Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Perlman in concert
Itzhak Perlman performing last night in London
What do you do if you get polio at the age of four and are handicapped for the rest of your life so you can only walk with the aid of crutches and callipers on your legs? You become the world's greatest solo violinist, that's what you do. This is Itzhak Perlman, now 62 and still enthralling audiences with his virtuosity as he did last night at London's Barbican Centre. He played beautifully with flawless technique, panache and flair. During his life so far, he has picked up four Emmy Awards, 15 Grammy Awards and numerous honorary degrees from institutions including Harvard, Yale, Brandeis, Roosevelt, Yeshiva and Hebrew Universities.
Not only does Perlman dash off the most complex and virtuosic pieces with dazzling care-free abandon he also charms his audience with little introductions between his plentiful encores. Picking up some sheet music he reads the cover out loud. "It says here that it this piece is for 'Very Advanced'......so we won't play that!" Then proceeds to play a piece that is probably even more complex and dazzling, as well as emotionally moving.
It's interesting and humbling to see people such as Perlman who are handicapped in one way or another, turning their hand to an activity or artistic endeavour and they excel to the highest level. It's as though the determination to succeed in an endeavour despite personal limitations sees them through; they have a vision, the perseverance and sheer determination to perform and they throw themselves into it completely. There is a lesson here for me and maybe for others too. If we were all to throw ourselves into our chosen field with such determination and unwavering belief that we can achieve our goals; and if we work, work, work at it, we would probably achieve some success. The celebrated violin teacher Aaron Rosand has said he believes that natural talent accounts for about 15%; the rest is hard work.
Watching Itzhak Perlman last night we experienced the results of many thousands of hours of hard work combined with his natural talent. There are no shortcuts to this height of performance. Jasha Heifetz apparently had someone say to him "Aren't you lucky to be able to play the violin like you do?" which angered him enormously; despite having a natural gift, there is no way one gets to the top without thousands of hours of practice, much of which can be gruelling and disheartening.
I get such a thrill from seeing such virtuosity in performance. I love to see people being successful. And in violin playing such as we heard last night, I also love what it does for my soul. They are so inspiring. Perlman is inspiring. I shall reach for my violin and play a few more scales this evening, not ever to perform in public, but just to have fun; that's my objective and I'll definitely be successful in this endeavour.
:-)
