Mika Putterman
Who would have thought that acclaimed flautists are fans of smoked meat just like the rest of us? In today’s Video of the Day, McGill alumni and Montreal resident, Mika Putterman traipses around the Bernard Street Mile End deli, Lester’s Deli, while her rendition of Johann Nepomuk Hummel’s Allegro con Brio Sonata plays in the background.
Between takes of meat slicers and Putterman playing her wooden flute, the slightly yellowed video filter conveys a deep sense of longing for the comfort of a picturesque day on Bernard Street. Shopkeepers smile. Customers laugh. And sunshine twinkles in the eye. The flute trills and delights with wonderfully dainty runs through its upper ranges. Perhaps smoked meat and classical music do go well together. Perhaps smoked meat is the perfect respite to the hours of practice put towards a performance under five minutes. Perhaps greasy extra-fatty meat with creamy, rich coleslaw, and the tart tangy taste of a cherry cola brand cherry cola is what’s needed between rehearsals. Perhaps mustard is the only spice you need in life.
The full table with multiple sandwiches, slices of sourdough, bowls of coleslaw, and long strands of karnatzel and pickle swell the music to the point of needing a section change. As Putterman calls her friend to request aid in finishing the sandwich, the music embarks on a new section of the sonata. This is where the brio comes in—the joy, the ineluctable joy of sharing pork with a friend.
For a comical squirt, as the music winds down with a light piano and flute call and beckon, Putterman has a laugh on screen as her videoman pranks her with a fake mustard bottle that shoots string instead of spicy, grainy sauce.
Perhaps happiness is at the bottom of a bottle of the sweetest mustard seed.
