March 3, 2008

Weary Traveler

Well, "Lakme" has come and gone - a very different operatic experience for me as this was not "busy" like Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti, Wagner...cast was wonderful.

Sitting in the airport, however: this is quite humorous, as I flew back to Baltimore today to catch a flight to Nashville, where I will be picked up and driven to Knoxville - tomorrow. Mind you, had I spoken to the company manager of the Tulsa Opera (that being one of the strange yet humorous details of this juncture) I could have flown to Knoxville today instead of earning thousands of frequent flyer miles jetting halfway across the country only to do it again.

"My life as a Cover Girl"?

In one month I will play both Mozart's Concerto in D Major, K 218 and Camille Saint-Saens' Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso...and it's odd. Even now, after almost three years of "concertizing" (and mind you, I am aware that this career, while growing, is NO where near that of many of the world's top soloists), I feel the weight - the responsibility that goes with being "the soloist". No, it's not just about one's reputation, although we are all aware that one is "only as good as the last performance". This weight is welcome in some ways - it's as if I feel my teachers standing over my shoulders every time that I take bow to string.

It is, however, strange - but I think that this is what it means to be humble in some ways - the more one does, the more one realizes that one has much to learn - and sometimes one feels as if he knows nothing.

...but that's good - those feelings mean that the mind, soul and imagination are still open.

More from the road,
Sam

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