Fiestas, Flags and Footy!

Well, suffering from delayed shock, decided that after a morning as guest lecturer at the University Cesar Vellajo I was in need so some light entertainment, so Nick and I went to see “the Fast and the Furious 6 ”, incomprehensible nonsense involving fast car chases, gun fights and the usual paraphernalia of action movies. There was a scene on utilising a army cargo plane in the process of taking off or was it landing ...anyways the sequence was about 15 minutes long so I estimate the runway would have needed to have stretched from London to Scotland, anyways just like the Die Hard films the “heros” seem to recover from multiple impossible situations and all in the space of 90 minutes!” I spent most time trying to work out the Spanish........ oh yes the shock, when Nick was buying the tickets the attendant asked if he want 1 Adult and 1 Senior citizen! Not amused!!! (sensible Nick delayed telling me this until we were safely well away from the ticket counter.

Bouyed up by all the action, I was hungry. As we had gone to what is Trujillo's swankiest shopping mall - Adventuura Plaza - (swanky enough to soon have an Apple store)  we were spoilt for choice and opted for Chilis an up market Mexican Restaurant chain – cross between Hard Rock and TGIF though less gimmicky than both. Mmmmmm excellent fajitas and corona beer, Nick reminded me of our last Mexican meal in Colombia – where the fajitas bore absolutely no relation to the real thing – and I complained (now there's a surprize) but the bigger surprise was the waitress saying, very matter-of-factly “Oh, yes, everybody complains about the fajitas, they are awful, but we don't care!............"

I had spent the morning lecturing on the Execution and Interpretation of Music, to a group of about 60 students from the private University Cesar Vellajo – in my best-bad Spanish – I entertained them with ideas about getting to understand more about the music they are listening too or performing – and to realise that the music was not the written score but what they did with it …. all good fun.

Universitario Cesar Vellejo

I was the guest on a radio programme "Sinfonias y Conciertos"  - fun burbling away (In Spanish) about music, most of which I had just performed in the symphony concert, managed to loose both my glasses and my cap and I hope not my reputation!

The last two weeks seem to have flown past, last weekend (17-19) was the 67^th Anniversary of the founding of the Conservatoire” and a programme of events were planned, it was also Kathryn's ( the Otra Cosa volunteer) last weekend and also, also, the Sunday of the biggest football match in the calendar here in Trujillo - University Cesar Vellajo v.Universitario (from Lima), so it was a fun packed weekend.

So, on the Friday, I went to get the tickets for the football match, queued for nearly two hours for the tickets, which made me very late for the opening event of the Anniversary, but of course as we were working on Peru time, I was actually only a little late. The two students who performed at this event sang badly and I left at the end without staying for drinks as I didn't want to be asked my opinion. 

The second event was a “Verbena” a kind of late night fiesta – for the Conservatoire this took the form of an open air concert on the patio, slated to start at 8pm, Nick and I arrived but nothing happening, so we went off for some supper and got back about 8.45 to hear the final item given by the Trujillo Municipal Band ….. As I entered the building, my ears were assaulted by some of the most "out of tune" playing I had heard in ages. I was relieved that it wasn't any of the students. Listened to the concert until just after 9:30 and then a group of us including Maestro Alvarez retired to the “Cafe Bar Stradivarius” to celebrate the end of the week and a further opportunity to say goodbye to Kathryn. Prof. Carlos joined us shortly before midnight, fun time. And again lovely for me to be with Nick in public and amongst friends.

Kathryn gets her diploma!

Saturday was a quieter day, but in the evening Nick and I had been invited to a social gathering at Prof. Carlos' house and it was nice to again go as a couple, and to spent time talking with some artists and a philosopher from Trujillo. Lovely.

The big day was Sunday. Summoned to the main square “Plaza de las Armas” for the weekly flag hoisting ceremony. In Trujillo every organisation celebrating an anniversary is invited to parade their organisations banner in the main square and to participate in singing the National Anthem, and the Trujillo Anthem. Designed to further inculcate republicanism and patriotism in the general public. Prof. Carlos was raising the Trujillo flag, we sang we, Viva'd Peru and Viva'd Trujillo and the we processed or marched..... at the last moment I was invited to be one of the standard bearers! I stood out a bit as I was wearing a brown suit (my only suit!) whereas almost every Peruvian man possesses a standard grey suit! Anyway, all good fun, though it was cold.We are in Autumn heading for Winter.

Click to play the Himno Nacional de Peru

I reflected on the fact that the “Peruvian Himno Nacional” sounds like a chorus from a  (bad) Verdi Opera and just when you think it is all over contains a da capo and we repeated the first music all over again (but I think to different words). You could have sung “God Save the Queen about 20 times” ….   The anthem is worth a listen.

