Great chieftain o' the puddin-race

hotel @ St. Andrew's golf course
Sorry for the long delay, but I have been having a very eventful last few days that have kept me from being able to sit down and organize my thoughts/events in a comprehensive manner. As it's been forever since my last good post, I give myself permission to make this one extra long.

I left Norwich by train at 8 PM Sunday night, arriving at London Liverpool Street 2 hours later. A 20ish minute tube ride took me to Victoria. A walk of 10-15 more took me to Victoria coach station, where I waited for my bus for about half an hour. It arrived at about 20 past 11 in the form of a gigantic purple double-decker with a trailer behind. Megabus was, indeed, MEGA. I was all excited when it seemed that I would have my own seat until some guy sat down just as we were about to depart. This meant any sleeping to be done would require window-leaning. I awoke at 2 AM to an announcement of our arrival in Birmingham. I immediately fell back asleep. At 7 AM, I opened my eyes, wide awake, and had no clue where we were. A sign reading, "Lanarkshire county" or somesuch did not help. I simply thought someone violently misspelled Lancashire. And so, I had entered Scotland.

At 8 AM, I found myself in Glasgow, where we had about half an hour to stretch our legs. Therefore, I can say that I've legitimately been to Glasgow. Many people alighted here, so I left with my own seat. A while later, we made a stop in Perth, then Dundee a few minutes past schedule at about 10:28. I saw Michel and Monir waiting for me on the platform. For those of you who are unaware, we met through their website- www.hberlioz.com. Look back at my post from 12 or 13 Dec 2007 and you can read about our first encounter.

The three of us waited for a few minutes until a bus came to take us to very near their house. We spent the evening talking about Berlioz at sporadic instances (of course, what else would we do?!), me being shown the house, and me drooling over all things Berlioz-related. At 8, their neighbors, Kaye and Len (real Scots!), joined us for a tasty supper. Monir made rice to Iranian specifications, and Michel made a casserole (US: "stew") to go over top. We all had a nice little chat about many things.

Wednesday was spent touring seaside fishing villages. Michel chauffeured us to Anstruther, Crail, Pittenweem, and Elie before heading back to St. Andrew's. We visited the harbours of the first 3 and a beautiful old (built by 1370) church in the last. At lunch, I consumed the tastiest hot chocolate of my life next door to where we ate dinner tonight. Hold on a moment for that tale! Michel dropped Monir and I off in town upon our return. I happened upon a local bakery called, "Fisher and Donaldson's!" They apparently have delicious cakes, which I believe. I had the best doughnut of my life there. It was fudgey-mapeley frosted with vanillaish pudding inside. Unlike anything I have ever tasted. The late-night supper concluded with a fruity-puddingy concoction that I do believe will be gracing the table at the Givens dinner in the spring.

Today, Monir and I headed to Edinburgh. She had to pick up a paper from her flat there (I just took a brief pause to run upstairs to the loft and take pictures of a beautiful Scottish sunset!), so I tagged along. After some sauntering, we made it to the Tartan Mill where I finally acquired a Clan MacDonald ladies' kilt. The handy cafe above the mill happened to have haggis, so no further sauntering was required except that of making our way to the bus station to head back.

After a short rest and bit of tea back at the wh'oooose (US: noun: "house"), Chauffeur Michel took us back to Pittenweem for this super-hyped fish and chips bar's wares. They were everything I had been hoping and MORE! To explain just how good they were: I am that person who doesn't eat the little crispy chips (US: "fries") because they're too crispy, flavourless, and dry. I also don't tend to eat the breading on my fish for the same reasons. Below, you will find before and afters of my vinegar-and-salt covered newspaper-wrapped fish and chips.

In short, Scotland= 1) the best food, ever: Haggis, fish and chips, doughnuts, desserts, and more! 2) it's awesome to see businesses that include your name, not to mention two in one day, when you're accustomed to never seeing it anywhere 3) it's strange to blend in so well. My hair, skin, eyes, etc. hide me quite well. 4) I don't want to leave- it's won me over. Scottish food is delicious, Scottish clouds are beautiful, Scottish skies are beautiful, Scottish people are lovely, Scottish (highland) cattle are awesome-looking (do a google search), no one's in a rush- I love how laid back it feels here, etc. etc. Come here if you think I'm just waxing poetic. Oh, there's also the point that I've spent my time here being as nerdy as possible by talking about Hector every waking moment and looking at memorabilia, etc. And so, the truth comes out.

a harbour, haggis, before/after fish and chips

Zooooooom

And thus begins my whirlwind tour of Europe. It is day 2 in Norwich. 2 Evensongs have been evensung. I haven't been too horrible about my page-turning, stop-pulling, and button-pushing. I will be doing the same until Sunday. That, and romping around this nice town taking peeks into shops and the like.

