From: benedejc@husc10.harvard.edu (Andrej Benedejcic)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Subject: THE CONCERT OF DUBRAVKA TOMSIC (PERSONAL IMPRESSIONS)
Date: 12 Apr 92 02:35:19 GMT
Organization: Harvard University Science Center


Yesterday, on April 10, two of my friends (both are female and, no, they
are not my girlfriends!) and I went to see the concert of the renowned
Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomsic.  You will probably ask:  "Why did such
a militant Laibach fan like Andrej attend a piano concert--the epitome
of modern civilization?!"  Well, the answer is a very simple one.  Whereas
it is true that I know much, much more about the Slovenian post-industrial
music than about Dubravka Tomsic, it is also true that every now and then
I get very sentimental.  That's when I start writing about the pan-Slavic unity,
about the shameful discrimination of Turkish "Gastarbeiter" in Germany,
about the Serbian soldiers who gave their lives for the liberation of 
"Primorska," etc.  Another reason why I simply couldn't afford to miss this
concert had to do with the fact that two professional pianists, both of whom
I tutor in Slovenian, provided me with three free tickets and made me swear
over my new book about "Neue Slowenische Kunst" that I'll definitely show up
at the Boston Symphony Hall.  And so I did, with two female friends of mine.

The concert started at eight o'clock in the evening.  Of course, we showed
up at the Symphony Hall about half an hour earlier.  We went to this Italian
restaurant which is right next to the Symphony building (sorry, but I forgot
the name--I guess it just wasn't memorable enough).  There we had a couple of
drinks (so as to get in the mood, if you know what I mean), chatted a little
bit, complained about Harvard, the workload, the Teaching Fellows (sorry,
Milane, I just couldn't resist it) and other things that university students
all over the world usually talk about.  

At ten minutes to eight we left the restaurant and entered the Symphony Hall.
At the entrance we received, of course, the program notes.  Since I was
conscientious (notice that I said conscientious, not conscious!) enough to
save them, I'll quote the entire passage dedicated to Dubravka Tomsic
"za benefit of our citaci," as Nikola Malenovic would say.  So, here we go:

**************************************************************************

                         PROGRAM NOTES

THE brilliant Slovenian pianist Dubravka Tomsic was born in Dubrovnik in
1940.  She began her piano studies at the age of four and gave her first
public recital at five.
	In 1952, her father, an eminent professor of international law,   
brought his family to London and then to New York on a Rockefeller felowship.
Dubravka Tomsic continued her studies with Katherine Bacon at Juilliard and 
she remained in New York with her mother after her father's work called him
home.
	During this time, she came to the attention of Arthur Rubinstein.
When it seemed that she would have to abandon her studies for lack of funds,
the great pianist interceded with the Yugoslavian ambassador on Dubravka's 
behalf and secured a promise that her studies would be paid personally by 
Marshall Tito on the condition that Rubinstein give her lessons--which he
did for two years.
	As the winner of a concerto competition, she made her New York
Philharmonic debut in 1955 playing the Grieg concerto under the baton of  
Wilfred Pelletier.  She gave a recital in New York's Town Hall and appeared
with the Rochester and New Haven symphony orchestras.  In 1957, she presented
a Carnegie Hall recital attended by Rubinstein who included a glowing account
of the occasion in his memoirs.
	Returning home in 1959, Dubravka Tomsic married and raised a family,
and continued to concertize throughout Europe, Australia and Asia.  She lives
in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
	In 1983, Dubravka Tomsic toured North America with the Ljubljana
Symphony Orchestra under Anton Nanut.  With this orchestra and conductor, 
she made recordings of Beethoven and Mozart which brought her wide acclaim
and which renewed the attention she received from American audiences.
	Dubravka Tomsic returned to America in the summer of 1989 to play
the opening recital at the Newport Festival and to record Brahms and Debussy
discs for Stradivari Classics.  She returned in 1990 again to open the 
Newport Festival and to record a Mozart cycle for Koch Classics.  She made a
triumphant Boston recital last March which was presented by The Bank of Boston
Celebrity Series.
	Her engagements this season, in addition to tonight's return
engagements in the Celebrity Series, include recitals at Middlebruy College
and the University of New Hampshire, and furhter recordings for Koch
International.

