Last year, I spent the fall preparing the Bach Cello Suites for a performance recital in Spain. I felt confident coming up to the event. I even held a dress rehearsal for my friends and was quite happy with how things went. At the recital, though, I was much less pleased with my own performance. Even though I got many encouraging comments from the audience, I personally wasn’t happy with how things went.
The following day, however, I received a message from an older gentlemen. He said, “Your playing made me as happy as when I heard Pablo Casals perform Song of the Birds.” I was stunned at the thought of this friend hearing Casals live. I thought of the great Spanish cellist as ancient history. But I did some math and thought, If my friend were a child, I suppose he could have heard Casals at the end of his career. I asked him about it next time I saw him, and he said yes he had indeed heard Casals live as a child.
This word from the older gentlemen meant more to me than all the other comments. Even though I wasn’t satisfied with my performance, the experience of this gentleman is more than what I could have asked for—to be as happy as when he heard Casals. I think sometimes I forget my own experience can be different from what others experience. I’m so grateful for that reality.