A triumph! No screw-ups, secure shifts, solid intonation, some pretty damn fine subtle shaping, and oh look, stable bow weight resulting in nice smooth crescendos! Huzzah! The ensemble pieces were good too. In fact, everyone did very well. And I am very proud of the boy who behaved extremely well, but who, alas, fell asleep right before the Star Wars theme that was the thirteen-year-old’s choice of solo (just past the halfway mark of the recital). He quite enjoyed what he did hear, however. I am told he played air cello and clapped like a mad thing after the duet.
Summer is going to be very long. I will miss cello activites. I have another month of lessons to go and almost six weeks of orchestra, but year-end performances are always tinged with melancholy.
And now, I am going to reward myself with a glass of red wine that I saved from the bottle MLG brought to accompany dinner last night.
Congratulations!!
So what’s to stop you form doing something on your own over the summer with your cello?
Grats on the recital.
Well, that’s a given; one doesn’t put one’s instrument in a closet over the summer. It’s just that having weekly sessions with a group or a teacher keeps everything focused and on track. One gets lonely when one doesn’t have regular contact with one’s usual ensembles, and very bad habits can develop without a regular teacher’s eye around. Mackay and I have a date to work together over the summer, though, because his lessons wrap up the same time mine do.
Liam has told me, “The cello music was sooo beautiful I fell asleep.” Not necessarily the effect one’s looking for, but still, a nice enough comment from someone who describes good music as pleasant enough to fall asleep to.