On May 9, cellist Amit Peled “was asked to play his instrument on board an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Washington Dulles International Airport,” writes Maddy Shaw Roberts in Friday’s (5/10) Classic FM. Peled “approached the flight attendant to ask for a cup of coffee, since he had slept through the on-flight meal. The flight attendant, after seeing Peled sleeping on his cello, suggested he play a tune for the other passengers, saying: ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to hear you play it for us?’ [Peled] replied: ‘Seriously?’ And she said: ‘Well, only if I could video it and share with my boyfriend…’ Peled agreed…. As the plane travelled across the Atlantic Ocean, he played Johannes Brahms’ famous lullaby ‘Wiegenlied’—a piece often played to lull babies to sleep. The other passengers, along with the flight attendant, gathered around Peled to film his performance on their phones. ‘It was one of the best concerts ever,’ Peled said.… Peled, whose experience of flying with his instrument hasn’t always been so amiable, had his cello strings confiscated last year at Warsaw Chopin airport. Staff at airport security deemed the items ‘too dangerous’ to take on board.”
Posted May 14, 2019
