One day, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez was walking along the streets of downtown Los Angeles when he heard beautiful music. And the source was a man, an African-American man, charming, rugged, homeless, playing a violin that only had two strings.
Un día, un columnista de Los Angeles Times Steve Lopez paseaba polas rúas de Los Angeles cando ouviu unha música marabillosa. E a orixe era un home, un home afro-americano, engaiolante, engurrado, sen teito, tocando un violín que tan só tiña dúas cordas.
And I'm telling a story that many of you know, because Steve's columns became the basis for a book, which was turned into a movie, with Robert Downey Jr. acting as Steve Lopez, and Jamie Foxx as Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, the Juilliard-trained double bassist whose promising career was cut short by a tragic affliction with paranoid schizophrenia. Nathaniel dropped out of Juilliard, he suffered a complete breakdown, and 30 years later he was living homeless on the streets of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. I encourage all of you to read Steve's book or to watch the movie to understand not only the beautiful bond that formed between these two men, but how music helped shape that bond, and ultimately was instrumental -- if you'll pardon the pun -- in helping Nathaniel get off the streets.
Estou contado unha historia que moitos de vostedes xa coñecen porque a columna de Steve constituíu a base dun libro, do que se fixo unha película con Robert Downey Jr. no papel de Steve Lopez, e Jamie Foxx como Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, o contra-chelista formado na Escola Julliard cuxa prometedora carreira foi interrrumpida polo tráxico padecemento dunha esquizofrenia paranoide. Nathaniel abandonou a Escola Julliard, sufriu unha profunda crise e 30 anos máis tarde vivía sen un teito nas rúas de Skid Row en Los Angeles Anímovos a que leades o libro de Steve ou miredes a película para entenderen non só o fermoso vínculo creado entre estes dous homes, senón tamén para comprenderen como a música axudou a crear esa unión, e no final foi o instrumento -- se me desculpan o xogo de palabras-- quen axudou a tirar a Nathaniel das rúas.
I met Mr. Ayers in 2008, two years ago, at Walt Disney Concert Hall. He had just heard a performance of Beethoven's First and Fourth symphonies, and came backstage and introduced himself. He was speaking in a very jovial and gregarious way about Yo-Yo Ma and Hillary Clinton and how the Dodgers were never going to make the World Series, all because of the treacherous first violin passage work in the last movement of Beethoven's Fourth Symphony. And we got talking about music, and I got an email from Steve a few days later saying that Nathaniel was interested in a violin lesson with me.
Coñecín a Mr. Ayers en 2008, hai dous anos, no Auditorio Walt Disney. Acababa de ouvir a interpretación da primeira e cuarta Sinfonías de Beethoven, achegouse ao escenario e presentouse. Falaba dun xeito moi xovial e sociábel sobre Yo-Yo Ma e Hillary Clinton e de que os Dodgers nunha chegarían ás Word Series, pola pouco fiel interpretación que o primeiro violín fixo no último movemento da Cuarta Sinfonía de Beethoven. E enleámonos a falar de música, e recibín un email de Steve uns poucos días máis tarde dicindo que Nathaniel estaba interesado en estudar violín comigo.
Now, I should mention that Nathaniel refuses treatment because when he was treated it was with shock therapy and Thorazine and handcuffs, and that scar has stayed with him for his entire life. But as a result now, he is prone to these schizophrenic episodes, the worst of which can manifest themselves as him exploding and then disappearing for days, wandering the streets of Skid Row, exposed to its horrors, with the torment of his own mind unleashed upon him.
Agora, deberían mencionar que Nathaniel rexeita recibir tratamento porque cando o trataron foi con terapia de choque, antipsicóticos e esposas; e ese trauma ficou nel durante toda a súa vida. Mais agora en consecuencia el tende a ter esas crises esquizofrénicas, as peores das cales se manifestan como se estourase e entón desaparece durante días, vagando polas rúas de Skid Row, exposto aos seus terrores, co tormento da súa mente fóra de control.
And Nathaniel was in such a state of agitation when we started our first lesson at Walt Disney Concert Hall -- he had a kind of manic glint in his eyes, he was lost. And he was talking about invisible demons and smoke, and how someone was poisoning him in his sleep.
E Nathaniel estaba nun estado de axitación tal cando empezamos coa nosa primeira lección no Concert Hall Walt Disney-- tiña nos seus ollos un brillo maníaco, estaba ido. E falaba sobre diaños invisíbeis e fume, e de cómo alguén o estaba a envelenar durante o sono.
And I was afraid, not for myself, but I was afraid that I was going to lose him, that he was going to sink into one of his states, and that I would ruin his relationship with the violin if I started talking about scales and arpeggios and other exciting forms of didactic violin pedagogy. (Laughter) So, I just started playing. And I played the first movement of the Beethoven Violin Concerto.
