Our diarist Anthea Kreston has been mingling with the Mystic Megs.
I have the amazingly good fortune to have been loaned a gorgeous Italian violin – a 1710 Testore. The four instruments in our quartet sing together – each a legendary work of art – and they sound together as one – the dark, burnished tones of old Italian masters are like magic under our fingers.
While the other instruments in this quartet have a traceable history (some more complete than others), mine has, so far, defied any attempt to fill in a back story. The Viennese gentleman who loaned it to me has just one tantalizing snippet about my immediate predecessor- otherwise – basically 300 years of mystery surround this violin.
I have read about Testore, the other master violin makers, and yet felt like I needed more. While being privy to nightly readings of Harry Potter this past year, I feel, with inflated chest, that I have become somewhat of an expert at witchcraft.I can, in fact, mutter several spells by memory (Expelliarmus, Lumos), and realized suddenly that what I needed to fill in the history of my violin was a visit to someone akin to Trelawney, the divination teacher at Hogwarts.
Unable to find platform 9 and 3/4, I quickly, with the help of Yelp and Google, found about 20 people along the Spokane-C’oeur d’Alene corridor who might be able to shed some light on this mystery. I typed into the search box – “Tea Leaves Reader, Psychic, Fortune Teller, Tarot Cards and Medium”, and got to work calling and emailing this small but intriguingly named list of people.After a day of calls (I was interested to speak to both Candice, Kandass, and finally a Cayndyss), I decided to make two appointments, so as to be able to compile my findings. My request (I am looking for someone to do a reading on an old violin – can you Palm-Read an inanimate object?) threw many people for a loop (“no, honey, I can’t do that, but I can give you a love reading if you bring me a photo of your love interest”).One person on the phone even had a very strong “red” color flash in front of her as we spoke, gasping deeply, and offering me a package deal – palm reading, looking into my future, and a Celtic Tarot all for $100 cash.
I decided to go with Elaine – I liked the sound of her voice – old and crackly, and people from the Rotary Club Halloween Picknick gave her rave reviews on Yelp. We set up a time (I was slightly unnerved when she couldn’t seem to remember her own address) and I drove to meet her at her home. I know what you are thinking, because I was thinking the same things – cloak, crystal ball, lots of purple and incense, having to push aside heavy drapery held back by thick golden cord.But, as I made my way from a sketchy Spokane neighborhood into a downright scary area bordering the railroad tracks, I realized that my mystical experience might be heart-pounding in a different kind of way.
As I slowed to see the house, a one-story brick affair from the 70’s, I could see silhouettes of several people through the half-drawn Venetian blinds – one pacing with head bowed. Hmmm – maybe a whole house of wizards?Fantastic. I decided to circle the block, just to get a better sense of the neighborhood. Trailers and brown patchy lawns – and wait – a black cat just streaked across the road. This is a good sign. As I pulled behind Elaine’s house, I noticed around 10 rusty beat-up cars parked all over her lawn – perhaps she had a way with cars as well as cards?Each opening to the house – be it window or door – was heavily fortified against the world – this was one secure residence. I hesitated, again noticing that the house seemed to be quite full of people, but then I took a deep breath and thought, “I have come this far, let’s follow this through”.I grabbed my violin and walked confidently to the front door.
It was open, save the black metal “screen” door. I leaned forward and said – “Elaine?This is Anthea here for my reading!”.The shadows I had seen from outside were now audible – but I couldn’t quite pick up the language which was being spoken. A shuffle of feet at a jingle of keys brought Elaine to to door – she tried about 4 keys, muttering about how a person couldn’t be too safe these days, you know the neighborhood, etc, before the door eerily creaked open. “Oh goodie”, I thought – a squeaky door!
She was old, she was shriveled, and her hair was done up in a kind-of modified beehive. Wonderful. Nails long (how does an 90 year old manage with such long nails?), and a black and white stripped dress – shag carpet, and enough icons to start “Elaine’s Icon and Stolen Car Shoppe”.The men milling about in the adjacent room paid us no heed as we walked to the living room, a small white dog bouncing and snapping at us all the while.
Elaine first asked me if I had a dog – hers was so fond of me – even jumping all over me and licking me as I tried to settle down into the white couch, covered in a thick clear plastic sheet. I decided not to mention my allergies and fear of dogs, hoping this was just a slight miss-step in Elaine’s initial reading of my aura.
She asked me to take the money for the session, claps it between my hands, and to make two wishes.After this she took the money, and with a deft slight of hand, it disappeared into her bosom.
