I'm really looking forward to my recital tomorrow. Everything's ready: house, supplies, my left hand. I did not practice last night or tonight; I'll warm up tomorrow morning and that will have to be enough. If I don't know those pieces by now nothing will help and tendonitis is nothing to mess with. I found exotic tropical nectars to mix with the rum I bought for our grog (anything in a Tiki glass made with rum is grog, matey). These nectars came from the grocery store. I laugh at your fancy syrups from the liquor store. Kerns is good enough, especially as we aren't planning a night of debauchery, just a pleasant afternoon interlude.
Mike from Monte Mangia made me (alliteration ahoy!) a huge pan of roasted vegetables in balsamic vinaigrette which smells heavenly. I have cleaned my house and put on the crimson velvet chair covers, the fir green cotton chair covers, placed peppermint votive candles in the tin and glass lanterns on the mantle, arranged crystal and brightly colored photos and a large chrysanthemum with blooms the color of the velvet chairs around the living room. The kitchen table, where I will play, has a crimson and gold tablecloth on it, and the only thing that keeps the whole plan from being terribly grown up and formal is my lack of an adjustable stool. This means I will be performing in my computer chair while sitting on two cushions and a folded blanket in order to reach the keyboard at the right angle.
Do I care? Pshaw. I'm excited. I'm going to play "America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)" which are single notes (but one's B flat! It's not just white keys!), then "Ode to Joy" which has alternating bass notes and requires some volume variation and emotion or it sounds like a travesty, and finally "Greensleeves" with root chords and everything, a proper two hand piece that I play without looking at my hands for the jumps. My encore, since I plan to do one, will be as much of the Bach prelude as I can play, about ten measures, after which it all goes splah and I find myself in keys never intended by Bach.
It's a decent if short little program and I think it will show how far a person can come in one semester. Because let's not forget, when I started in August I couldn't find A or F or G on the keyboard or the staffs. Yes, some things came back to me, my musicality has never deserted me and my hands remember how to play scales, but learning to read piano music again and play two handed has been a real challenge. I am happy to share my renewed commitment to music with a performance.
Also, having friends over and drinking grog on a cold Saturday afternoon sounds like fun.
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