I awoke Monday morning with the happy awareness that the Bartók performance was behind me, and that it didn’t suck, so the day started off pretty well, just by that standard.
I taught a couple lessons right after breakfast, which was much more fun than it sounds like, and then coached a chamber group before lunch. The afternoon brought a long stretch of teaching – five students – and in the break between the first three and the last two I was able to practice my solo piece for Wednesday night’s concert, Daniel Ott’s Parting for viola alone. I premiered the piece in 2005 (it was a MAVI commission) and it had gotten short shrift while I was frantically working up the Bartók for performance. Though I’ve played it before, it deserves much more time than I’m going to be able to give it, but I have time today and tommorow to put in some quality time with it.
The evening brought another wonderful faculty concert, all pieces featuring Duane Hulbert on the piano. First came the Brahms A major violin sonata, Op. 100, no. 2, played with warmth and grace by Marcia Ott. The mighty viola sonata of Rebecca Clarke was next, played by Scott Ligocki, who showed that he truly owns this piece. The piano part to the Clarke is if anything even more beautiful than the viola part, and it was played with luminous virtuosity by Hulbert. The remainder of the concert was given to the piano quartet, op. 47 of Robert Schumann. Duane Hulbert was joined by Nancy Roth, violin; violist John Scanlon, and cellist Richard Treat for a wonderfully transparent account of this piece that can often be given performances more in the vein of turgid than mellifluous. Kudos to them all for such a wonderful performance!
A special note: Heather Blackburn gave her first performance in over a year, playing the scordatura low B-flat at the end of the slow movement from an offstage vantage point.
6 replies on “mavi – day two report”
This blog, simply describing your day, is quite interesting to me – a lover of music who possesses no talent to play. What made the lessons fun? Karen
Lessons aren’t always fun, both as a teacher and a student. But as a teacher, when the student is really interested in discovering new things and has something to say with their playing, and is actually capable of incorporating suggested changes into their playing – that makes it fun!
and, it is big fun, indeed, when the teacher learns something from the student.
Right you are, D-Bob! BTW, Hulbert remembered you, and said that you hired the entire Seattle Symphony for one of your extravaganzas once – wow!
hahaha, while i did collaborate with the SSO on a few projects, i never actually “hired” them. if i had that kind of money you’d see some “real” programing!
:)))
You are amazing!