What next transpired was a collection of observations such as: I would come into some money soon, people are proud of me, I would be buying something soon (she thought a car – maybe even from one of the gentlemen from the other room?), I have a star in my right palm – a long life!I gingerly removed the violin from the case so she (and her dog) could get a closer look. She immediately felt a power coming from the violin. It had the ability to bewitch the player – to put them under a spell and to take them away from family and friends. She told me that I had a very strong connection with this violin, but the danger was that it would entice me away from family – I had to find a balance. Then, she told me one of my wishes would come true soon and one would take a long time.
I thanked her, and also thanked my lucky stars that my car was still there as I left the house, keys jangling behind me as I confidently, but quickly, got into my car.
Interesting – and now onto Kandass. She was in quite a different area – newer houses on what was recently farmland – out in the country a tad. She came to the door – an attractive woman about my age, with heavy long eyelashes clumped with mascara and what seemed to be lips which were bold in proportion to the rest of her face.She explained that they had recently moved in – her husband ran the Harley Shop down the way.
Again I was greeted by a dog – this time a large black scary looking dog who was equal to the previous canine in its desire to get to know me better, and quick. Again, strong pointing and firm talking to the animal produced no results, and we three settled down at the dining room table to chat.
Kandass was pulling up a strong Grandmother presence – interesting to me since I never knew my maternal grandmother, and had only occasional and somewhat formal interactions with my paternal grandmother. After saying this, I realized that this meeting wasn’t a one-way situation. Kandass wasn’t having any of it and asked me to dig deeper – to find a wider definition of grandmother. Someone was trying to contact me from beyond.
I worked with her, and together we came up with some creative possibilities. And here is where some magic really happened. I was floored when told, again, that not only would I be coming into some money, living a long life, buying a new car, but also that people were proud of me. And – after holding the violin – she told me she thought the violin was worth a lot of money – she was pulling up between $100-$200!And, that it was very likely that I, myself, would be playing a concert on this violin some day.
I eagerly eyed the Native American drum lying on the table, secretly hoping she would suggest we just “play a bit and see where the spirit takes us”, but was disappointed when she jotted down some dates that she was pulling up that were important to the history of the violin – 1914, 1940, 1971.She urged me to look more deeply into the history of the violin – and demonstrated a position where I could slump or huddle over the violin, cradling it in my body, and that the violin would then feel comfortable speaking to me. She also thought that a man had probably played the violin before.
So – that was exhausting. I am in the air, daughter asleep on my lap, as we head back to Berlin. I hope our car is ok – my house sitter just texted me saying that they couldn’t get it started and we would have to get it towed. I could have told her that already – I know a new car is in our future.
Lawrence Wheeler, a professional musician, volunteered to play principal viola for the controversial Santa Monica concert conducted by the rightwing radio host, Dennis Prager. Here are his impressions, exclusive to Slipped Disc:
This week, I have been rehearsing and performing as principal viola with the Santa Monica Symphony for their fundraiser concert at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. I offered to do so in support of my friend Guido Lamell, music director and conductor of the orchestra. This decision was not intended to show support for the controversial guest conductor, Dennis Prager. While I am left of center politically, I believe in any person’s right to hold and express opinions, and I feel the liberal and conservative labels don’t allow for critical thinking on individual issues. In any case, I intend to give an objective account, free of political bias or agenda.
Guido Lamell is a violinist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is an excellent musician and an enthusiastic supporter of classical music. He assumed leadership of the SMS five years ago, following a split with the former conductor. Guido began with only eight musicians, and within a month he had recruited 60 musicians for a performance of Scheherazade. Then, as now, the SMS is a community orchestra comprised of amateurs, advanced students, and some paid professionals. While there is a core of 40 regulars, each concert requires filling in as needed.
The idea to ask Dennis Prager to conduct a piece on the annual fundraiser came from a member of the board a year and a half ago. Prager had previously conducted five orchestras and was a fan of classical music, particularly the works of Joseph Haydn. Lamell met with Prager to discuss possible repertoire, agreeing on a Haydn symphony. Lamell then polled the orchestra regarding their thoughts and feelings about having Prager conduct. At that time, no one objected. The logistics didn’t work out, so the idea was tabled for a year. When the orchestra was polled again, seven members said they would not perform if Prager conducted. In the final week before the concert, an additional three declined to participate. Lamell was able to fill all spots as needed.
In the weeks before the concert, Lamell worked with Prager on his conducting technique, and there were meetings with small groups of musicians. During the full orchestra rehearsals, Lamell offered suggestions and corrections to Prager. For his part, Prager was uniformly polite and respectful to the musicians. There were occasional conducting missteps, to be sure, but Prager worked very hard not to repeat them. He often thanked us for helping him realize his life-long dream to conduct a Haydn symphony.