After photos, we all went home to return at 1pm for the Anniversary lunch at a local “Restaurante Turistico” I have always sneared a bit at these restaurants but El Mochica was excellent, humitas con Aji de Gallina, followed by Cabrito Norteno, yum yum. 

The staff at the conservatoire are probably not the most sociable bunch.(One professor sat throughout lunch reading the paper) I had walked over with Maestro Alvarez (we are becoming very good friends and he feels the significance of us sharing the same birthday is not to be lost) and he guided me to sit half-way up a table and not with the people already seated, we sat and were immediately joined by Prof. Carlos, who spurned the planned for and abandoned “top table” ...anyways, a jolly group of people formed around Maestro Alvarez and we chatted whilst we waited, and waited for the food …...

Los Tres Caballeros

 I was due to meet Nick at 3:15 …... at 2;20 I text-ed him to say that eh food was still no way near arriving …. but as I mentioned earlier it turned out to be worth the wait. However, at 3:00 I excused myself, ran home to change and walked across the road to the football stadium.

A form of the Marinera dance, but danced by a woman and her partner on a horse!   Can't say that this horse was particularly amused, he bolted!

 Warming up .........

Shock horror …..... the queues to get in snaked back and forth around the stadium walls, my queue for “Oriente” had about 1500 people in it, it was by now 3:15 and the match was due to start at 3:45. Nick had gone to watch the reserves match and had been in the Stadium since 1:15 so I knew he would have bagged good seat right on the centre line (like I understand these things!), so, problem how to get in on time …...... time to play the stupid foreigner “get into the stadium quick card.” - I picked on a reasonably friendly looking policeman and asked him in broken Spanish which was the queue for oriente, he pointed, I went and investigated and then returned to him and again said in broken Spanish “ but Senor the queue is so long and I was hoping to get in to see the match and I am not sure what to do, I have a ticket and …...” by this time he asked me where I was from, so I said England, I saw the ££ signs light up in his eyes, and he said to follow him, I was escorted to the front of the queue, the security guards were told not to search me and in I went, and as I turned around there he was again ready to escort me into the very stadium itself, and probably receive a little remuneration for his efforts, fingers crossed, I politely explained that I didn't need further assistance as a friend was already in the stadium and I knew exactly where to go (having been to several matches previously), with that I gave him a very hearty thanks, and shot off as quickly as I could so that by the time he realised he had been “nicely conned” I was lost in the crowd.....

The Mayor  of Trujillo

And what a crowd, 30,000 people, but I managed to find Nick and shoved my way to my excellent position. The Stadium was a sea of Cream and Red, the colours of Universitario, the atmosphere electric, noisy, and very, very good humoured. Only a few people seemed to be supporting the home team – Nick explained that the University Cesar Vellajo team was only in the “premier” league because of money (like so many things in Trujillo they are owned by the incredibly rich and current Mayor of Trujillo  Cesar Acuña Peralta

.

Amazing crowd for the Football,  drums, air- horns, flares (!!!)   - but good natured.

 Uneventful first half but most exciting second half in which Universitario scored the winning goal.

UCV  0                               Universitario  1

This week Maestro Alvarez confirmed my second concert with the Trujillo Symphony Orchestra, it will be on my last night in Trujillo before my trip to the UK. July 4^th and I plan a programme of short works under a working title of “the colours of the orchestra” ….... and because it is July 4 will include Copland - Fanfare for Common Man and I hope the world premier of a delightful work by American composer Daniel Leo Simpson …... stay tuned.

Oh finally, heard a good conductor joke this week .....

Q:  What's the difference between God and a conductor?

A:  God knows he is not a conductor!

"Yes ........ YOU !!! "  boomed the voice of God ..............  hahahaha ...... I am a very consensual baton waver! Though here I hope it was concentration that made me look so fierce..... :-)

Hasta Luego Amigos...............................................

If Music be the Food of Love .........

 

Orquesta Sinfonica de Trujillo bajo la batuta de mi amigo Maestro Alvarez

Two weeks in three halves …..... rehearse, sneeze and teach.

The last two weeks have been wonderful, emotional, exhausting and as in music a gradual crescendo of effort. By a happy coincidence instead of having just five days of rehearsals Maestro Alvarez kindly gave me two weeks 10 rehearsal minus the day off for “workers day” - May 1 – the day of course when no work is actually done!

So, I decided to use the first two days as capacity building, playing some pieces of music that would not be part of the concert but through which the orchestra and I would learn how to work together. (As it happens these works were included in the programme - they played them so well!)

