Awadagin Pratt: This is an interesting question because musicians primarily tend to analyze when listening, which raises the bar for getting to what are the more normal primal responses.
One very impactful concert I went to as a student was Sergiu Celibidache conducting the Munich Philharmonic at the Kennedy Center. The first piece was Ravel’s Rapsodie Espagnole. I was transfixed by the little four-note motive going back and forth between the strings. There was a powerful undulating quality that was hypnotizing. Later in the program I was struck by Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Again, rhythm was the element for me. Celibidache focused on loss, which is not normal in this piece, and there was a heartbeat element that pulsed throughout the performance.
The most powerful moment in a concert however, was a recital of Leontyne Price in Baltimore. The recital was transporting, but her encore was “Vissi d’Arte” from Puccini’s Tosca. I cried for the first and only time in a concert. ❖
Awadagin Pratt performs compositions by Brahms, Franck, and Couperin on the Geffen Stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall, on Sunday, May 18, 2025 at 2pm ET.