WMV Music Web Log

I couldn't sleep last night - woke up at 1:11 am and drank tea and read poetry (Judith McCombs, "The Habit of Fire", wonderful poems about the paradoxical place of human beings in nature - uncomfortable poems that wake you up - perhaps why I did not get back to sleep until 4:30). Maybe I was nervous or excited about the rehearsal this morning, but if so, I was not conscious of it. They say it is useful sometimes to keep secrets from oneself, especially in creative work. Yes, I am excited about this concert - it means a lot to me. If it didn't, I wouldn't be doing it, right? So, Sally McLain and David Teie arrived precisely at 9:30, in the snow flurries, and we sat down to Fauré and Brahms Trios. This is the kind of rehearsal I love: play straight through, simply appreciating how beautiful the music is. Wow. We stopped only twice, I think. The Brahms Bb Sextet means a lot to me - I listened to it endlessly in adolescence. And the Fauré Trio was a discovery of middle age. I wouldn't even call this program comfort food - it is more like, the central core. It still amazes me that I have the privilege of playing music with artists of the caliber of Sally and David - even though I believe I deserve it, because after all, I am one! Yes, I am pretty excited about it.

Listened to half of Ruth Rose's solo CD yesterday. It is gorgeous piano playing - I am jealous! I need to pay more attention to my solo work - I have plenty of ideas, but almost never practise. Ruth and I will play four-hands in the Liebeslieder in May - that should be fun! I have not played four hands more than a couple of times since my aunt, Thelma Stein, moved to assisted living in Maassachusetts. I never talk to other pianists anymore - it would probably be a good thing to know some, and now I do.

The National Philharmonic gave away a 5 drawer legal file cabinet which I picked up the other day. I managed to move it out of the van, up the stairs, and down to the basement without hurting myself - a great accomplishment! Now, to start actually filling it with stuff - three drawers and several boxes upstairs are already filled with scores. At least in the drawers they are alphabetized.