Berlin, 4 November 2007 - Berliner Philharmonic - Herman Woolf Hall: 125th Anniversary of Berliner Philharmoniker Orchestra

Describing a live performance means speaking about a unique event. The result of a liaison between the various semantic participating figures, i.e. the performer, with his technical skills, teaching background and history, the act of performing, built along the choice of repertoire, an interpretation style, moving within a socio-cultural frame that is defined by multiple factors, the more evident being place, time, history, financial situation, context, social position and the relationship between the performer and the public, and the person perceiving the performance, the audience and co-protagonist, the person who interacts by placing his/her own expectations on the line as well as his/her particular ability/inability to perceive/not perceive the moments he/she is experiencing, remaining within his/her own inability to reproduce even if recorded through time.

Edicson Ruiz is a young double bass player from Venezuela.  He was a member of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra under the educational guidance of the M.° Felix Petit, at 16 he joined the the Berliner Philharmoniker, where the continued his studies under the virtuoso Janne Saksala and the legendary Prof. Klaus Stoll.  He performed “Divertimento Concertante" for double bass solo by Nino Rota, a composer whose many symphonies and concertos have been masked by the popularity of his compositions of music for films.  He performed this work within the celebrations marking the 125th anniversary of the Berliner Philharmoniker, one of the most prestigious orchestras in the world.  This was an event of major historical importance, not only because it manifested an opening to a repertoire and an instrument that is growing in importance but it also shows the investment and the trust which the musician has been able to achieve thanks to his musical talent which is echoed in his reliability, professionalism and communication capability.

Written for and dedicated to the great double bass player Franco Petracchi, who taught at the Conservatoire of Bari during the years when M.° Rota was also there, the "Divertimento Concertante for Double Bass and Orchestra" consists of four movements and is one of the more better known orchestra works by the composer, due the specific nature of the solo instrument which at the time was still very unusual, and due to the linguistic difficulties which make it one of the more interesting examples of style, a perfect balance between a recovery of ancient, nineteenth century traditions, inspiration  of melody, syntactic tirades, and harmonic wit, never bound by instrumental acrobatics that are a means unto themselves.

The Hermann-Wolff-Saal is full to capacity and the wait, despite there being many events taking place at the same time in celebration of the Philharmonic itself, is long.  The public, including some well-known double Bass players in the Berlin area, is visibly interested and curious. Accompanied by the British pianist Rhody Clark, Ruiz sets his performance on a territory that is more suited to the Italian composer, that of melodiousness and emotion. The performance is full of feeling for music that finds its strength in the semantic investment within the same performance, in the ability to give the instrument that surplus of sensation and wealth that make the natural harmonious vein of the work its dominating force. The interpretation, which, in many ways – especially in the bow work and some parts of the air fingering– moves away from the petracchian tradition and closer to the philology of the original score, establishing for the entire event an attitude that intends to give greater importance to the act of communication, an instance of pure "Divertimento", which aims at entertaining in a celebratory, jovial and free, manner. The public, surrounded in a magical atmosphere mixed with awe for the unmistakable technical skill which makes Ruiz a rising light in the international panorama, remains passionate, despite the many engagements planned for this day of celebration for the Berliner.  The public not only approves, but participates, experiencing the joy and emotions of the Allegro maestoso, interpreted by the musician with warmth and involvement, in the burlesque austereness of the March, the melancholy of the splendid melody of the Aria and lastly, in triumphant joyfulness and light-heartedness, - but one that is typical of Rota grammar that never gives in to ordinary formality but finds its roots in the merger between the abstract avant-garde and operatic idiom - the Finale, in a crescendo of suspense. The proof that the strength that underlines the success of an action does not lie in the event, the personality or the opera per se but in all these components and that the skill of the interpreter not only lies in the value of the performance but also in his/her natural abilities, devotion, a total approach to the activity of music, in an ability to transmit a unique sense of the sublime that joins together the performer and the audience. The concert ends, the musician thanks his audience, returns, thanks them again, almost one by one as if they were the protagonists, which is quite a feat considering how many people are present.  Music lives through participation, and there is no music unless it is an act of communication...