I went from one extreme to the other today, ending up this evening very happy at the CSO concert with the delicious Mendelssohn Dream incidental music, the overture of which was written when he was seventeen. Impossible! Even more impossible some might think was the comment of one of the hardened members of the orchestra that I overheard backstage afterwards - "it is ridiculous that we actually get paid to play this wonderful music!". I really liked that......
The first half included Ravel's remarkable piano concerto for left hand, commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, the philosopher Ludwig W's elder brother. An amazing piece it is, brilliantly played by the great French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. So that was a real bonus.
The day started badly - I won't go into detail. Suffice to say that some people are behaving badly, one in particular, and I am going to have to fix it. In these particularly stressful times the last thing we need is discord. So there may be some harsh words when the culprit gets back to town! I love my work on the whole - but this will be one of those other moments.
And this afternoon my Fall auditions continued, this time at De Paul University in their delightful concert hall seen here. A converted church of course - but a great acoustic. I would say that this was perhaps not a vintage year - but the school has a fine history and it is always a pleasure to be on their Lincoln Park campus. Maybe it is too early in the academic year. More prep is needed. We will be discussing this.
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