Surprises

Sometimes, just when you think there's no chance you'll pay your bills or do anything to make money or to be productive ever again, you get a surprise phone call while eating your oatmeal, and kapow, you're in the thick of it. A couple weeks ago, Sonja called from kammerorchester basel to see if I was available for rehearsals already underway, and I didn't even ask any questions - of course I said yes. Yes! I arrived at rehearsal an hour later and found I would be the only bass player. I can't even remember at what point I realized that the first concert was the next day; not until the evening, I think.

The program was a mixture of things, two contemporary pieces for which the composers were in attendance, a Haydn symphony, and a really wonderful piece for tenor, horn and strings by Benjamin Britten, called the Serenade. The tenor was incredible, his name is Mark Padmore, and I'm biding my time until his recent recording of the piece is released. The piece is really perfect, it was written in several movements, each with text from a different poet (Tennyson, Blake, Jonson, Keats) on the theme of night. Beautiful, terrifying, lulling. I think I'll remember our concert at Wigmore Hall in London as one of the highlights of my playing career. Plus I knew there would be some proper ale after the performance.

If you have any interest in Britten or the Serenade, there's a nice BBC program to be found on youtube (here) that talks about his life and the piece. It was written, as with so many of his works, for his partner, Peter Pears; they had been together in America, and were so disturbed by the buildup to WWII that they actually came back to England in 1942 and took a house near the seaside, where Britten wrote what are considered to be his best pieces. I also discovered that the piece was premiered at Wigmore. How about that.

Unfortunately, I didn't take so many photos when I was in England. In fact, I took none. But as proof that I was there, here is a picture I took of a crumpet, bought in London, and toasted, buttered, marmaladed, and consumed in my kitchen.