Kathryn, an Otra Cosa, volunteer and violinist, was deputizing for one of the second violins, and was playing for me, and was a useful link for me to know “how I was going down” with the players. Orchestras are famous for being able to bring a conductor "to their knees", when the vibes are not good.

I had prepared a short speech to say how happy I was to be working with them and also to lay down a few ground-rules for the next two weeks. The majority of the orchestra players have been playing together for may years and Maestro Alvarez has been their resident conductor for over 20 years.

Getting the cellos to sing!

They were nervous and a little bit afraid, but I am happy to report that once they got used to my style of conducting rehearsals, the level of behaviour I wanted in the rehearsals and my general idiosyncrasies everything soon settled in a very happy and productive routine. I had divided up every morning int o four sections so that I could rehearse the orchestra as a whole, or just rehearse the strings, woodwind, brass and percussion, separately or in different combinations. This was in an effort to enable every player not to have to waste tiem simply sitting around, sadly, as they are all government employees, they had to attend for their contractual hours whether or not they had rehearsal time, so my plan to give them time to be elsewhere “practicing” was slightly blown out of the water.

I used Facebook to record the passage of these rehearsals and here are some extracts from my postings (these were posted in both English and Spanish)

April 29. First rehearsal completed, the orchestra are delightful, and seem very keen to do some hard work - I hope so, because the programme for the concert on May 10 is quite demanding.

For me it is good to return to the "driving seat" with a professional orchestra. I hope they will enbjoy working with me as we try to find out what the true intentions of these composers were.

I hope we have some fun at the same time, I don't want to appear to be too strict, although I like a high level of professional behaviour. But I am happy as the orchestra responded very well to my suggestions and the language barrier did not seem to be a problem. 

 

April 30. Thankfully we have a holiday tomorrow, my back and arm muscles are aching from two strenuous rehearsals, conducting the orchestra. But, the pain is worthwhile! I am so excited and happy, as the orchestra and I are starting to work so well together. If we can maintain the momentum, then I think that we (and the audience!) will have a really enjoyable concert!

If only ..........

May 3. If only it was that simple, but, each day my respect for these players increases. I know I am making demands on them and that rehearsals are harder work than usual, but the hard work is starting to make a real difference.

I am having to be very physical in my conducting, which results in my being exhausted mentally and physically at the end of each rehearsal, but the end justifies the means. It is a long while since I have enjoyed myself so much working with an orchestra.

If things continue like this next week, we will have shaped and prepared the music to a level that I hope will do justice to the original intentions of the composers. That is a great privilege.

May 4. Me siento muy honrado por esta oportunidad de dirigir la Orquesta Sinfónica de Trujillo, es lo que espero que sea una noche más emocionante, la orquesta están trabajando muy duro en este programa. Espero que usted venga y disfrute de este estudio de 19th Century grandes románticos! 20:00 El Teatrin, INC, 10 de mayo. (I feel very honored for this opportunity to direct the Trujillo Symphony Orchestra, and I hope that this night is exciting, the orchestra have worked very hard. So I hope you will come and  enjoy a programme of 19^th century romantic composers)

May 8 ….... 2 days to go …...La orquesta parece estar tocando a un punto álgido - es tan emocionante - la articulación, la atención al detalle - muy mejorado conjunto - y una pasión por la música - las cuerdas están haciendo un sonido tan maravilloso en el Elgar - ¡No puedo esperar para el concierto . La música es su propia recompensa - y el trabajo duro es recompensado. Espero que todo el mundo pueda disfrutar de los frutos de nuestro trabajo el viernes por la noche. (The orchestra seems to be coming to a head - it's so exciting - the articulation, the attention to detail - very improved ensemble playing - and a passion for music - the strings are producing a wonderful sound in the Elgar, complete with portamento - I cannot wait for the concert. Music is its own reward - and hard work is rewarded. I hope everyone can enjoy the fruits of our labor on Friday night. )

May 9 …. Del la tarde cada dia mi gripe regresara!!! (every afternoon my cold comes back)
Necesito mucho panadol y tiempo en mi cama ... ( need a lot of panadol and bedrest)
necesito mi salud 100% para mi concierto manana en la noche! (need my health 100% for tomorrow nights concert)

I am a very physical conductor, I need to convey the emotion fo the music to the players and it pays dividends, but it comes as a cost ….... sorry but, when conducting I "sweat like a pig!" OK, more politely, I am drenched in perspiration and I leave the rehearsal and either go out into blazing sunshine , or into chilly winds, (the weather is so changeable at the moment) but the result is the same …. a persistent cold and flu like symptoms. So sadly this has wrecked what remained of my teaching schedule in the conservatoire as I need to rest every afternoon …..... but that is life.

