Text 13978, 96 rader
Skriven 2007-04-12 16:56:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: 360 more trip
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Next day.
10 am rehearsal. We were pleased to know that the pieces we
had to learn in 36 hours were the Beethoven 4th, Rach 2, and
the Tchaikovsky (these being the works offered by the kids
who had been chosen as our three finalists). One of the
front-runners (Valkov) had produced the Prokofiev D-flat and
another (Fernandez Via) the Bartok 3rd, so we could have
conceivably been in very deep doodoo with only 7 1/2 hr of
rehearsals for three pieces. Rehearsal was about as good as
could be expected (not very).

We decided to go back north so Ella could teach her student
and I could get a little nap. 50% success - the student no-
showed. She'd picked up ribeyes on Monday, and by Friday
they were kind of aged, the meat pretty tender, the fat kind
of stale (so I was encouraged to be a good boy and so cut
off most of the fat). Microwaved a couple Idahos, something
I'd not done before - the result is not quite baked, but an
interesting creamy texture. I put garlic pepper on mine.

7:30 pm rehearsal. The soloists unveiled - the two Korean
girls and the Macaunese teenager. The Tak girl was a bit of
a surprise, as though I found her playing quite musical,
her fingers wobbled a bit in the recital. Wow, was I wrong
about her technique. She played Rach 2 flawlessly. Esther
Park also showed another side of her musicianship - a bit
ferocious in the Tchaikovsky, which was by far not the best
rendition of it I've encountered, and in fact not the best
by an under-25 (that honor goes to Bobby Tumarkin, who gave
a very hot performance with the Pops in the late '60s or
early '70s when he was still a teen). Lio was secure
and not flashy in Beethoven 4; I don't think his performance
will win, but what do I know, my first two choices from the
recital stage didn't even place. What is in common among
them (besides their being Asian) is a very controlled
approach to the music.

Aside: the finalists were the youngest, the average (median,
mode, and one above the mean), and the second oldest.

=
Dress rehearsal just reinforced my impressions of the
performers. My choice: Lio, Tak, Park in that order.
My prediction of winners: Park, Lio, Tak in that order.

The second clarinetist (teacher of a buddy of mine in one
of my orchestras back east and now over the years a friend
in his own right) took me to a Thai restaurant on Dickson
St. called Bangkok Something, opposite Doe's Eat Place,
which I can't afford and which isn't open for lunch anyhow.
They agreed to make my food Thai hot, so that's a big plus.
Anyhow, I had vegetable-tofu soup, a Chineseish thing,
followed by pork with hot peppers, another Chineseish thing. 
Pretty good but mild enough so I didn't eat the mound of
rather nicely done jasmine rice that comes with at lunch.
Mr. Umiker had the same soup and the "amazing chicken,"
which is standard peanut sauce with chicken and broccoli
floating in it; he got his medium, which was about the way
he liked it: he experimented, putting a few pinches of hot
pepper flakes in, and it became too hot for him - so the
kitchen had read him well. Ella had wanted to call her kids
and arrange a meeting and had passed on lunch. Got her a
takeout order of shrimp (fried in too much batter) and
spring rolls (interesting: the wrapper made with sticky
rice flour, the filling ground pork and cabbage like a
dim sum filling).

Went back to the hall to do my e-mail and get a little work
done only to find the green room locked and nobody there to
open it up, so I returned to Ella's car and had a little nap.

Ella Lou's daughter Wendy showed up, having driven with her
b-i-l from Elkhart, KS on their way to Greenville, SC; as
they were taking 412, Fayetteville was only the smallest
detour, and it'd been a while since they'd seen each other.
Ella wanted to treat us to supper at Grub's, a local student
and lowlife dive that has cheap booze and good greasy grub.
A prime hangout for starving musicians and skinny twenty-year-olds
but not so good for those of us trying to watch our Calories or
for those with small children. I suggested an alternative place,
with windows and real food, but she really likes the burgers
at Grub's and was adamant. At length daughter Kristen and
son-i-l Barry showed up with the kids. I've got to hand
it to the place, they were ready with crayons, coloring
place mats, and chicken nugget dinners. The adults had an
assortment of sandwiches and drafts: my burger medium-rare
came medium-well but still juicy (it was made of a mix of
beef and spices and filler); the other sandwiches were I
guess fine; and pints of beer were just three smackers.

After a good visit, it was time for Wendy and John to get
back on the road and for us to get to the concert hall.

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