Last week’s issue of The New Yorker contains two magnificent profiles on two famous German speakers: Austrian writer Stefan Zweig and German solo violinist Christian Tetzlaff. The piece on Zweig – besides being a profound character study of the writer – includes a beautiful paragraph on how the suffering of a whole existence can be condensed into a travel itinerary, and the Tetzlaff profile is rich with quotes that just want to make you listen to music.
Like these:
“Performing music is the job that has the most to do with the belief in the existence of a soul.”
“Music, even at terrible moments, can make you accept so much more – accept your dark sides, or the things that happen to you. Maybe it’s just because you see that this is a common trait for all of us. You see that we are not alone.”
“And that’s what the concert situation is about for me, when I’m sitting in the hall and also when I’m playing myself. It’s about communication – I almost want to say ‘communion.’ As a player, you really don't interpret anymore. You listen, together, with the audience."
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