The dress rehearsal had gone very well, and we were excited to play in the fantastic acoustics of Disney Concert Hall, which some consider the best in the world. By concert time, all 2,254 seats were sold. Lamell was greeted with enthusiastic applause before leading a spirited Marriage of Figaro Overture. The partisan audience gave a standing ovation to Prager, who then spoke about his lifelong love of music. The orchestra assisted Prager in presenting an energetic performance, highlighted by fine playing of a demanding French horn part. Following the complete symphony, Prager deconstructed a part of the last movement, which demonstrated to the audience how Haydn put the instrumental pieces together. He then took a microphone in hand and asked several musicians why they began studying music. These elements added educational and personal components to the concert.
Following intermission, Lamell led Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in as enthusiastic a performance as one is likely to hear. Minor technical imperfections hardly mattered, and the audience responded to the energy and passion on stage. For an encore, Prager returned with an accordion, and Lamell traded his baton for a bow and saw to perform “America the Beautiful.” The orchestra and audience joined in after the first stanza. This touch of kitsch was enjoyable, nevertheless.
Along with its supporters, this concert was not without its detractors and sincere objectors. Whatever one’s viewpoint, there is no disputing that it was a huge success as a fundraiser. This marked the first time a community orchestra has sold out Disney Concert Hall, and during the summer, as well.
Nathan Cole, First Associate Concertmaster of the LA Phil, and Assistant Concertmaster Akiko Tarumoto (pictured) have put together a board game of all the things that can go wrong when you’re preparing for the long-awaited big audition. Sample:
On the evening of the last concert, as you’re warming up onstage in your seat, the concertmaster walks by and hears you playing a few bars of Mozart 5 you’ve been having a little trouble with. He stops, interrupts his conversation with a colleague and introduces himself. Before you have a chance to be flattered at the greeting, he quickly tells you that he wouldn’t do that fingering you were just using and hastily demonstrates an alternative before exiting the stage…
Sakari Oramo has told the Times that BBC officials have demanded to see advance text of his speech at the Last Night of the Proms.
The intervention follows a furore caused by Daniel Barenboim’s anti-Brexit remarks early in the season.
It is an absurd over-reaction by a pair of bureaucrats Alan Davey and David Pickard, probably acting on orders from above. The pair of desk-jockeys know they should have vetted Barenboim, who is overtly political.
But Oramo, who is chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, is the least political of artists – despite his unfortunate taste in waistcoats.
‘To be honest I’m one of two covers for this particular concert performance, so I did learn and coach the whole role recently, but of course as a cover there’s lots and lots of sitting around, so in an effort to reduce my boredom (and learn the opera a little better) I asked to join the orchestra…’
Nice to be so diversified, but why did the soprano miss her cue?
‘She never received a call to stage. Our venue is a temporary outdoors setup and the dressing rooms are located far from the stage so the director is texting the singers their various calls. He simply forgot to text her at the top of Act 3.’
At the Marina Del Rey Symphony’s performance of Aida last night, the soprano went missing at a crucial entry. The conductor, Frank Fetta, yelled for someone to sing the part. Up stood Jennifer Lindsay in the orchestra, put her violin down – and saved the show:
Jen describes herself, to be fair, a ‘baby opera singer, part-time violinist’. She’s joining Opera Southwest as an apprenctice artist.
Good to have one of those in the orchestra.
Jen is on the right in this picture with the real Aida, Candace Bogan.
The performance was an open dress rehearsal for tonight’s show.
The Cleveland music director, in charge of Reimann’s lear at Salzburg, was asked about Salzburg’s Aida director and took the point further to include inexperienced conductors:
We live in a time in which not everyone who has achieved success should staged the coronation of his career at a major festival. They are always look for the original. I have my doubts as to whether this is the right way. Art comes from skill. And the craftsmanship is no longer much valued. Can you imagine a violinist or a pianist who does not master his craft?
Also with conductors? You can’t lead an orchestra without craftsmanship.
Do you know how many blenders there are? With a couple of tricks you can get quite far. Part of the craft is choosing tempi that do not put singers under stress. But today many of them just look and don’t listen. A show of energy by a conductor may bring nothing to the orchestra while enthusing the audience. For music, that is far too little.
Was halten Sie grundsätzlich von solchen Debüts, die es ja auch bei Verdis “Aida” mit Shirin Neshat gab?