I don't know when I will next be on, but I actually have to run back to the cathedral and attend an organ rectial. Sorry this was so short, but I've been running around for the last 2 days! I'm off....

End with a Bang

Oh, Mahler, how draining you are. Before I get into the concert, I'll tell you about the rest of my day.

I woke up a bit late...I knew I'd need the extra energy tonight. Eventually, I packed for Norwich/Scotland/the Lake District. After that, I dawdled, then hopped on the tube to wander around Kensington. My wandering began with a saunter through the Victoria & Albert Museum. Last time I was there, I spent 3 hours in the musical instruments room (I pulled out every single cabinet, none of which I looked at this trip). Dragonetti's bass still impresses me with it's enormity. You could fit a modern bass inside it quite easily.

From there, I headed towards Royal Albert Hall/the Royal College of Music/Hyde Park. While walking past RCM, I noticed a sign announcing a pre-concert talk. Huzzah! Photos were snapped, then I went to Hyde Park for the first time. On my way back to the talk, I happened upon a few people gathered around something that seemed exciting. Then I saw what it was. A man had his 5 tiny puppies romping around! I happily sat down in the grass and played with them. The talk was entertaining and informative. After it finished, I walked downstairs. On the way, I almost started crying...it was very powerful to be in a building for the first time that I have thought about so much for the last 2 years.

Now onto the concert: The Royal Albert Hall was very nearly sold-out (there were a few empty seats and a couple of empty boxes). I got to my seat while the (huge) building was still relatively empty. Eventually an older couple sat on my right. I was highly confused, as I thought I could understand them, then I couldn't. I had an idea of what was going on, so I asked the woman what language they were speaking. Aha! It was Dutch! Thus it's sounding like German and messing with my head. We proceeded to talk for the next 20 minutes until the concert began. Both of them play viola in an amateur orchestra in Amsterdam. She is studying music. They were on holiday to London for a few days after she completed a little course in music at Cambridge. She told me about several historical concerts she'd witnessed with Haitink, Bernstein, and the Concertgebouw. The husband's viola teacher was in the Concertgebouw. Right before the concert began, she gave me her email address saying, "We can help you out if you ever come to Holland! We live only 45 minutes from Amsterdam and go to the Concertgebouw usually once a week." I have been very lucky with my concert-going neighbors this summer...many very interesting people. I will miss it!

I can only imagine how the players must have felt before, during, and after the performance. Carmine said it was very powerful to see the audience members' faces- some crying, some listening intently with closed eyes, all moved. Not long into the 1st movement, I already had tears streaming down my face. They let up for 2 and 3, but came back in 4. The worst, though, was saying a "final" "goodbye" (hopefully for only 3-months) to Carmine at the tube station. It was a very emotional ride home, as I kept thinking of different highlights from my time with them. I couldn't have chosen a better ending note for the summer. I'll see you all in October, if the powers that be approve.

Installation at the V&A, RCM, RAH and Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, puppies, RAH

Off to Norwich tomorrow morning until Sunday, then to Scotland. I don't know if I will be online between now and then...

Dali would be Proud.

...for today felt relatively surreal. It began with Carmine giving me a little gift to remember him. He wanted me to guess what it was, but I had no clue. He said it was perfect for me. The clue was "Christmas." I gave up. He proceeded to pull out a pristine set of LPs of Berlioz' sacred works performed by Sir Colin and the LSO. He bought it at a boot sale the day after we drove up to Coventry, which is when we started to get to know each other. In other words, it IS the perfect gift to remember him by.

Rehearsal began with Haitink saying, "Let's run the first three movements and be done at 5. If we go a few minutes over, don't be mad." They ended up running all 4 movements, which I did not complain about. I was actually hoping they would play it, as it's the most emotional of the 4. The waterworks almost opened up, but I forced them back. Tomorrow, though, they will flow freely.

