Sunday, November 27, 2011
Michael and I returned to the Ukraine last week to do another concert with the Odessa Philharmonic. Michael is on leave this semester, and Hobey is covering for him with the PU orchestra for the December concert. This time we would bring some of our favorite American music, Barber Knoxville, and Copland Appalachian Spring, to share with our Ukrainian friends. I knew this trip would not be able to duplicate the amazing time we had two and a half years ago (see “Singing and Eating in my Homeland” on the writing page). It was indeed a different experience. I started off feeling like I might be coming down with something – there have been numerous sicknesses going around at Princeton this fall – but after sleeping a lot while in transit, I actually felt better once we arrived in Odessa. My voice felt fine by the first rehearsal on Monday, Nov. 14.
Michael had practiced giving rehearsal numbers and instruction in Russian, and was doing very well communicating with the orchestra. The weather was much colder than we had expected, based on the weather channel forecast we found, and we didn’t really have the right outerwear to do a lot of walking. Then Michael decided that he was coming down with something. Luckily, there was a lot of wonderful chicken soup and other comfort food to be had, but poor Michael felt miserable with a sore throat, running nose and cough. All week we mostly walked to the Hall for rehearsals, and then came back to our apartment to rest.
I was feeling fine, and enjoying singing the Barber with the orchestra. Michael had a reduced string section, and while I had been concerned about balance and over singing, it turned out to be a pleasure to take it easy and sail those soft high notes out over the band. I have worked on this piece for many years, but had never had the chance to perform it. Those high notes had seemed scary years ago, but now I wasn’t worried about them. The beautiful James Agee text also has more significance for me now that my dear Aunt and Uncle have died and my parents are almost 90. It was wonderful to just let the years of practicing this piece fall into place and enjoy the fruits of all that work. It was also wonderful to soak in the beauty of the text and the music and just let it wash over me and carry me along.
Thursday night we decided to go to the opera house to see the ballet company do La Bayadere. We hadn’t made it to the newly renovated opera the last time we were here. The building was truly spectacular, gleaming with gold leaf, parquet floors, crystal chandeliers, velvet curtains, a real jewel box of a theatre. Too bad the orchestra and corps de ballet were so lame. I think the lead dancers were fine, but I decided at some point during the first act that my throat did indeed feel sore, and we decided to leave at intermission and go home to rest for our concert tomorrow.
Friday, Michael was feeling better. I was feeling crummy, but my voice was still fine, as it had been for Yom Kippur. The rehearsal in the morning was really good. The hard part was waiting around all afternoon, wondering if I my voice would still work by the evening. It did. The orchestra brought a deep feeling to their playing of the Barber, and Michael said he was deeply moved during the performance. The audience seemed to enjoy it. I was very happy to make it through with no major problems. It is so nice when practice pays off and does its job and the performance goes by itself. The orchestra also did a great job with Appalachian Spring, though playing those jazzy rhythms was challenging for them. Parts of it sounded like Shostakovitch or Prokofiev the way they played it, with a sort of bleak sadness instead of an open hopefulness – so interesting.
Once again we celebrated with our friends Egor and his mom Svetlana, Hobey’s assistants Anya and Olga, and Ivan, the orchestra’s manager. I really do need to learn to speak Russian better!!!!!!