Recital & let down
Thanks for all your comments and questions about the recital. It went fairly well. There were a few nerve-wracking moments, but the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I haven't had the guts to listen to the recording yet -- in time.
The Handel set went well. It was nice doing the 2 arias (See, the Raging Flames Arise and Return, O God of Hosts) with piano and cello, and the second aria, though quite long, really found a place of beauty and stillness.
The Dutch songs by Diepenbrock which were the best rehearsed had the biggest gaffe -- I got to the third piece and utterly forgot how it started. I restarted the piece, but had the same problem. I stopped again, walked around the piano, got my bearings, turned to the audience and said "Third time's a charm, right?" which elicited laughter, and got back on track. I've never done that in performance before, nor do I care to do it again, but it's not the end of the world. As one friend told me, "As soon as we heard your voice again, all was forgiven."
The French pieces by Chaminade were the ones that I was most worried about. I was still mixing up words right up to the warm-up before the rehearsal. In the recital, it went nearly flawlessly. Ironic.
I closed with two operetta arias by Carl Millöcker which I translated into English. They were also well-received.
One of my favorite things beside the cello was the flowers. I told Mom I'd really like an arrangement on stage, and she came through with a lovely arrangement of red roses, sunflowers, stargazer lilies, and dutch irises.
I really couldn't have pulled this recital off as well as I did without Mom's help. In addition to getting flowers, she took care of a lot of business around the house and pertaining to my recital while I was busy rehearsing, memorizing, and writing program notes.
What was especially nice, though, was that I had a few days afterward the recital to really enjoy the company. Mom stayed with me after the recital until my birthday. We had a relaxing few days, involving puttering around the house, shopping, eating, chatting, and board games. The day before my birthday, she treated me to a birthday meal -- I chose Benihana, and it was a lot of fun.
She left the afternoon of my birthday, and Fred took me to Fogo de Chao for dinner on my birthday. Holy COW, that's a lot of meat! Neither of us was hungry for a good 18 hours after that.
Now, I'm starting to get sick. I thought I had avoided the Post-performance Crash, but evidently not. I slept most of today, and have a bit of a gritty, sore throat. Hopefully, I can sleep it off this weekend so I can start fresh next week and get on to the next thing -- the thesis!
The Handel set went well. It was nice doing the 2 arias (See, the Raging Flames Arise and Return, O God of Hosts) with piano and cello, and the second aria, though quite long, really found a place of beauty and stillness.
The Dutch songs by Diepenbrock which were the best rehearsed had the biggest gaffe -- I got to the third piece and utterly forgot how it started. I restarted the piece, but had the same problem. I stopped again, walked around the piano, got my bearings, turned to the audience and said "Third time's a charm, right?" which elicited laughter, and got back on track. I've never done that in performance before, nor do I care to do it again, but it's not the end of the world. As one friend told me, "As soon as we heard your voice again, all was forgiven."
The French pieces by Chaminade were the ones that I was most worried about. I was still mixing up words right up to the warm-up before the rehearsal. In the recital, it went nearly flawlessly. Ironic.
I closed with two operetta arias by Carl Millöcker which I translated into English. They were also well-received.
One of my favorite things beside the cello was the flowers. I told Mom I'd really like an arrangement on stage, and she came through with a lovely arrangement of red roses, sunflowers, stargazer lilies, and dutch irises.
I really couldn't have pulled this recital off as well as I did without Mom's help. In addition to getting flowers, she took care of a lot of business around the house and pertaining to my recital while I was busy rehearsing, memorizing, and writing program notes.
What was especially nice, though, was that I had a few days afterward the recital to really enjoy the company. Mom stayed with me after the recital until my birthday. We had a relaxing few days, involving puttering around the house, shopping, eating, chatting, and board games. The day before my birthday, she treated me to a birthday meal -- I chose Benihana, and it was a lot of fun.
She left the afternoon of my birthday, and Fred took me to Fogo de Chao for dinner on my birthday. Holy COW, that's a lot of meat! Neither of us was hungry for a good 18 hours after that.
Now, I'm starting to get sick. I thought I had avoided the Post-performance Crash, but evidently not. I slept most of today, and have a bit of a gritty, sore throat. Hopefully, I can sleep it off this weekend so I can start fresh next week and get on to the next thing -- the thesis!