Today was the last full day of MAVI. Instead of the day beginning with a lesson at 8:30, I was assigned to run through the piece (my dress rehearsal) by Daniel Ott that I was to perform that night in the chapel. I dragged my caffeine-fueled carcass to the chapel and began trying to make up for the lack of major preparation that this piece really deserves. Parting, as the piece is entitled, is a work of around 8 minutes in length. It has several distinct sections that follow each other without significant pause, and each presents some major difficulties (at least to my technique) that are as varied as they are difficult. There are some leaps to double-stops that consist of one stopped note and one harmonic, cascades of very fast 16th notes with lots of chromatic intervals, and double-stops that transition to other double-stops with simultaneous glissandi in both fingers, each moving in the opposite direction. The run-through went well, which I guess in retrospect I should have be concerned about that fact, but we only repeat history because we forget previous instances.
I taught a lesson and then coached a string quintet before lunch. The quintet was playing Mozart’s great string quintet in G-minor, one of Mozart’s most heartfelt and intimate expressions of anguish in music. What fun to coach such great music, and with such enthusiastic participants!
After lunch came our final rehearsal for the Mendelssohn string quintet in A major, op. 18. It’s a youthful work that was written before his great Octet (op. 20) for strings. It has a ton of notes, some very strange orchestration issues, and is remarkably ungrateful to practice and prepare, but ultimately, I like it for its naivete and freshness. After nearly two hours of pounding down the rough edges, we scattered to our various duties. I, for the first time, had some time off, so Heather and I went into Bothell to go to Caffe Ladro for one of their amazing frozen mochas – truly like a culinary crack cocaine!
After dinner came the final faculty concert.
The concert opened with the G minor Mozart piano quartet, played by Marcia Ott, Scott Ligocki, Richard Treat, and pianist Sandra Bleiweiss. It was given a wonderfully lithe and transparent treatment, and Sandy just is my favorite Mozart pianist to listen to around here. Then came the Ott, played by yours truly. I felt like I was able to get the overall form of the piece presented well last night, but there some serious technical problems that I just felt badly about. It’s always nerve-wracking to play a piece in front of the composer, especially when he’s also a good friend. I’m planning on doing it on a recital in the fall, so there is time to redeem myself! The first half closed out with MAVI director and co-founder Joyce Ramée and assistant director Paula Fendler playing the sublime slow movement from Brahms’ f minor viola sonata. It was heartfelt playing of the highest order, and it truly communicated the love that Joyce has for this great camp that we set into motion two decades ago. The final piece on the concert? Mendelssohn’s A major quintet, which went really quite well. We had our eyes glued to our music, but every so often some fun was had, too. It was a great way to close out the final concert of the 20th Aronoff Concert Series at MAVI.