It was nice to be able to plug back into this world amidst the weeks of opera (and Firebird rehearsals for Sunday’s upcoming Carnegie Hall Concert with the orchestra). I prepped a bit in the afternoon, starting with the last section (return to d minor). The location was somewhat overly resonant, so tempos had to be scaled down accordingly. Today I explored pulling more directly (harmonic rhythm) from the 3rd beat into the 1st beat of the measures in a number of the variations. I think one could organize this sort of treatment (and others) into a distinct vocabulary…all part of an in-the-moment set of creative options.
The first two dotted rhythm variations were good (where balancing each line as an independent voice with its own continuity) – they seem to have developed on their own without a lot of additional attention from me in practice.
#8) Better than last night. Still need to craft a better working method for developing the right internal balance between rhythmic groove and rhythmic freedom. Nice to play the same work, with the same bow and violin, in a larger more sound-friendly space. A moving experience for my audient.
This was the first performance for me since the MET season started. I felt as if I was operating at about 80-odd % of optimal – small flaws, touching in and out of depth as opposed to living in the depth of the music…humbling to recognize the increased degree of preparation to perform at 100+% in front of a small group of people when in the midst of the opera season. Definitely more mental and musical effort in preparation is required than the 15-20% difference between 80% and 100%. Causes me to remember a comment made to me by an experienced colleague: that it was much harder to improve as you get to increasingly higher levels of skill and artistry. Determining exactly *what* needs to be applied into your daily routine in order to proceed is a significant question.
I am not intending to be negative – the music did flow, as was evidenced by the attention and gratitude expressed by my listeners.
6) August 12, 2012 Williamstown, MA Private home for 2 longtime friends and music lovers. Drove down from Bennington where I have been performing and teaching at the Chamber Music Conference for the past 2 weeks …packed up my things, got in the car, arrived and played. There were a few funny concentration issues: I was smelling the beautiful lunch my Hostess prepared and the smells distracted me, made me lose the thread – I had to remember to listen and not smell!
Not having worked the piece much at all during Bennington, the performance was a little better than so-so, from my point of view. The larger musical organization was intact, emotional flow decent, just a lot of ins and outs in concentration: made me want to pay much more attention in my daily practice to this issue; also focussing and tightening the smaller circles…realized that 100 performances will go by quickly, need to value each and every one, each phrase…
played all dance movements – reflecting in the drive home that the four dance movements and the Chaconne are inextricably linked – they form absolutely one singular flow. convinced. never heard them this way before. Allemande build to m15 had powerful effect on listeners, same with reflective end into…Corrente m1,2 bass line martélé correct, m43-44 shifts worked like a charm (practiced right)…Sarabanda repeat good but disorganized…Giga RA (right arm) arcs and circles ng…Chaconne opening dotted rhythm phrases out of focus; the balance between the three voices remain most difficult spot…
a beautiful moment – interpersonal, musical sharing: my Hostess said at the end that she had been holding back tears, not wanting to disturb me…confirming my ideas of depth and transformation…for me, those tears were the highest compliment one could be paid, in fact a most important part of the performance and part of the transformative movement I aspire to create through playing music. Host commented on the feeling of the music, the sound and emotions in and on his body.
July 29, 2012 Lake Oneida, NY – Weekend Chamber Music party. Balance of rhythmic discipline and rhythmic freedom felt a bit awry, but then, it *was* first thing in the morning. Also noticed that some passages need some technical cleaning…new ones that used to be settled…
