A Royal Democrat

Lviv, Ukraine, May 12, 9:15 PM

Earlier this evening at the Lviv Symphony Hall, I sat down and spoke briefly to my new friend who was again sitting in my favorite seat but then I had to move to the one 3 seats away when two ladies showed up to claim the two seats in between mine and his.

It was two nights ago at the Bandura concert where, unable to get my favorite seat, the one at the very front of the balcony overlooking the stage and perfect for videoing the orchestra - which amazingly they let you do here - I got the next seat and we struck up a conversation.

His English is a bit limited but as it far exceeds my Ukrainian we chose it to converse with considerable effort on both our parts.  

He is an author and artist and he showed me a book he had written and illustrated and for which he became quite eager for me to buy. 

Of course, it would have been rude for me to refuse and I was intrigued so we negotiated a price that was less than his initial asking price but more than his final offer which I deemed to be unfair - to him.

The only problem was the small currency I had with me was not enough and the larger bill I had was too much so after the concert we went looking for the change and on the third attempt found a store that was willing to give change without a purchase. 

I offered to buy us coffee which would have gotten us change but for some reason, he demurred and so we pressed on and scored at the third store we visited.

After we completed the deal I thought we might talk some more but he was headed for home presumably to his wife whom he told me was a composer which they pronounce “Compos-EEE-tor” here in Ukraine. One of those words which I find both easy and fun to remember.

Although the book was not in English I knew I could scan it with the Google Translation App on my smartphone and quickly turn it into English.  An amazing technology!

So I went to one of my favorite after-the-symphony hangouts to do just that. However, when I did, Google said it couldn’t find the Ukrainian to match the words to translate to English.

How odd!

But, then I remembered he had told me that both his Grandfather and Father were Russian Princes. So I told Google to try Russian and suddenly English lit up the screen. 

Nice, but I guess this book isn’t going to help me learn Ukrainian.

Oh well.

Though of royal lineage my new friend told me he was a pensioner of very modest means. 

And when I asked if he too is a Prince he rejected the thought and declared with some vehemence and perhaps a touch of humor --

I am a Democrat!

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During the intermission at tonight's performance, I noticed that my new friend had taken his bag with him and thinking he might not return to claim his seat I hovered next to it until the concert resumed.

And so, as it turned out, I got to sit down and make this video from the best spot in the house of the first movement of Debussy’s “La Mer”.

But before that video let me show you this brief video in answer to a reader's request for a video of pure Bandura music without singing.

Enjoy!