Performances! Finally!

Many of the international students had chances to perform today. There was a chamber ensemble performance at the school at Semmelweiss (where my theory and solfege classes are held). Jack played with his frequently-absent violinist partner (who showed up half an hour late). Nuno performed with a cellist, and Hosung played a Brahms cello concerto with Catarina accompanying on piano. They all did wonderful jobs.

Take a look at this guy, though. He volunteered to be a page turner for one of the pianists that played. Page turners are generally meant to be a functional background piece in a performance, of course. However, this kid perceived it as his duty to interpret the music through body motion and facial expressions, which he did with gusto. Through the whole movement he stood towering over the pianist, his hands firmly planted on the piano and the pianist's backrest. With crescendos, his body shook, and relaxed again on the backslide of the music. I don't even remember what the cellist looked like in this group - I was distracted by this raging Beethoven the whole time.

There was an encore performance in Music History later today, as our last class of the semester. I also got to present a piece, a Bordogni etudé I'm working on for my jury in ten days. It went very nicely, and reminded me that I need to work more on the things I'm not yet comfortable with. Jack played Prokofiev's Diabolic Suggestion, a short catchy ditty that makes one want to sacrifice a black cat in a graveyard. Mr. Merrick signed my credit form, and that is that - no more solfege, philosophy or music history.

My big concert is tomorrow! This is relative, of course, to the number and quality of performances I've had this semester, which is two... both in the chorus. Tomorrow night however, I will play trombone! Gabrieli will echo in the Nagyterem (the big concert hall)! It will be fantastic. A small after-party will follow with the rest of the department, as well. Apparently some brass from the ministry will be there. I will practice my kurva anyad... ;-)

I've gotten some responses from questions I've sent to various sources for information about hiking the Dolomites, and I've narrowed my exploration to the provinces of Trento and Bolzano-Bozen. There seems to me lots and lots of good hiking here. "Bill" from Trailspace said there are enough trails "to occupy a full year without repeating." The photographer Lacitot, whose stunning pictures I found on Panoramio (check these out, Margaret), also replied to my query and suggested I pick up a book at the library he found useful. Momma, I may not get out to the temples - they're in the west, beyond Milan, and I also really want to go south. There's also a chance I'll be going through Slovenia as well, depending on what Malcolm has to say about it. I definitely want to see the Adriatic Sea, but Rijeka, Croatia doesn't look like the best place to do that from. Possibly I will stay a night in Trieste, which is an eastern coastal city. If I visit Venice, I will see plenty of it there, as well.

Another far-flung idea I had was to cross the Adriatic from Bari, Italy to somewhere in southern Croatia or Montenegro and go east to Kosovo - FAR-FLUNG IDEA! But on my last skip through Boston, my old Earlham friend Rachelle mentioned that she has a good friend living there, and if I needed a place to stay I should contact her. I also hate the idea of backtracking north through a chunk of Italy. Why go to Kosovo? I love the idea of a brand new country. How often do you get to see a new country? Ok, so that is still disputed, and it's not exactly a gem of a place. It probably won't even happen, but... I'm looking into it. It's fun!

Well, I've dissipated another perfectly good evening reading and writing. I will be on a stage in tux in less than 9 hours. Sleepy time.