Wow! Number 63 (Experience something new every day for a week) took a lot longer than a week.
Today I returned to ABC’s Sunday Live for the last time this year (next month it’s in Melbourne). Myself and CJ and another friend watched Cellist David Pereira perform with Timothy Young on piano. (They also had a minion to turn pages.)
Everyone knows wooden instruments are the biz. My husband and I plan to become billionaires and have a lair featuring a baby grand that rises up from the floor at the press of a button (and of course someone standing by to tune it each time). We were originally going to have a full grand, but decided not to be ostentatious.
The inside of the piano lid (we’re back in reality now) was so well-shone we could watch Timothy Young’s performance mirrored inside.
But the cello was the most beautiful thing on stage, made of a dark wood (oak?) with darker tracings. It’s Italian, made by Guidantus in 1730. Just being in the room with it was worth the trip.
They played three pieces – “Jungle Fever” (which had a chase scene), “Lullaby for Yvana” (David’s daughter – he wrote it) and a Sonata by the greatest emo pop artist of the early 1900s, Sergei Rachmaninov. During the sonata you could pick the good bits, because either Young clenched his jaw furiously, or Pereira grinned (depending on the type of good bit).
Thanks for the messages of support yesterday. As expected, I feel pretty okay once again.
Tomorrow: Play with a cat (warning: choose your cat wisely).
Sounds brilliant! The cello (which looks beautiful, and I’m sure it sounded even better) most likely has a spruce top, and appears to have flamed (figured) maple sides. The back is likely to be flamed maple as well.
This spruce/maple combination is the one that was favoured by Antonio Stradivari, and given the incredible reputation of his instruments, it became the de facto standard for all instruments in the violin family, and has remained so for the last 300 years or so. My acoustic guitar is made with this combination, though it’s less common in guitars than violins.
Pretty as the cello was, I must admit that I was watching the piano. Both Jungle Fever and the Sonata had excellent accompaniments. And we all know the Rachmaninoff is both a piano players dream and nightmare to play. It’s the most beautiful music and realistically the hardest music to play.
Watching the hammers strike reflecting in the underside of the lid was amazing. I want to go back….