Of course there have been low points during this two weeks, but I am happy to say that non of them has been with the players ….. but, the administration of this concert has been a nightmare. I was denied a rehearsal in the theatre as it was booked for another event (except on the day – it was actually available!) there was little or no publicity for the concert and what there was was either wrong or too late. The department for the Promotion of Culture I renamed the depart for the Ruination of Culture, I had written to them with a simple list of things that would greatly improve the concert, lighting, raised seating for the wind players, curtains, notices about no cell phones or photos …... all ignored. And after “venting my spleen” at the Director of culture … I calmed down realised that Rome wasn't built in a day and gave myself over to making the best of what was (not what could have been) …......

In the event by the time everybody actually arrived the hall was full, which meant attendance was up by around 300% - thank goodness for viral internat marketing – I only embarrassed one member of the audience into turning off her phone as she held a conversation 6 feet in front of me in the front row!

I had written copious programme notes in Spanish as the concert was carefully constructed in terms of music and the order of presentation, here's an extract:

Romantic Nationalism: 1860 - 1899

Sir Edward Elgar - we played his Serenade for Strings

Opening Chords of Sibelius Finlandia

All the music in tonight's concert was written in a period of 40 years and represents music which comes under the general title of 19th century romanticism. From what you will hear tonight I think it will be obvious that the Romantic ideal had very different presentations depending on the country. Cultural and historical influences are clear to hear and just a few short years after the last of these works Sibelius – Finlandia the whole of Europe would start the terrible turmoil of revolution ending with the first world war and nothing, including music, would ever be the same again.

Tonight's programme is presented in chronological order (a happy accident) and I hope it not only shows the variety of ideas, but also is an excellent vehicle to put the various sections, and soloists of the orchestra in the spotlight.

I then wrote notes about each piece. We played music by Bruckner, Bruch, Faure, Elgar, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius (and an encore by Meyerbeer).

Guillermo - my magnificent soloist! Amazing tone and a
pleasure to work with.

These notes got left off the programme!!!!!! And the programme was a  photocopied sheet of paper with the biographical details of myself and the violin soloist and a list of the pieces to be performed. The Director of Culture was embarrassed - the programme was a truly horrible piece of paper! On the plus side I had managed to get the Director of Culture to attend the concert, or rather as I put it on her facebook page to "honour and grace the event with her presence" ...... well .... (a bit greasy..... but), it was important for the orchestra (it was her first visit in years!)

But good comes out of bad, so I had the opportunity to inflict my poor Spanish on the audience as I explained each piece of music to them – actually I think that it is always good to talk to the audience as it builds a link and I can engage them more actively in the concert. And also shout at phone users!

Performing the Elgar - for me the players gave me 150%  I was astounded by their performance of this work

Anyways, THE CONCERT

After a brief rehearsal in the hall, all was ready.

I finished the dress rehearsal with a short speech, thanking the orchestra for its hard work and giving that necessary motivational final push, it was a genuine expression of my feelings and I knew it would be the final key to a potentially exceptional concert….

Not the most beautiful of venues!

The concert was a dream, the Violin concerto astoundingly well played and the orchestra responded to every gesture of mine and except for a bit of a mess of the last 8 bars [the only hiccup of the entire concert] sounded like a completely different orchestra.

Even when half the stage lights went out, and despite my perspiration dripping of the end of my nose I (unbelieveably) "remained clam  and carried on" and I think everybody had a great time.

I had been interviewed by a local TV station before the concert and they stayed and have recorded the entire event (so I hope it will eventually find its way onto YouTube.)

Pro. Carlos, Kathryn, Nick, Maestros Mott and Alvarez, with Prof Francis (Principal Cello and Asst.conductor)

My special invited guest – Nick, Maestro Alvarez, Profs. Francis and Carlos, Kathryn and (eventually after another event prof. Vicky) all retired to the Cafe Metropolitan for a glass of wine and a slice of pizza, the conversation flowed, Nick and I “came out” as a couple {warmly received} and ….. 6 bottles of wine, a jug of sangria, rum shots, three gigantic pizzas and a whole heap of Pancakes later we said our fond farewells at 2:00am after a pretty amazing 2 weeks.

Maestro Alvarez -bon viveur

Maestro Alvarez and I share the same birthday, the same outlook on music and are firm friends as well as professional colleagues and he has already offered me one or two more concerts this year …. “If music be the food of love, play on” [William Shakespeare] ----- I hope to have along love affair with the Trujillo Symphony Orchestra.

And now, where's the Paracetemol?

Nick in full flow after just a few glasses ......

Kathryn demonstrating her passion for food! "Get off this is mine!"

We were joined by Vicky (married to Francis) and another good friend

Th,th,thats all folks!