A performance can be greater than them

I remember a few years ago being at a summer academy in the south of France, with Dominique Merlet. The whole atmosphere was great there, as we were a group of like-minded people, keen to learn, work and share ideas in the gorgeous setting of a little medieval French village. The concert at the end, however, was something special. We were supposed to play in an 11th century church, which proved much too small for the number of people who came to listen. Therefore, on a starry summer night, there were lots of people sitting or standing outside, in the dark field, listening to the music coming through the open door of the church. When my turn came to play Premier communion de la Vierge from Messiaen’s Vingt Regards, halfway through my performance I heard the unmistakable sound of a thunder, followed shortly after by a gentle rain, that intensified gradually. In a way it’s just an anecdote, yet I find it could be a nice metaphor for what performance can be, audience and soloist both witnessing something greater than them.

Mihai Ritivoiu, Romanian pianist
“Mihai Ritivoiu, Pianist”, Meet the Artist, https://meettheartist.online/2018/05/09/mihai-ritivoiu-pianist/, accessed 21 February 2021