Wir leben in einer Zeit, in der nicht derjenige, der überall Erfolg hatte, zur Krönung seiner Karriere bei großen Festspielen inszeniert. Man sucht immer das Originelle. Ich habe meine Zweifel, ob das der richtige Weg ist. Kunst kommt immer noch von Können. Und das Handwerk wird heutzutage nicht mehr so geschätzt. Können Sie sich einen Geiger oder einen Pianisten vorstellen, der sein Handwerk nicht beherrscht? Bei Regisseuren oder bei Dirigenten fällt man da aber oft rein.
Auch bei Dirigenten? Da kann man doch ohne Handwerk schwer ein Orchester leiten.
Wissen Sie, wie viele Blender es gibt? Mit ein paar Tricks kann man relativ weit kommen. Unter Handwerk verstehe ich auch, dass man Tempi so wählt, dass man Sänger nicht in Bedrängnis bringt. Aber viele Menschen schauen heute nur noch zu und hören nicht mehr. Eine energiegeladene Show von einem Dirigenten kann dem Orchester nichts bringen, aber dennoch das Publikum mitreißen. Um die Musik geht es da viel zu wenig.
British media have finally woken up to the romantic story, broken two weeks ago by Slipped Disc, about the Wigmore Hall greeter, Milly Forrest, who stepped up on stage when a singer withdrew.
Here’s the BBC News version:
It seems the viola falls, as ever, into the ill-defined zone between the violin (welcomed aboard) and the cello (buy an extra seat). From Rachel Roberts:
Support the arts, don’t fly with British Airways!
Had to pay 270.70 euros for a seat ticket for my viola in Dublin yesterday whilst traveling back from Kilkenny festival. My viola ‘needs to go in the hold’.
Sorry for this long post – it highlights incongruence within BA cabin baggage policy.
At the check-in desk the stewardess asks for viola to go in the baggage measurements basket- the dimensions of it are :
Height 56cm
Width 45cm
Depth 25cm.
The dimensions of my viola case are:
Height: 85cm
Max Width: 29cm
Depth: 16cm
Obviously it doesn’t fit ‘height-wise’ by 29cm although it’s way under the other measurements.
The time is 18.20 (flight departure 19.50) and I’m given 3 choices:
a) put the viola in the hold,
b) buy a seat ticket for the viola,
c) buy a different flight with a different airline with different cabin baggage restrictions.
Andrew Logan of LoganArts Management kindly spent more than 20 minutes talking the BA line manager on the phone, trying to negotiate a possibility for my viola to come into the cabin with me, but to no avail. (Incidentally, at the adjacent check-in desk an elderly woman was becoming increasingly distressed with the BA check-in steward and after 5-10 minutes she was escorted away by three airport police, sobbing and saying she didn’t understand. Both stewards at my check-in desk and two more at the next desk were laughing and commenting under their breath about the overt distress of this woman.)
The BA senior staff member insists (in her phone conversation and to me) that it isn’t her individual choice not to allow my viola into the cabin and that she is simply upholding baggage rules that have been applicable for years. She asks me to prove that this rule hasn’t been in place for years and prints out and proudly brandishes the Internet page with the baggage size restrictions.
But on 26/6/17 I flew with BA from Cologne/Bonn to Berlin on 26/6/17, flight no. AB6506, and I took my viola with me into the cabin.
On 26/6/17 I flew BA from Berlin to Gothenburg flight no. AB8066, and I took my viola with me into the cabin.
On 3/7/17 I flew with BA from Gothenburg to London, flight no. BA0791 and I took the viola with me into the cabin.
I ask the BA member of staff if she would like her photo taken next to the baggage restrictions but she declines.
After all the discussion I buy a separate seat ticket for the viola which costs €270.70 as I need to be back for work in the morning. The queue for the extra ticket means the time is now 19.05 and I’m aware that boarding closes at 19.30. I go straight to security where there is a big queue.
Separate issue now: When I get to the front the security officer asks her colleagues ‘Will that thing break when it goes through the machine?’ I say ‘what?!’ ..she replies ‘sometimes the musical instruments break when they go through the machine.’ (That’s not true, is it?) I suggest that she doesn’t put it through the X-ray machine if she is concerned.
They ask me to pass the viola through the walk-through scanner and I hand it to the security officer on the other side. It beeps and he immediately whisks it away and starts to open the case and take out the viola. This viola is very valuable to me! When I get through the scanner I ask him twice if I can please do that but he ignores me. His colleague comes over and says that I CAN do it, and she also lets me hold the viola whilst she swabs it.
