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Published: Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2011 / Updated: Friday, Dec. 30, 2011 05:39 PM

Competing with Charlotte Orchestra duo symphony to my ears

He plucked a violin off a stranger’s wall for a symphony performance, and nobody noticed. Billy Graham endowed her chair. Whatever the German word for ordinary is, "The Roth Duo" isn’t it.

“It’s a different life,” said Wolfgang, half of the duo with wife of 42 years, Bette.

She’s a rural Missouri beauty queen, Fulbright Scholar and volunteer Hospice harpist. He’s a Bavarian bow-bender, conductor and theologian. They’re the only full-time principal harpist and second violinist in the history of Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. They’ve shared stages with Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman. Now they’re sharing their living room with me.

We all agree to a contest I couldn’t win with wire cutters and an iTunes gift card. But I’m persistent. Persistence goes a long way in the Roth household. Fluent German is a must, as is familiarity with stringed instruments. That’s from Wolfgang on down to grandchildren Sebastian Mitchell, 6, and Elisabeth, 3.

An opportunity, perhaps, to cheat. I draft Sebastian onto my team. He’ll coach me up and play alongside me against Oma and Opa. It’s a shameless ploy for sympathy points, sure. It’s also my only hope. Simple rules – best musical use of strings wins.

Sebastian leads off on harp. He’s accomplishing with one tiny hand what I’d easily take with two. He’s been playing two years, almost half his life. Sebastian takes his bow and sits me down for a go at “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” The red string is “C,” the musical alphabet proceeding toward me from there. Red “C,” Red Sea, Moses – got it.

Bette insists even I can’t make a harp sound bad. Despite my best efforts, she’s right. Between us, Sebastian and I hold our own with “Twinkle, Twinkle.”

I strummed it like a timid schoolgirl, but I’m past the harp. It’s the violin that worries me. The violin is a bride on her wedding day. At its best, there’s an ageless beauty there I’m not sure anything can match. But at its worst, heaven help us all.

I’m considering whether to clear Sebastian from the room. Cat suicide couldn’t match the sound of a violin gone awry. And in my untrained hand? I’m bracing for the audio equivalent of paper-cut corneas. Mercifully, Wolfgang intercedes.

I wouldn’t fault a man of his training and expertise for snarling at our little “competition.” But that’s just not who he is.

“He’s a revered person in the orchestra,” said Charlottean Kathy Jarrell, who has shared a music stand with Wolfgang for almost 20 years. “He was a pivotal person in the history of the orchestra.”

In 1971, Wolfgang became the first full-time musician in Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. And, Bette grew a harp studio into one of the largest on the East Coast. Fellow musicians describe both as kind, warm and master teachers.

“It takes a lot out of me whereas Bette, she thrives,” Wolfgang said.

With Wolfgang directing the bow and instructing my finger placements, we survive “Twinkle, Twinkle” on the violin. He gives me more credit than I deserve. Sebastian and I put up a performance to beat, but now, it’s time for the professionals. It takes a minute to swap out Sebastian’s harp for a larger one. The intermission offers time to mingle.

I hear how their symphony work 40 weeks a year meshes with music classes and charity. How Bette fit a harp into an overhead airplane compartment for a trip to a Honduran hospital. How she played for Hospice patients, and her similar plans when the Roths retire this summer from the orchestra after 40 years.

Wolfgang isn’t shy with a story, either. He recalls showing up for a gig with a tuxedo and only the flowery shirt he wore getting there.

Then there was the orchestra performance two hours away where he realized he had left the violin at home. He didn’t want a dock in pay, so Wolfgang improvised with help from the family hosting his visit.

“There was a violin hanging on the wall.”

They’ve toured Europe, cut albums, endured “hundreds of weddings.” A Cold War-era concert in Warsaw, Poland, stands out, with two full orchestras and a chorus performing Beethoven’s ninth symphony. Bette still isn’t sure how she outlived one two-harp, seven-movement piece when a “major” string snapped mid-show.

“It sounds like a gunshot when a big one breaks,” she said.

Mostly, I want to know what they’ll miss. But stringing words together is my business. Theirs is music. Bette begins with a glissando piece. She’s flashing more fingers than an interstate bottleneck. She needn’t further explain what’s “so magical” about her harp.

“No other instrument can do that,” she said.

Then, Wolfgang. It’s the first challenge where I’m intimidated by a name. You don’t beat a man named Wolfgang in orchestral music. You just don’t. And Roth is no ordinary Wolfgang. He’s Geppetto with a bow.

The pair performs together, and I get it. He could play the devil out of Georgia on that thing. She’s every bit his equal. Together, it’s a Sunday afternoon nap for your ears.

“I will miss being able to reproduce the art of music in a large orchestra,” Bette said. “That I can’t do in my house.”

She could’ve fooled me. Couldn’t say what piece they played. Never asked. Pair two virtuoso performers, and that can happen.

“Being surrounded by the sound,” Wolfgang said he’ll miss most. “Some of the works really touch your heart. Some bring you to tears.”

There’s a German word for it – “mehrstimmig.” It describes harmony, multiple independent melodies combined to create something better still. Something it seems the Roths won’t do without, regardless who accompanies them.

On Your Marks Scoreboard

Competition: “The Roth Duo,” Charlotte Symphony Orchestra principal harpist Bette and principal second violinist Wolfgang

Contest: A performance on harp and violin between team Marks, which includes myself and the Roths’ grandson Sebastian Mitchell, 6, vs. team Roth. Winners determined using the common sense point scoring system.

Score: The Roths are retiring after 40 years with Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. They get 40 points. Sebastian is 6 years old, but plays beyond his years. I’m giving us seven points. Final score: Roths 40, Marks/Mitchell 7.

Overall Record:Lake WyliePilot local talent 64.07, Marks 9

On Your Marks is a monthly column where Lake Wylie Pilot reporter John Marks takes on competition from the greater Lake Wylie area, challenging locals in their field of expertise and profiling what makes them special. Check out past On Your Marks columns at lakewyliepilot.com. Look for “On Your Marks” under the “Home” tab. For ideas about who you think Marks should challenge next, e-mail jmarks@lakewyliepilot.com.