Lightning in a Bottle

The phrase "lightning in a bottle" means "capturing something powerful and elusive and then being able to hold it and show it to the world".

Last night's opening of Riverhouse Concerts in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was definitely one of these beautiful and memorable moments.

Located in Fort Hunter Park on the banks of the Susquehanna River, The Riverhouse is the artistic creation of Gary Lysaght, who designed and built the house in 2014 with a handful of others.    Upon stepping inside, one is met with the marvel of modernity as the house has tall ceilings, clean lines, and a wall of windows that face the Susquehanna.

It was in this space that violinist Odin Rathnam and pianist John Nauman - men who have both forged impressive and worthy reputations for their instrumental and musical prowess - performed works of Bach, Chopin and Strauss for an intimate and sold-out audience of seventy.

One particularly meaningful aspect of the evening was that both Mr. Rathnam and Mr. Nauman were featured as soloists in the first half before coming together after the intermission to share the violin sonata of Richard Strauss.   It was beautiful to witness the honoring of their "class reunion" in this way:    both John and Odin were students at the Juilliard School during what has been referred to as a "golden time" by those who were students during those years.     This experience was heightened by the fact that programming was chosen to reflect the change of scenery as early evening turned into night.

This was just the first concert of what is turning into a series, and I do hope that everyone reading this pays attention and takes a moment to attend a concert.