****************************************************************************


So much about Dubravka.  As far as her concert is concerned, here is the 
list of music pieces she played:

****************************************************************************

             THE AARON & ANNE RICHMOND PIANO RECITALS


                    D U B R A V K A   T O M S I C 


Fantasy in C minor (K. 475)		 	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
						(1756-1791)

Sonata in C minor (K. 457)			Mozart
	Molto allegro
	Adagio
	Allegro assai

Klavierstuecke, Opus 119 (1892)			Johannes Brahms
	Intermezzo in B minor			(1833-1897)
	Intermezzo in E minor
	Intermezzo in C Major
	Rhapsodie in E-flat Major

	  		I N T E R M I S S I O N 

Four Scherzi					Frederic Chopin
	No. 1 in B minor, Opus 20 		(1810-1849)
	No. 2 in B-flat minor, Opus 31 (1837)
	No. 3 in C-sharp minor, Opus 39 (1839)
	No. 4 in E major, Opus 54 (1842)

*************************************************************************


I must confess, it was a pure joy listening to Dubravka's performance.  In
case somebody is wondering, let me emphasize the fact that I am not joking.
It's true that at least one quarter of my CD collection is dedicated to
Slovenian groups like Laibach and Borghesia.  However, I also have two
of Dubravka's CD's.  In fact, I brought one of them to the concert, in
the hope of having it autographed by Dubravka herself. 

Now, we all know that you can't get something for nothing, right?  In view
of this unfortunate but immutable law of human relations, I clapped as much
as I could during each ovation, in order to convince myself psychologically
that Dubravka actually *owed* me something.  However, since I wasn't really
sure that she would distinguish my peculiar style of clapping in all the
noise that the other people created, I made sure to stand up when clapping, like
a number of other stout-hearted men (well, perhaps they were just a bunch of
ecstatic classical music fanatics).  I guess I must have clapped really hard,
because Dubravka performed THREE additional pieces after the concert ended.
Or, maybe it was because of my chanting!  You see, when I heard a number
of people screaming "BRAVO!" I said to myself, well what the heck, and shouted
at the top of my lungs:  "ZIVELA DUBRAVKA TOMSIC!"  Quite predictably, a
number of people turned around in amazement and I overheard a woman saying
something about how exciting it is to have "genuine" Slovenes in the audience.
Encouraged by this favorable response, I opened my mouth again, 
raised my arm in the "vinceremos" style, and shouted:  "Z I V E L A 
S L O V E N I J A !"  This time, my two female companions almost
pulled me down to my seat, telling me, in this funny girlish way, to stop
doing what I am doing.  For a second or two I was quiet, telling myself that
it's not really appropriate to mix art with politics.  But then I remembered
the famous Laibach credo that "art IS politics" and I continued shouting
"ZIVELI, ZIVELI!" till Dubravka finally left the stage for good.

When, at last, people started streaming out of the auditorium, my friends and
I walked over to this part of the Symphony Hall where you can actually see 
and speak with the performer.  Predictably, there was quite a crowd there.  The
people were mostly Slovenes and Croats.  Among those waiting was also Ana
Kucan, the daughter of the President of Slovenia.  No, I didn't collapse
in amazement when I saw her!  You see, I've already met her several times,
since she is a graduate student at the Harvard Design School.  But, still,
I got a kick out of telling my shocked friends:  "Please, let me introduce you 
to Ana KUCAN!"  Ha, ha, ha!  Anyway, since the line was pretty long, Ana and
I chatted a little bit and, among other things, discovered that we both
attended the same primary school--the "Valentin Vodnik" in Ljubljana. 
Of course, we concluded that ours is the best primary school in the world. . . .

After about fifteen minutes, my friends and I were finally ushered into the
room with Mrs. Tomsic.  We introduced ourselves, gave her our gift of flowers,
and told her what a great performer she is.  Since it turned out that I was
also from Ljubljana, Dubravka actually chatted with me for several minutes,
which eventually gave me the opportunity to ask her for the autograph.
She smiled and said:  "Why, of course, with pleasure!"  Needless to say, I 
was ecstatic!

The rest of the evening I don't remember that well.  You see, on our way
out we met a couple of American-Slovenes who, excited to meet some people
from the "old country," invited us over to the Italian restaurant I mentioned
before.  We talked, we drank, we laughed . . . all in all we had one
hell of a time!  Indeed, I almost felt like being back home!  Aaaah . . .
Slovenia!  The homeland of magnificent artists and great people!  What a boring
place the world would be without you!  

Regards,

Andrej