Der Tag: Showtime

So, I have now sung a concert in one of the grand old halls of Europe. Sounds so easy, and, in a sense it was. We knew the piece cold, we had a great orchestra and soloists and Bob Page had spent two days drilling us in the piece. What could go wrong?  (Nice poster, eh?)
To listen to the audience, nothing (and this audience had only a few of our friends and family. They clapped, including the rhythmic clapping that indicated extreme e contentment in the Communist era. No standing ovation, but here they save that for the once in a millennium concert that shows that there is a God. Lots of clapping is good.

Its just that it was so darn hot.

Let me start at the beginning. I woke later, and made it to breakfast in plenty of time to go to the Liszt Institute for dress rehearsal. Old baroque hall, with load of character and gold scrollwork. And no ventilation. The risers rose into the back of the stage, and there was only air if we left the side dooor open and were fortunate enough to get a breeze. Dr. Page introduced the orchestra and got right to it. I love the first movement (the Void) and the Baritone movement when he creates the stars. We made our share of mistakes (to our credit, they were mostly new mistakes), but the big problem from our standpoint was our inability to create a true intense “piano” sound- we were fine when we were lound, but really had trouble dialing it down. We’re excited, all right? That makes it hard to sing. And it was hot, really hot.. By the end of rehearsal, I was able to drink a liter of water without needed to pee. It was hot! Fortunately, they allowed the men to leave off their jackets, and sing in white shirts.

After lunch, we split up. I walked over to Janos Utca, to the bike store to get my bike. They gave me a mountain bike, with helmet, and I was on bike for the day. Budapest has many bike lanes, and they interconnect, but it is sometimes tricky to figure out exactly how they connect. I went for a spin on Margarit Island, which is essentially and “exercise and spa” island in the middle of the Danube. Bike path/ running trail around the outside (about 5 km) Many people, many swimming pools and tennis courts, many ice cream trucks. On the way back, I stopped at the Sunny Corner Café on the river for some New Age Pork Chops, with onion grass garnish, and what I later realized was a dumpling cut up to look like rice. And beer, of course. All in all a pleasant afternoon.

Got home, posted some stuff (didn’t have time for pictures or writing this up) and got into my partial tuxedo. I looked great, and got on the bus with my fellow singers, ready to know ‘em dead. We got there an hour and half before the show, got warm (Andy is so good at it). It was, again, how on the stage. The first act was good, especially the soloists (I love the lady playing Gabriel’s voice), we were good,(but a bit rough around the edges) and we got lots of applause. But either the audience was two hot, or they didn’t know that there was a second act (no programs). So we played the first act to a 2/3 full house and the second act to a 1/3 full house.

What’s interesting was that, in the moment, it felt like any other concert. I had moments of great joy, and of great sadness. We did an acceptable job, and I find my thinking of all the ways that I should do better next time. Still, I can check that one off of the list of things to do before I die. We have a recording, that we are hopeful can be used. So, I am happy- at the after concert banquet, we raised a toast to Hungarian friendship (After all, Haydn was actually from Budapest, right?) We’ll see how Vienna goes.