CONCERT IN CASTEL GANDOLFO -
Italian President Napolitano
is the Pope's special guest
July 11, 2012
'Symphony of peace
among peoples'
July 11, 2012
“We must strive to achieve peace, leaving aside violence and weapons, engaging ourselves in personal and communal conversions, through dialogue, in a patient search for an understanding that is possible”, Pope Benedict XVI said, after the concert given by the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, in Castel Gandolfo Wednesday evening, playing Beethoven's Fifth ('Eroica') and Sixth ('Pastorale') symphonies for the Holy Father and his special guests, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and his wife Clio. Emer McCarthy reports:
The concert by this unique orchestra of musicians from Israel, Palestine and other Arab nations, began as the sun set over the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo. It was a special treat for Pope Benedict, on the feast of St. Benedict, organized by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi of the Pontifical Council for Culture with the patronage of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano who was present Wednesday evening, seated alongside the Pope.
As the last notes of the symphony died on the evening air, and Maestro Daniel Barenboim bowed before a standing ovation, Pope Benedict addressed those gathered, praising the foresight of the Argentine-born Israeli Maestro, who, together with the late Edward Said – a Palestinian intellectual and accomplished pianist – founded the orchestra to give the children of Israeli and Arab communities a vehicle to look beyond their differences.
Pope Benedict spoke of “the great symphony of peace between peoples, which is never completely accomplished”, remembering how his generation and that of Maestro Barenboim's parents, “experienced the tragedies of World War II and the Holocaust”. The Pope concluded by thanking the young men and women of the Orchestra and Maestro Barenboim, for being living witnesses to the fact that peace and understanding – beyond differences and divisions – are possible and must by everyone’s common goal.
Here is a translation of the Pope's remakrs after the concert:
Mr.President,
Venerated Brothers,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have just lived through an experience of listening that was intense and enriching for our spirit, and for this, let us give thanks to the Lord.
I wish to express my sincere appreciation to Maestro Daniel Barenboim and all the musicians of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra which, during their summer tour, generously offered me this concert on the feastday of St. Benedict.
Thus they have not only allowed me to enjoy their optimal performance 'live', but also to participate more directly in their story, which began around 13 years ago, with you, Maestro, and with the late Edward Said.
I greet most cordially the President of the Italian Republic, the Honorable Giorgio Napolitano, whom I thank for his presence and for having encouraged this initiative.
And my thanks also to Cardinal Ravasi, who introduced this concert with three beautiful and significant citations.
To the other authorities, and to all of you, dear friends, I extend my greeting.
You can imagine how glad I was to welcome an orchestra like this, which was born from the conviction - or the experience - that music unites persons beyond any division, because music is the harmony of differences, which happens whenever a concert beings, with the ritual of 'tuning together'.
From the multiple timbres of different instruments, a symphony can emerge. But this does not occur magically nor automatically! It happens only thanks to the engagement of the conductor and of every single musician. An engagement that is patient, effortful, that requires time and sacrifice, in the work of listening to each other reciprocally, avoiding excessive protagonism in favor of the greater success of the ensemble.
While I express these thoughts, the mind turns to the great symphony of peace among peoples, which is never ever complete. My generation, and that of Maestro Berenboim's parents, lived through the tragedies of the Second World War and the Shoah.
It is very significant that you, Maestro, after having reached the highest goals for a musician, wished to give life to a project like the West-Eastern Divan Orhestra - a group in which Israelis, Palestinians and other Arabs perform together - persons of Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions.
The numerous acknowledgments with which you and this orchestra have been honored demonstrate, at the same time, professional excellence as well as ethical and spiritual commitment. And we heard that tonight, listening to the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Even in this program choice, this pairing of the two symphonies, we can see a most interesting significance. This two highly celebrated symphonies express two aspects of life: tragedy and peace, man's struggle against adverse destiny and the reassuring immersion in a bucolic atmopshere.
Beethoven worked on these two compositions, particularly on their completion, almost contemporaneously. Such that they were performed for the first time together - as they were tonight - in a memorable concert on December 22, 1808 in Vienna.
The message that I wish to draw today is this: To achieve peace, it is necessary to be committed, putting aside violence and weapons, to be committed to personal and communitarian conversion, with dialog and a patient search for posswible agreements.
Let us therefore thank from the heart Maestro Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for having given us a testimony of this way. To each of them, our wish and prayert that they may continue to dissiminate in the world the hope for peace through the universal language of music.
Thank you and a good evening to all.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/07/2012 11:50]