the strad with erica hovering over him in his workshop, they start to discover each other. she learns about brian’s wife (a music composer who is on a different diet every week) and his sons (who like to play the electric guitar much more than the violin – erica is frequently appalled by the noise they make). she recognizes brian’s genius at what he does and they have discussions about the artistic life vs family life. she tells him she chose not to have children. she wanted to focus on her art, her career. she asks him if he ever questions his choices. he is overwhelmed by bills and does repair work most of the time but he is happy. he doesn’t have any highfalutin ideas about art and life. she needles him, makes him admit that sometimes he has doubts. we begin to see her in a different light. gone are the short cutting replies. she reveals warmth and a rather raunchy sense of humor. she begins to acquire dimension as a character, as a human being.

erica is impressed by brian’s work, by how he holds the strad. to her he is an artist. one of the best articulated ideas in the play is morini’s belief that life, like a symphony, has 4 distinct movements:

1) opening sonata or allegro: defines the tempo of a musical piece – is crucial as it can affect the mood and difficulty of an entire composition, or an entire life.

2) a slow movement such as adagio: to be performed slowly and gracefully.

3) a minuet or scherzo: written in the same time and rhythm as a minuet (a social dance of french origin for two), to be executed in a lively, playful manner.

4) an allegro, rondo, or sonata: indicates a return to the original theme or motif – it’s music that is fast and vivacious, normally allegro.

she reminds brian repeatedly to make the most of the third movement – to live it to the full and not compromise – before the overwhelming, frantic, harried onset of the fourth and final movement.

having developed trust in brian, both at a personal and professional level, erica asks him to sell the perfectly restored strad. he is elated and grateful. he starts to dream about all the things he can do with his commission. they begin to show the instrument to interested buyers but erica is too exacting. to her the process is as delicate and torturous as an adoption. the sale begins to fall apart. erica changes her mind. brian is disappointed – he feels used. they say some nasty things to each other. but when erica has a heart attack and ends up on her deathbed in a hospital, it’s brian who turns up to comfort her. she asks him to make sure the strad is safe in her apartment – she feels nervous about its whereabouts. by the time brian gets there with the keys, the police are all over the place. the strad has been stolen.

brian returns to erica’s side and doesn’t have the heart to tell her the truth. she passes into the blinding glare of bright lights, much as she did when the curtains opened at carnegie hall and she made her new york debut.

the two actors who read brian and erica (james waterston and lynn cohen) were amazing. i cannot imagine how lovely the final production will be as the play is filled with music and discussions about life and art. terrific.

Erica Morini, 91, Subtle Violinist Who Explored Concerto Range, New York Times, November 3, 1995

Bruch: Violin Concerto No.1 3rd mvt (Erica Morini)1963:

Aimé Césaire – Cahier d’un retour au pays natal

“Et surtout mon corps aussi bien que mon âme, gardez-vous de vous croiser les bras en l’attitude stérile du spectateur, car la vie n’est pas un spectacle, car une mer de douleurs n’est pas un proscenium, car un homme qui crie n’est pas un ours qui danse…”

And above all, my body as well as my soul, beware of assuming the sterile attitude of a spectator, for life is not a spectacle, a sea of miseries is not a proscenium, a man screaming is not a dancing bear…
(Aimé Césaire, from Notebook of a Return to the Native Land)

From ‘Feeling the Shoulder of the Lion’ by Rumi

You know how it is. Sometimes
we plan a trip to one place,
but something takes us to another.

When a horse is being broken, the trainer
pulls it in many different directions,
so the horse will come to know
what it is to be ridden.

The most beautiful and alert horse is one
completely attuned to the rider.

God fixes a passionate desire in you,
and then disappoints you.
God does that a hundred times!

God breaks the wings of one intention
and then gives you another,
cuts the rope of contriving,
so you’ll remember your dependence.

But sometimes your plans work out!
You feel fulfilled and in control.

That’s because, if you were always failing,
you might give up. But remember,
it is by failures that lovers
stay aware of how they are loved.

Failure is the key
to the kingdom within.

Your prayer should be, “Break the legs
of what I want to happen. Humiliate
my desire. Eat me like candy.
It’s spring and finally
I have no will.”

(Mathnawi, III, 4391 – 4472, translated by Coleman Barks)

Amir Khusro – O Soul Of Mine Come To Me

Flowers are blooming everywhere, O flower of mine come to me
Conifers await you night and day, my graceful pine come to me

Thanks to my overflowing tears, tulips and roses are fresh and young
Strolling along the garden walk, my lily divine come to me

Without you darling, gardens all are in the grip of doom and gloom
So shining brightly in the dark, o my sunshine come to me

Your braids are trying to chain me dear, your eyes are out to charm
So if you want to captivate, my valentine come to me

You may be tart and pungent but your abscence is much worse
So bearing all your pungency, my vintage wine come to me

Without you I, your Khusro, am tongue-tied and confused
To give me wit and fluency, O soul of mine come to me

(Translation by Khalid Hameed Shaida)

Crossing Borders

just watched this film (which will be screened at RIT on april 22 at the webb auditorium) and loved it. same idea as “the muslims i know” – trying to bring east and west together so that labels fall away and people become people. this time it’s americans interacting with moroccans – more dialogue, less fear. join us at 7 pm. i will be on the discussion panel.

