With every tap of the toe and every stroke of a key, Minsoo Sohn’s magical melody grew into something much larger than just a variety of verses Wednesday night in the MSU Auditorium.
After Sohn, an MSU piano professor, performed the first variation, Aria, the eager crowd gave a big round of applause, almost as if they knew what they were about to hear; that bigger things were to come.
Sohn took a bow.
From that point on, he would play about 80 minutes, taking only slight pauses between each variation.
The melody flowed throughout the night. The story that the Goldberg Variations were trying to tell could almost be deciphered through sound alone.
The concentration on his face was visible as the sweat glistened on his forehead while he endured the marathon-like piece.
Variation after variation, the verses mixed and matched, went through hills and valleys — almost as if the song was on its own type of journey.
After that journey the journey slowed and the crowd gave Sohn a standing ovation. He took bow after bow. A girl brought him flowers in appreciation of his effort. It appeared as though he had finished his act.
But there was more to come, one last variation. The encore: Aria Da Capo.
He would go on to the finish.
John Everett, a biosystems engineering sophomore, enjoyed the performance.
“The encore was my favorite part,” he said. “His stamina was impressive.”
After Sohn walked off stage, the crowd continued to clap for him.
After the performance, Sohn said he was tired from the effort.
“I’m exhausted and about to collapse,” Sohn said.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
