More Greensleeves

December 10, 2006 at 11:42 PM

I rehearsed "Greensleeves" with the pianist this morning. It went pretty well. She said "we don't really need another full rehearsal, just a little warm-up before the performance." But I want another full rehearsal.

There were two things that became apparent. The first is that the dynamic markings for the violin solo need to be taken with a grain of salt. It's mostly marked piano. But if I really play piano, she'll drown me out. The piano part is lovely. It's very rich. I have to play what I would have considered a good solid forte the whole way through in order to be heard. She said, "I want you to play out, to project your sound." I've been working on using the whole bow consistently, and sustaining the tone, in practice, and I think I'm doing better with that. The vibrato thread is probably relevant here too. The other thing that became apparent is that I need to keep the tempo moving. I was practicing with a metronome to keep myself from dragging, but then I got on stage without the metronome, and there I was, dragging again. I think the pianist took it even faster than I was used to.

I could do it that way, but it felt like a really physical workout when I was done. I even had to take off my sweater while I was playing so I wouldn't sweat so much. I was nervous. Yikes. And it was just me, the pianist, and the sanctuary where we're playing. No audience--yet.

But then when I was done and came down from the adrenaline rush, I actually felt really good. I had been feeling kind of sick (stuffed nose) and anxious (work deadlines) and that all took a back seat. I felt energized and ready to work. So maybe performing is good for me after all . . .

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