After my tour with Fr. Dimitri I ate a light early dinner and returned to the hotel for some rest and a little study. Haim picked me up at 7, one hour before the concert/broadcast, so that I could be there a little early to meet with the folks who were videotaping the concert (not for broadcast, but rather for my promotional purposes).
There were a few last minute notes to give, and then I got dressed and it was time. The broadcast is live so it’s generally the same as a regular concert except that you have to wait in the hallway offstage until the radio announcer finishes the introduction.
We started off strong; I was a little nervous, but the good kind, and went out just concentrating on a strong and energetic start to the overture, which is actually a little tricky to kick off.
The overture went quite well, and surprisingly I had to go out and bow a second time just after that. This caught me off guard but made me happy because then I knew that we had the audience where we needed them for the rest of the concert.
Whatever trepidation I may have had about the orchestra’s laid-back attitude in rehearsal was quickly washed away as they really came to play. I loved the energy they had, and their willingness to really go anywhere with me. It made for a very exciting performance where I really felt a good spontaneity. As a result, I think we were really able to make the music there in that moment, even if the phrasing or tempi varied slightly from what we had rehearsed, we went there together. The performance was not flawless but we communicated what was between the notes, which to me is the most important part. This was confirmed at the end of the concert when I had to return to the stage FOUR times during the ovation. I was very happy for the orchestra and made a point to direct the acknowledgement toward them. It’s very possible that this was the last subscription concert for this orchestra, and I wanted the audience to understand that if the orchestra goes under they are losing something very special.
After the concert many players came by my dressing room and said some very nice things, including that they hope I’ll be coming back soon (assuming there’s an orchestra to come back to!). I was very honored by this and have a deep appreciation not only for their hard work on this difficult and little known repertoire, but also their passion in making the performance something to remember. Several audience members also came back, and I was very happy to hear that they certainly felt that passion too!
