Today, I watched a movie called “Isaac Stern: Life’s Virtuoso”. There were three very interesting scenes in this musical documentary that I liked; the scenes of Stern's visits to China, Berlin and Israel. In China, his master classes with talented Chinese students; in Israel while playing with the symphony there was a siren blast which caused the symphony musicians to evacuate the concert hall, and the audience to don gas masks. Isaac Stern stayed in place onstage and continued to play; but perhaps the most touching, was his visit to Berlin, though he refused to play a concert there-in order to make a statement of protest about the treatment of Jews. He visited a museum dedicated to the memory of holocaust victims. I thought that this was very sad, and hard to believe that such a big building would just be wasted like that.
I learned how it is very important it is to not only be a good violin player, but also how important it is to make contributions to the world. Isaac Stern not only excelled in the violin, but also helped open the Soviet Union to cultural exchange during the Cold War and save Carnegie Hall from the wrecking ball. Isaac Stern is a truly an inspirational character.