Many semi-farewell hugs were had. It wasn't quiet as difficult as I thought. I will be seeing them all again for a week in October if everything's on my side. Hopefully I can catch some of them as they leave the hall tomorrow night, as well.

I also caught Maestro Haitink before he escaped. It was a very odd encounter. It was almost as if he couldn't understand me, even though he's entirely fluent at English. He seemed like an entirely different person off the podium.

I met up with a friend from the New London Singers at 8 for drinks/some food. We had a very nice long chat about many things. It turns out he is a friend of John Rutter. I told him to check and see if my drawing of Nick is still there next time he goes to their house. We had some interesting Asian (well, it's Oriental here) cuisine unlike any I had ever had. Tasty!

It is now past 2 AM. I should have been asleep hours ago.

I don't know why the violin drawing is sideways.

Your Answers, Please.

Obviously, many amazing things have happened in the world since, well, ever. If you had the chance to go back and experience something from history, what would it be? Why? Would you want to sit down and have a chat with Ben Franklin, watch the Wright Bros. first flight, witness Lincoln reciting the Gettysburg Address, or do you just like the clothing? I have been thinking about this for the past few days for no reason in particular. It's surely crossed your mind, as well, whether or not you were asked, daydreaming, or consciously thinking about it. By the way, this has nothing to do with my trip.

It's very difficult to limit yourself to just 5. At first, I was going to say 3, but I kept thinking of things. Perhaps that just comes with my extreme interest in history. Here are mine:

1) I'm sure you can all guess: Berlioz, in general. I want to hear him sing, I want to see him conduct, I want to experience his wit first-hand, and I want to see the beak for myself. Oh, and I'd marry him.

2) Give Beethoven a hug.

3) Talk to my great-great-great grandfather Donaldson. He and his brother came over from Ireland (their parents moved there from Scotland...I have decided, therefore, that I'm half Scottish, not Irish) and started an iron foundry. It existed from 1862 until he died in 1937 (at age 93). As a first-generation American, he started that company, became mayor of his town in Michigan, possibly ran into Thomas Edison while TE was a kid working on the railway in said town, and started a bank. Also, I think it's neat that 2 of his other brothers started a merchant shipping line in Chicago in the 1850s. The first British merchant ship that was sunk by a German U-boat was one of theirs. Grandpa, if you are reading this and can remember, did he have an accent? Surely he did...

4) Live in upper-class Victorian England for wee bit. I'd like to be able to take a trip to my rich cousins in the country, go to a fancy ball (corset and all), disguise myself and explore the lowly worlds of Dickens' books, ride in a horse-drawn hack, and experience the atmosphere of the Sherlock Holmes tales- walk down the street at night in the rain as a bobby twirls his bat on the corner, whistling to himself...

5) Live in 1930s Hollywood and, again, upper-class England. My original number 5 was to work in the studio of Constable, JMW Turner, or Ingres, but this one might relate to more people. I would want to get to know the big old-time movie stars. Well, at least the ones I personally see as stars- Basil Rathbone, mostly. I want to go to another ball, only in '30s attire. I'd like to go to some Jeeves and Wooster-ey events, a horse race, etc...

What are yours? Enlighten me. If you're one of the people who usually reads this but says nothing, PLEASE leave at least ONE of your answers. I'm interested to hear.

Friends, or Foe?

The title has a double meaning. 1) Yesterday, I went to see the new Harry Potter film. I loved it, but it could have been more dramatic. It seemed like everything happened too quickly and just barreled forward. I laughed. I cried. I enjoyed. Go see it. Only if you've read the books, though...or at least watched all the other movies and remember what happened in them. If you know the plot, you get the meaning of the title.

2) After the movie (which, by the way, the cinema only had about 5 empty seats), I came back to the flat to get ready to head out yet again. At 7, there was an "LSO Friends and Patrons" event at the Barbican. I was invited via letter to my house in Ohio back in June. Dad sent me an email containing the info in the letter with the subject like, "Ashley: READ THIS NOW." The letter arrived 11 June. I had to respond by the 12th.

