June 30, 2005 at 9:11 AM

This past week I played a concert in the mountains of Switzerland. I am always amazed by the beauty of this country. When I arrived on friday in the Alps, the family I was staying with had not yet arrived, so I dumped my luggage and violin at the trainstation and told the guy to watch the fiddle with his life. I had never done anything like that before, but I did not just want to hang out for 7 hours till the family would arrive and I decided to take the chance, while it was such nice weather to hike a little bit.
So after putting on my hiking boots I set out for a gorcious trip from Gstaad up the Wispile Alp and walking to a little lake called the Launensee where there is a gorcious waterfall. In recent weeks I had been quite stressed about some personal things, but after about 1 hour in the mountains, I noticed my breathing slowing down and being able to start to really enjoy the magnificent views. Part of this hike I had done the year before, right after the concert at the Menuhin Festival, so I did know a little bit where I was going, because I am not used to walking on my own in the mountains.
Once I got back to Gstaad it started pouring, timing could not have been better. Saturday the weather was bad, which was allright with me, since I had some serious practicing to do for the concert next day.
The concert was in the church in Saanen, a town where Menuhin used to spend its summers. The church itself was build in 1604 (!!!) and is what you imagine these alp churches to be like, with old frescoes etc.
On Sunday, before the concert I first played during the church service some movements of Bach. It was the first time for me to play the Preludio, which is based on Catate nr. 29 :Wir danken Dir, Gott! (We thank thou, God), fully as a piece of worship and not as a virtuoso solo piece. It had a complete different feeling to it. Also, the acoustics of standing next to the organ, high up in the church, made the notes seem to fly. The harmonic structure of the piece seemed so much clearer.
Shortly after the church service, I played the recital. On the program was Bach 2nd Sonata, Yun Koenigliches Thema, Kreisler Recitativo and Scherzo, Paganini Caprices and Ysaye V and as an encore I played the Sarabande from the 2nd Partita. During the recital I also told a little bit about the pieces; How Bach devoted all his pieces to God by writing SDG (Soli Deo Gloria) beneath all his pieces, about Yun's life and his fight for freedom, and how the theme of this particular piece comes from Bach's Musikalischen Opfer, about the violinists Kreisler, Ysaye, and Paganini and a little bit about my violin, and where it comes from (the owners were celebrating that day there anniversaries and had invited lots of people to the concert and we had an incredible party afterwards).
Monday and tuesday I spend with my friend Esme, who lives now in Lausanne. Her balcony overlooks the Lake of Geneva and the French Alps, incredible. I spend lots of time reading and just relaxing a little bit. Yesterday I met my future collegues in the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. This orchestra is going to be so much fun. People are incredibly nice and there is a freshness about their way of looking to be a musician, almost a little bit like an utopia. I love the fact that poelpe are not in it because of the money, but because of their ultimate love for music. How many orchestras do you know, have a birthday calander in their bathroom? Right now I am listening to their newest CD with works of Tchaikovsky and Verdi, and especially their viola group is amazing! I am really looking forward to next season working with them!
Today is the final round of the National Violin Competition. One of the V-com members, Bob van der Ent, will be playing Wieniawsky 2nd with the Conservatory Orchestra of The Hague. Birthe Blom and Cecilia Bernardini, the other finalists are playing Bruch concerto, and all three will be playing a newly composed Dutch piece. During the jury meeting, all previous prizewinners of the past 20 times it has been held will be playing Telemann Concerto for 4 violins and Bach's Preludio (x20...) This afternoon we will have the rehearsal. I am curious to see what Bach times 20 sounds like...
But it is always such a pleasure to play in the main hall of the Concertgebouw, and I am excited to see many people. One of my old teachers is on the jury and another one is leading this old prizewinner group and there are many old friends who are playing as well.
If you happen to be in Holland, come listen. The three finalists are very special people and you will see 3 very different but interesting characters and I think you will hear 3 very different and beautiful violin concertos!
But first I am going to go shopping, by myself a new top for the concert tonight :-)

From Carley Anderson
Posted on June 30, 2005 at 11:39 AM

I agree with you about loving to be around people who aren't in it for the money, but just for the love of music. It sounds like you're in with a great group. Enjoy!

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on June 30, 2005 at 4:14 PM

Carla, it's good to hear from you again. Everything you wrote about sounds wonderful. Enjoy!

From Bram Heemskerk
Posted on July 1, 2005 at 3:01 PM

I was at the Dutch national violin competition in the public and that!! was a great show. Former laureates with a scarf of miss Holland with the year they were laureates or a cummer bund (for the boys) around their still slender bellies with the year on it. Big Show. Much better than at the Queen Elisabeth. There you had to wait for 2 long lasting hours before you know the new price winners.

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June 30, 2005 at 9:11 AM

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