Classical Concert
When I was living in Japan, I had never been to a classical concert. But since moving to Canada, I have already been to more than ten. Recently, there have been so many concerts that interest me, and I have already been to three just this year.
I used to take piano lessons when I was a child, but I never took them seriously. My teacher would print out sheet music for pieces I liked, and we had very relaxed, freestyle lessons.
While everyone else was playing Mozart or Chopin, I was playing the Radio Taiso Daiichi.
Even though the lessons were laid-back, there was still a recital once a year, and for that I had to choose a more classical piece.
My piano teacher had a daughter who also played the piano. She was really skilled. At every recital, she would always close the program with her performance.
One year, she played Chopin’s Military Polonaise and Heroic Polonaise two years in a row. I was so moved by her performance. I cannot remember whether it was the Military or the Heroic one, but I do remember asking my teacher the next year if I could play “that piece your daughter played.” She gently said, “That might be a bit too difficult for you, Yukke-chan…” and turned me down.
It was a bit of a bitter memory, but that is how deeply that Polonaise—whichever one it was—left an impression on me.
Back then, I practiced on a digital piano, which had several preset tracks built in. I did not really know how to use it properly, but I eventually figured out that if I pressed certain buttons randomly, I could make the tracks play.
One day, I happened to select a piece, and—surprise!—the Heroic Polonaise was in the list. I had not heard that piece again since the recital, but I instantly recognized it and played it over and over.
Still, since I never remembered which buttons to press, I had to mash random buttons every time to access the preset tracks. Pure brute force.
I quit piano before entering junior high school, and after that, the piano was hardly ever turned on. Naturally, I lost all contact with classical music. No one in my family was into classical music, and none of my friends were either. In Japan, if you say you like classical music, people assume you are an aristocrat, rich, or a former brass band member. It feels like unless you have some “reason” to like classical music, you are not really allowed to.
Looking back, I think I actually liked classical music since I was a kid, thanks to piano. But because no one around me listened to it, I had no access to it and ended up living nearly 30 years without even realizing I liked it.
Now, I can stop by a concert hall near my workplace after work and listen to live orchestra performances.
That is something I could never have experienced in Japan.
In Japan, the bar for enjoying classical music just feels too high.
But someday, I would love to attend a classical concert in Japan too.