When I got to the Conservatory Terrace (see picture- stolen from the internet as I stupidly didn't take my camera- below, but pretend you're looking down upon the scene), I found out that the woman hadn't gotten my email response. No matter, she was happy I showed up! I was worried that I wouldn't really find someone to talk to, but I ended up having a great time. 2 women came over near me and we started chatting. 2 more eventually joined. The first two were both "Friends (people who pay money to get orchestral perks)," the second two both people like myself who'd bought a ton of tickets. I saw that Ginette, one of the 1st violins, was there, so I went and sat with her for the recital portion of the night. Patrick, tuba, and Rinat, bass, serenaded us for an hour.

After the recital, we all headed downstairs to the garden room (with a door leading into the, well, garden, seen in the picture below) for food, drinks, and talk. I talked with some people who work as stewards at LSO St. Luke's. One woman came up to me and asked if I was in the orchestra. She recognized me via my shoes...she complimented me on them at the first event I went to there! Everyone wished me well and said they could tell I will be going far....I can only hope their crystal balls weren't too cloudy. One woman asked my full name so she could look for it in the future. I think that's one of the most powerful things people have said to me.

Tomorrow is the first rehearsal for the last concert. Sigh.

Bastille Day!

Well, I guess it's over now...at least in the UK. Still, it is a fitting title, as it was the title of tonight's choir concert program. Tonight was my second (and final) concert with the New London Singers at St. Martin's. The program consisted of the Durufle Requiem and motets, Poulenc motets, 2 Saint-Saens pieces, a short piece that's entirely hummed, and another piece in French. In other words, it was all composed by Frenchmen but was not, thankfully, all in French- Requiem/Motets=Latin, which is much easier to say/sing.

Sorry it's taken me so long to blog. Honestly, nothing much has happened since the last. The orchestra went to Germany for 2.5 days, so I stayed in and caught up on sleep, mostly. I did manage to go to my second RPO concert. It was interesting. Tchaikovsky 5 and the violin concerto, plus the premier of some relatively wretched Korean composition.

On Sunday, I went to an "Italian Procession." There's apparently a "Little Italy (VERY little)" about a 7 minute walk from here. Their church processes their statue of Mary around every year at the back of a long religious parade. It was interesting to see. They also had a lot of food vendors set up. Tasty!

Today, there was choir rehearsal at St. Martin's at 4, then the concert at 7:30. After, we went to the pub. A select few of us decided to move to another bar after being kicked out of that one...at 11 PM. It's on Whitehall in Westminster, so there's not really a demand to stay open any later. There was rehearsal for St. Bart's choir last night, as well. We also went to the pub after that. I had a great discussion about British cooking with one guy. The highlight of the conversation was when we were discussing Swedes, and how they're called "Rutabaga" in the states. "Isn't that a kind of car?" I was confused then said, "OH! You mean a Studebaker?"

That seems like a lot of stuff for having nothing to do...Tomorrow I'm going to see the new Harry Potter movie. They have showings all day from 9 AM at a nearby cinema, so I'll hit up one of them. Then in the evening, I'll be heading to the Barbican for an LSO Friends/Patrons event. Patrick (tuba) and Rinat (bass) are giving a little recital and a light dinner/drinks are being served. I was invited via letter to my house in OHIO because I've bought so many tickets. I think I'll have been to 25 concerts (not just LSO) by time I get home.

Feed the Birds.

Tonight's concert is Bruckner 9 at St. Paul's. It was a little more spine-tingling at the rehearsal hall yesterday, as it was a tiny space for big sound, but I'm sure tonight will be just as powerful when all of the idiotic tourists are gone. I showed up this morning prepared to pay the entrance fee to sit and listen to the rehearsal for 3 hours. The kind woman at the desk let me in for free, as I wasn't going to be going around looking at the stuff you have to pay to see.

After rehearsal, I decided to walk to Millennium Bridge to partake in some roasted nuts smothered in sugar. Tasty! Carmine accompanied me, as he had never been on the bridge. Tut tut! I was worried when I saw no vendor on the north side of the bridge. I decided to take the chance and see if there was one on the other side. I didn't see one, but we could smell it...he was hiding out underneath. I went up to him and said, "My day is complete! £2? He answered in the affirmative. He charged the next guy 3. Mwaha!

