Well, I’m back in Portland in one piece, which considering my day yesterday (Friday) is no small achievement! Aside from a ferry, the four days I was in New York involved traveling in most every other form of conveyance. I was transported in a jumbo jet, taxi, passenger van, bus and a two types of trains: subway and surface.
Here’s some housecleaning: a glowing review of the Carnegie Hall performance by Pink Martini from the New York Times – it must be especially gratifying to China Forbes, who endured a lot of abuse on her vocal technique back in the early days, and who has worked hard to get over that hump.
Thursday afternoon was a whirlwind – we were due at the Ed Sullivan Theater for a soundcheck for the taping of the David Letterman Show. We had a lovely 45 minute commute across town in a caravan of passenger vans to get to the venue. Then the men had to change in the tour bus which was ready for the core of the band to leave for an East Coast tour the following morning.
We waited for about an hour for the show rehearsal to get to the soundcheck point. We were summoned on stage, where it was a chilly 48º (!!) which we were warned about (thank goodness I was wearing my suit jacket). We put on mics, found space on the skimpy risers, and gawked about at how small the theater was and how cool it was that we were sitting in front of the famed NY skyline diorama.
We ran the number (Hey, Eugene!) five times and then ran outside to thaw out and await the taping of the show. Letterman is taping at 3:30 p.m. this year, so we got to hang out and see Biff the stagehand and the guy that works next door at “Hello Deli”. I even signed an autograph (yeah, I’m with the band…)
The taping went great, we waved at Letterman from our perch on the risers, then said hi to members of the CBS Orchestra (band) backstage on our way out.
That evening I got tickets for the Emerson Quartet concert at Carnegie Hall – and it was amazing. They were ending a month-long residency which was called “Beethoven Quartets in Context” in which they played basically the entire major quartet repertoire over eight concerts, including all of the Beethoven string quartets. It’s an unbelievable feat of endurance and virtuosity.
They played (standing, as is their custom now – except for the cellist David Finckel) six sections of Bach’s Art of the Fugue, Shostakovich’s Fifteenth String Quartet, and Beethoven’s Quartet in B-flat major, Op. 130, with the Grosse Fugue, Op. 133 in its rightful place as finale of the quartet. The concert was dedicated to the memory of their long-time mentor and friend, the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who recently passed away after a long illness.
I walked back to the hotel on Lexington Avenue (between 47th and 48th) and relaxed and awaited the Letterman show broadcast, which was surreal to watch in the extreme (but fun!).
More, tomorrow…