I Attended a Piano Concert

Because I had nothing else to do.

Why not watch a piano concert?

Last Sunday, I was thinking about what I could do differently.

I’ve lived in Porto for 4 years, and I’ve never been to a concert at Casa da Musica, a very renowned work by Rem Koolhaas.

Alexander Malofeev, a 22-year-old Russian pianist, was playing a show that night for only 11 euros. So I thought, why not?

When I entered the room, it quite impressed me, but as soon as he started playing… I thought about so many things…

Passion

I don’t understand classical music at all. Much less about the piano. But I understand one thing: passion. This man loves what he does, he loves the piano, and he certainly loves his work.

Could it be that, when he was younger, he ever wondered if his dream of being a pianist was too small? Just like I always wonder when I get a new idea about what to do with my life.

Maybe it doesn’t matter what the dream is, just how far you will get with it.

The dream of being a pianist may seem small or even ridiculous until you win the Tchaikovsky Award for Young Musicians. The dream of having a jewelry brand may seem too small until you create Cartier.

Everything is so relative, but what counts is passion.

Am I that passionate about something? I asked myself.

The center of attention

Sometimes he plays so softly that it feels like he’s telling me a secret. Others, he plays loudly and intensely, as if he is telling everyone a very exciting story.

If you stop to think about it, it’s strange to have one person playing alone in front of 1500 people, all silent and watching his every move.

Many of us want attention. We want everyone to see what we’re doing.

“Look at me! Look how incredible I am!”

Right now, he has all of this, but in rare moments, he looks at the audience. Quite the contrary, he always seems to have his face turned away.

I wonder if he still feels anxious when he goes on stage?

The concert ended (or so I thought) and everyone gave a standing ovation.

As they didn’t stop applauding, he came back, thanked them, and sat down again to play another song. He repeated this about five times. I confess that I left before he actually finished.

He was in my head

That Russian musician was in my head for the next two weeks. 22 years old! How can it be? I’m 23 and…

But I remembered I shouldn’t compare myself to other people, only to myself, and compared to who I was 3 months ago, I feel almost as awesome as Alexander.

…

I hope you and I are brave enough to keep trying new things, going places we’ve never been, eating things we’ve never tried, etc.

I don’t need to be a classical music expert to appreciate Alexander’s angelic sound, just as you can do everything that little voice inside your head is creating obstacles to stop you right now.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope you have a wonderful day!