I mentioned yesterday's rehearsal. I'll take this chance to explain my trip to the hall. I've been there several times, but yesterday was the most adventurous. I was going to take the tube, but got to the station and realized my Oystercard was in my wallet, which was in the flat...along with my phone and my keys. It fell out of my bag as I shut it, but I didn't notice. Luckily I had my London map and had looked up the shortest route according to Google Maps. It said it'd take 45 minutes. I turned around and sprinted from a slightly farther starting point, and made it in 35. That's even including the chunk of time I spent relatively lost after taking a turn too early. I followed my nose and managed to arrive as Gergiev's car was pulling up! He has the habit of being violently late, though, so I guess that's not a good comparison. I was there 3 minutes before the scheduled downbeat.

I should have just waited until after the concert to post something, but I wanted to let Grandma D know that I took some oatmeal-choc-chip cookies to rehearsal last night. Several players said they were the best they've ever tasted! They went over quite well. I think I need to be hired as the LSO Principal Baker.

Drear.

It has been storming in London the last few days- full on thunder and everything. Yesterday, Victoria station, perhaps the busiest train/underground station in the city, was closed due to flooding. It seems to rain hardest when I'm outside. The first day of this weather, it was just sprinkling...then I stepped outside to run to the tube station and the heavens opened up. I'm sure that's what's going to happen when I run to rehearsal in a few minutes. I'm planning on walking, and it's going to take at least 45 minutes. I'm sure I'll be drenched when I get there, even though it's dry right now.

I just booked a flight to Munich to visit my friend, Julia, who was an exchange student my sophomore year of HS. I promised I'd visit, and finally am living up to it! August 4-8. I also booked my trains to Scotland and the Lake District. Scotland to visit the professors who run hberlioz.com and the Lake District to visit some family friends. I have never been to either region, both of which I'm certain are absolutely beautiful.

Everyone (except one person) in this flat building has been or is going to another country recently. I started out by going to Spain, Adam's in Sweden/Denmark, Matty's in Slovakia, Giulio got back from Paris yesterday, and Jonty's going to Ireland on Friday. Paul visited his parents a couple hours away- does that count?

I should probably leave. Rehearsal is prepared to be delayed (I've already been warned), at least with the actual conductor- Gergiev has the habit of being late. The man WAY overbooks himself and owns 3 cell phones. The cell phones have nothing to do with his being late, just to prove how busy he is. There was a period not long ago where he had 4 concerts in 3 countries in 3 days. Not close countries, either- I know one was Russia and one was England.

I have no pictures of any value to post. Hopefully I'll be able to take some more once the weather improves.

Busy, Busy.

It's been a few days. Much has happened that I should write about. I'll try to keep it short.

On Wednesday, there was an early-morning rehearsal at Henry Wood Hall on the south bank. I felt quite lousy, again, so I spent one of the four hours resting. Evening choir rehearsal was held at St. Vedast church. A Wren church, it was mostly destroyed in WWII, but rebuilt very very well. Breathtaking inside. At one point, Ivor had us sing the same 4 chords about 10 times because of a harmonic/overtone we could hear. Someone said it was angels. Someone else was quite convinced that a soprano was singing the top note. No one was.

Thursday, I did not go to a recording session at Abbey Road. I went to Abbey Road, but then left due to some technical difficulties. Hopefully I'll be at the remaining sessions until I go home. I lounged for a few hours at home, then headed off to St. Luke's for rehearsal and the evening concert. It was my first (and only) concert at St. Luke's. It was a beautifully relaxing evening with lovely music and a great setting. As the sun went down, the light through the trees outside of the windows grew more dramatic, as did the music and the lighting in the building.

Last night, I had my own concert in which I was a participant! The New London Singers had a concert of American music at St. Martin's-in-the-Field. It was my thundersheet debut. We sang some messy stuff decidedly unmessily (spellcheck wants to change that to unmusically, funnily enough). We sang Leonard Cohen's, "Hallelujah." The people watching our rehearsal clapped after it! We sang it as an encore, too. Fun one.

This evening, I decided to go to “Sweden Day” for the City of London Festival. It was held at Hampstead Heath (it's North). It ended being 15-or-so minutes from the nearest tube station (Kentish Town)- uphill. Ugh. When I got there, the Benny Anderson (from ABBA) Band was playing. As they played, I wandered around Parliament Hill a bit. Beautiful. I understand why Constable spent so much time there. I’d like to go back when it’s not so full of people. It doesn't look/feel/smell like you're in London. Perfect.

I'd write more, but my eyes are closing themselves. Pictures in the coming days.