Sing me a cimbalom

It wasn't your everyday orchestra moment at the Palo Alto Philharmonic on Saturday: In the middle of a concert, somebody brings out a cimbalom.

But, hey. If you're playing the folk-rich "Hary Janos" by Kodaly, you've got to have a concert hammered dulcimer from Central/Eastern Europe. The cimbalom is a particular star in the "Intermezzo" movement of the opera. "Intermezzo" leaps like a peasant dancing girl (landing, of course, on the first syllable like the Hungarian language does), and the cimbalom adds a rippling depth. At times I could picture a girl's tiny feet tripping across the strings, as though she had jumped up to dance on the instrument itself.

The concert was definitely an international experience, Hungarian-themed with works by Bartok and Dohnanyi, and people chatting in Hungarian. (For an even more international flavor, watch this YouTube video of a Japanese orchestra playing the "Intermezzo.")

Cimbalom player Roman Titcu kindly let us climb up on stage after the concert to look at the gleaming instrument. I'm now in favor of having someone walk in with a cimbalom on many occasions. Long city council meetings, maybe. Or while you're stuck in line at the bank. Imagine.



Pictured: Top: Cimbalom player Roman Titcu with his instrument on stage at the Cubberley Community Center Theatre, last Saturday after performing. Above: A close-up look at the cimbalom. Photos by Rebecca Wallace.