“Crossing Borders is a feature documentary that follows four American and four Moroccan college student as they travel together for eight days through the rich cultural landscape of Morocco and in the process of discovering “The Other”, discover themselves.” More about the film.

review: THE TORNADO

THE TORNADO: this lebanese film highlights the surreal violence, human disconnection and absurdity of civil war. absolute anarchy and lawlessness r brought to light with such vivid urgency in this film. i like the fact that much of the film is abstract, like a never ending nightmare. its fragmented, symbolic aspects bring out the surreal realities of a country torn by civil war and wracked by preposterous levels of constant, irrational, arbitrary violence. v depressing for me to watch – reminded me of escalating civil strife in pakistan. more about the film.

The lingering of an absurd imperial reflex by Pankaj Mishra

Old reflexes, born of the victories of 1945 and 1989, linger among Britain and America’s political elites, which seem almost incapable of shaking off habits bred of the long Anglo-American imperium – what the American diplomat and writer George Kennan in his last years denounced as an “unthought-through, vainglorious and undesirable” tendency “to see ourselves as the centre of political enlightenment and as teachers to a great part of the rest of the world”. In Afghanistan, the Anglo-American alliance hopes to bomb the Taliban to the negotiating table, baffling Afghans who, like most people, believe that the end of war – not more war – is a necessary prelude to dialogue. Culturally blind, tough-guy tactics also tend to be strategically dumb. Full article.

Arundhati Roy on Obama’s Wars, India, and Why Democracy is “The Biggest Scam in the World”

the astonishing arundhati roy:

The American government doesn’t understand what kind of ground they stand on. When you say things like “We have to wipe out the Taliban,” what does that mean? The Taliban is not a fixed number of people. The Taliban is an ideology that has sprung out of a history that America created. Iraq, the war is still going on. Afghanistan, obviously, is rising up in revolt. It’s spilled into Pakistan, and from Pakistan into Kashmir and into India. So we’re seeing this superpower caught in quicksand with a conceptual inability to understand what it’s doing, how to get out or how to stay in. It’s going to take this country down with it, for sure and it’s a real pity that, in a way, at least George Bush was so almost obscene in his stupidity about it, whereas here it’s smoke and mirrors, and people find it more difficult to decipher what’s going on. In fact, the war has expanded. Full interview.

Chris Hedges – The Health Care Hindenburg Has Landed

“Between 40 and 62 percent of the American people, including 80 percent of registered Democrats, want universal, single-payer not-for-profit health care for all Americans.” – this bill is NOT what we asked for. it’s a stunt.

“This bill is not about fiscal responsibility or the common good. The bill is about increasing corporate profit at taxpayer expense. It is the health care industry’s version of the Wall Street bailout. It lavishes hundreds of billions in government subsidies on insurance and drug companies. The some 3,000 health care lobbyists in Washington, whose dirty little hands are all over the bill, have once more betrayed the American people for money. The bill is another example of why change will never come from within the Democratic Party.” Full article.

Margaret Atwood talks to Bill Moyers

brilliant, brilliant interview – margaret atwood talks to bill moyers. the antinomian heresy: if u’re predestined to be the elect from birth, if u’re going to be saved no matter what, u can do the most atrocious things while still believing that u’re justified.

that kind of event (salem witch trials) replays itself in history when societies/cultures are under stress. people start looking around for human sacrifices. societies can give up their ideals, their freedoms, their values in almost frighteningly normal and rapid ways. fear sets in and people will trade their freedoms for someone who says: i’m a strong leader, i’ll take care of it – the trains will run on time. in order to preserve freedom, we have to demolish freedom. it’s amazing how quickly people rolled over for the patriot act.

Arundhati Roy – Walking With The Comrades

The Indian Constitution ratified colonial policy and made the State custodian of tribal homelands. Overnight, it turned the entire tribal population into squatters on their own land. It denied them their traditional rights to forest produce, it criminalised a whole way of life. In exchange for the right to vote, it snatched away their right to livelihood and dignity. Having dispossessed them and pushed them into a downward spiral of indigence, in a cruel sleight of hand, the government began to use their own penury against them. Each time it needed to displace a large population—for dams, irrigation projects, mines—it talked of “bringing tribals into the mainstream” or of giving them “the fruits of modern development”. Full article.