36% hit rate

My teacher asked me on Tuesday, "Are you getting 36% of the notes now?"
I think I could reply in the affirmative. Which is better than 35% so there WAS improvement!
My second lesson was pretty epic. I went in with three questions:
1. How do I play fff given my stature?
2. How do I play ppp without wimping out and the notes not coming out?
3. How do I practice (Beethoven violin sonata #7) broken octaves without getting RSI?

This amounted to about an hour and forty five minutes of lesson. We talked about physiology (including muscles and bones. Do they come under physiology?!?!), the physical nature of playing the piano, what it looks like, did various exercises that were quite physical (much like going to the gym - my thighs were sore!), levers (such as the elbow!), which largely amounted to "doing nothing". Whoever said that playing the piano was easy obviously didn't think so much about nothing.

So, my first ANAM concert for 2011. Or maybe just the first one ever!
It was pretty rad. Held in the Salon at the Melbourne Recital Centre, we only had about twenty minutes of soundcheck. Pretty scary considering:
a) The entire piece goes for about 30mins. So we weren't even going to play it all.
b) Wherever I go, it's pretty much never going to be the same instrument as the one (or several) that I practice on.
c) If you know about the acoustics of the MRC, you will know how finely tuned they are. You will know that you can hear everything very clearly.

And I'll admit - I was nervous. I usually am, admittedly. In some situations, such as the accompanist (I'm ok with the term), I'm the one that has to reassure the soloist. Other times, I'm the one stressing out big time. I arrived with plenty of time to spare - getting changed and putting some face on doesn't actually take that long. Nor does eating an apple and cracking open a book to get about one page further before others started arriving and it started getting pretty hectic. There was an electronic piano in one of the dressing rooms, but I rather thought finding my sitting bones and core might be more helpful.

So, the actual performance.
Incredible Floridas by Richard Meale is a six-movement work. Before each movement, some of the poetry by 19th century poet Arthur Rimbaud, that inspired Meale was read. I would be lying if I said that the music went perfectly. Quite the opposite in some parts. But guess what? It didn't matter - it was still effective and convincing. The music is incredibly colourful. Not least because the first movement actually contains (and even starts wish) some of the ensemble reciting the vowels and some associated colours in French. It was incredibly evocative.

The Salon, while scary, was incredibly beautiful to play in. What a venue. It's incredibly intimate - there is no difference between the audience and the performer. There is no raised stage and the seating is often very close up. We joked that they could've turned out pages for us. That would have been really helpful, actually! You can hear everything so clearly - this is a scary thing, but also amazing. The audience was so attentive in this concert; they loved it. Which pleasantly surprised me, really, as I have this conception that Australian music is often very difficult to sell. I played my little heart out - those fff sections were loud. Particularly in that acoustic. I was acutely aware of trying to incorporate some of the things I'd learnt in my lesson the previous day. Some things worked - my teacher even commented that he saw me playing further up on the keys for that particular Messian-like sounds for the beginning of the third movement! I noticed he sat on the side where he could see the piano. I was a tiny bit nervous, but less than I thought I'd be. I feel very much at ease and very reassured, so that's a really good thing!

My previous teacher also came along to the concert, as I found out after. It was wonderful to see that people came, and to see me (at least!)! She mentioned that she really enjoyed the use of silence. I reflected on this and I think I am becoming even more aware of silence, especially in the week and a half we had with this piece. There are a few moments where the pianist has these amazing solos that can be played fairly freely and I really enjoyed being able to create sections that were completely me. This is not to sound ego-centric or anything, but it was cool to be able to create certain sounds and an interpretation that was mine. Preserved for posterity on recording (oh no! Haha..) I also spied a bunch of ANAM people sitting along the back (comp tickets are wonderful!), and lots of the staff came too. The audience were so into it that we even went back out twice. Okay, silly I know - but there haven't been many performances where this was the reaction. Really quite overwhelming. It was lovely to have such positive feedback particularly from some of the staff in the last 24hrs. I was so determined to prove myself at this concert, given the strange nature of my admission.

I have been asked a few times in the last week or so, "How are you enjoying ANAM so far?" and I can say without hesitation, "I'm loving it". I love that the people who work there are so helpful and kind. I love that the people studying there are so talented and work hard. I love that the teachers are so experienced and encouraging. I love that I'm learning so much already and it's only week two. I love that I have a great teacher. I love that I'm getting back into playing all sorts of pianistic things. I love that I feel like I belong and that it's as if I'm meant to be studying there. So much to be thankful for.