Eu tiña medo, non por min senón que tiña medo de perdelo, de que se sumise noutra das súas crises, e de arruinar a súa relación co violín se empezaba a falarlle de escalas, arpexios e outros aspectos apaixonante da pedagoxía do violín. (risas) Así que, simplemente empecei a tocar, E toquei o primeiro movemento do Concerto para Violín de Beethoven.
And as I played, I understood that there was a profound change occurring in Nathaniel's eyes. It was as if he was in the grip of some invisible pharmaceutical, a chemical reaction, for which my playing the music was its catalyst. And Nathaniel's manic rage was transformed into understanding, a quiet curiosity and grace. And in a miracle, he lifted his own violin and he started playing, by ear, certain snippets of violin concertos which he then asked me to complete -- Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius. And we started talking about music, from Bach to Beethoven and Brahms, Bruckner, all the B's, from Bartók, all the way up to Esa-Pekka Salonen.
E mentres tocaba, comprendín que había un cambio profundo nos ollos de Nathaniel. Era como se estivese baixo a influencia dalgún fármaco invisíbel, unha reacción química, da que o meu tocar era o seu catalizacor. E a furia maníaca de Nathaniel foi transformada en comprensión, unha tranquila curiosidade e un estado de graza. E de xeito milagroso, alzou o seu violín e empezou a tocar de ouvido, algúns retrincos de concertos para violín que despois me pediu que completase-- Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius. E demos en falar sobre música, desde Bach Até Beethoven e Brahms, Bruckner, todos os B, desde Bartók até Esa-Pekka Salonen.
And I understood that he not only had an encyclopedic knowledge of music, but he related to this music at a personal level. He spoke about it with the kind of passion and understanding that I share with my colleagues in the Los Angeles Philharmonic. And through playing music and talking about music, this man had transformed from the paranoid, disturbed man that had just come from walking the streets of downtown Los Angeles to the charming, erudite, brilliant, Juilliard-trained musician.
E comprendín que el non só tiña un coñecemento musical enciclopédico, senón que tiña con esta músia unha relación persoal. Falaba sobre ela coa mesma paixón e entendemento como a que eu comparto cos meus colegas da "Los Angeles Philharmonic". E tocando e falando sobre música, este home transformárase do home paranoico, perturbado que camiñaba polas rúas da cidade de Los Angeles no engaiolante, erudito, brillante, músico formado na Escola Juilliard.
Music is medicine. Music changes us. And for Nathaniel, music is sanity. Because music allows him to take his thoughts and delusions and shape them through his imagination and his creativity, into reality. And that is an escape from his tormented state. And I understood that this was the very essence of art. This was the very reason why we made music, that we take something that exists within all of us at our very fundamental core, our emotions, and through our artistic lens, through our creativity, we're able to shape those emotions into reality. And the reality of that expression reaches all of us and moves us, inspires and unites us.
A música é medicina. A música cambianos. E para Nathaniel, a música é cordura. Porque a música permítelle transformar os seus pensamentos e delirios en realidades, grazas á súa imaxinación e creatividade. E isto é unha vía de escape da súa mente atormentada. E comprendín que esta era a verdadeira esencia da arte. Esta era a verdadeira razón pola que facemos música, collemos algo que existen dentro de nós no noso máis íntimo cerne, as nosas emocións, e a través das nosas lentes artísticas, a través da nosa creatividade, somos quen de dar forma real a esas emocións. E a realidade desa expresión chega a todos nós e conmóvenos, inspíranos e únenos.
And for Nathaniel, music brought him back into a fold of friends. The redemptive power of music brought him back into a family of musicians that understood him, that recognized his talents and respected him. And I will always make music with Nathaniel, whether we're at Walt Disney Concert Hall or on Skid Row, because he reminds me why I became a musician. Thank you. (Applause)
E para Nathaniel, a música tróuxoo até un grupo de amigos. O poder redentor da músico tróuxoo de regreso cunha unha familia de músicos que o entendían, que recoñecían os seus talentos e respectábano. E eu farei sempre música con Nathaniel, esteamos no Concert Hall Walt Disney ou en Skid Row, porque me lembra porqué me fixen músico. Grazas. (Aplausos)
Bruno Giussani: Thank you. Thanks. Robert Gupta. (Applause)
Bruno Giussani: Grazas, graciñas. Robert Gupta. (Aplausos)
Robert Gupta: I'm going to play something that I shamelessly stole from cellists. So, please forgive me.
Robert: vou tocar algo que con moito papo roubei aos chelistas. Así que, por favor, descúlpenme.
(Laughter) (Music) (Applause)
(Risos) (Música) (Aplausos)