Back to BA: I’m through security, it’s 19.25 and the gate closes at 19.30. I run to the gate and get there just in time before it closes. I get my ticket and passport scanned (the steward doesn’t even notice that I’m carrying a musical instrument), and I head straight for the flight. As I’m about to get on the flight I realise that I’ve forgotten to get the €270.70 viola seat ticket scanned so I go back to the gate and get that ticket scanned by the steward who is now looking a bit confused.
By the time I get on the plane I am one of the last to board, but yes you guessed it – there is plenty of space in the overhead lockers. As you can see from the photos the viola fits fine into the locker and no-one complains or even mentions anything about it being there. I travel back with the viola in the locker. I also take a photo of someone else’s oversized bag that was in an overhead locker (looks like golf clubs)- I speak to the owner of that luggage and he doesn’t have to pay any extra money for it.
I also speak with the stewardess who is also Customer Services Manager for the flight; she confirms that there were 6 seats free in economy and 4 seats free in club class. (That means there are 10 allocations of cabin luggage not being used altogether.) She says that BA asks you to buy a ticket in case the flight fills up, but she also says she can’t understand why, with the timing being so close to take-off and 6 seats being free, I am forced to pay for an extra seat.
From this experience I’ve reached the following conclusions:
1. Airports and airlines (particularly British Airways and Dublin airport it seems) still have work to do in training their staff in routine procedures – and employees get away with aggressive / passive-aggressive, inflammatory behaviour.
2. There is such ‘flexibility’ within BA musical instrument cabin baggage rules that it still seems down to the discretion of individual line managers or cabin stewards whether or not musical instruments are allowed into the cabin on a flight. There is no formal policy or procedure that can be relied upon.
3. Musicians are discriminated against by British Airways and other airlines. Other customers have oversized luggage but don’t have to pay. BA is just the latest in my experience. United Airlines was another terrible experience.
4. This was a massive waste of a PR opportunity for BA to be seen as an airline that actually supports the arts. It’s hard enough for musicians and other arts professionals to survive in an increasingly harsh business and travel ‘climate’ without being discriminated against.
5. It’s humiliating to be asked by uniformed staff to put your musical instrument into a baggage gauge that anyone can see from 20 metres away it’s not going to fit into, just so that the staff member can say ‘oh look it doesn’t fit- you have to buy another ticket’
6. Support the arts. Do not fly BA.
We regret to report the death of Pavel Egorov, head of piano at the St Petersburg Conervatoire and an international authority on Schumann.
He has been suffering from cancer for some time.
Boris Bloch writes:
Pavel Egorov was my classmate not only at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory but also a fellow student of Tatjana Nikolaeva in the first two years of our studies there. Pavel and I were also united in our youthful romantic love and affection for the music of Robert Schumann, competition of whose memory he had won in 1974. I was less successful having received only a finalist diploma in the previous edition of 1969. I guess we were the Davidsbündler-brothers. And now one of us has gone on a journry of no return. Dear brother, before it will be my turn to go I will remain faithful to your memory and our common goals and ideals. RIP my dear Pavel!
Official biography: People’s artist of the Russia, professor of Special Piano Department, Pavel Egorov was born in Leningrad and graduated from the Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatoire (1975), under the tutelage of T. Nikolaeva and V. Gornostaeva.
He was a prize-winner at the International Schumann Competition in Zwickau (Germany, 1974). At the same time he made his debut in the Grand Halls of the Moscow and Leningrad Conservatoires. Pavel Egorov performs in the best concert halls throughout the world, has toured in nearly every European country, and also in Canada, China and Japan. He has conducted master-classes in republic of Korea, Holland, Italy, Taiwan, and Sweden.
Pavel Egorov has made more than 40 solo, chamber and symphony programs for many Russian and foreign record companies (Melodia, Sony, HWA EUM, Intermusica).
Musical researcher and scientific editor, Honorary member of the International Schumann Society (Dusseldorf) and of the St. Petersburg’s Philharmonic Society, he was awarded the International Schumann Prize (1989), received the Order of Polish Government “For merits in culture” (2003), and has been elected a member of the St. Petersburg’s branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the area of Education and Development of Science (2007).
Eric Underwood tweets:
After many very incredible years @TheRoyalBallet I have decided to move on. I’m hugely grateful for all I have learnt there.
Eric, 33, joined the company in 2006 and was promoted to soloist two years later.
He’ll be missed.
Hours after musicians the world over started signing a petition for his freedom, the Venezuela regime released Wuilly Arteaga after three weeks’ detention without charge or trial.
Wuilly’s release is subject to certain unspecified conditions.
