| After
a short rest in the afternoon, I joined the orchestra
on the bus for our two-hour journey to the small island
where our concert was taking place. I had forgotten exactly
how much of Denmark comprises water in comparison to land.
The urban scene gradually gave way to countryside and
finally, early evening time, we arrived near our destination.
The late sunshine provided a beautiful effect on the water
and it looked very romantic as we crossed the bridge to
the island of Møn. It was much more agricultural,
with brown fields dotted with snow, thatched cottages
and little fishing boats here and there.
Sadly
our venue was not anything like as romantic - a sports
hall next to a grain silo. Inside was even more dire
- brown brick walls, and a dreadful accoustic, so not
a venue which immediately commanded one's affection.
Still,
we had a job to do and we had a quick seating rehearsal
before the concert began. It was hard to summon up the
necessary verve to bring the Mendelssohn to life in
this awful hall, all the more so as our audience was
very small indeed! Anyway, we all did a good job and
the audience were very enthusiastic at the end.
As
I sat down to hear the second half, a really sweet boy
of 12 years old called Niklas came up for an autograph.
His shining and excited eyes made it totally worth while
having come all this way and I was reminded once more
of how important it is to play in more remote venues,
as you can reach out to people who otherwise don't get
the opportunity to experience live music.
The
Brahms was very good, with a beautiful flute solo in
the last movement, but by the end of the concert I think
we were all relishing the prospect of playing our second
concert in the beautiful venue of the Tivoli Hall -
apparently, my sources tell me, to a packed audience!
Then
there was the journey home which was more fun, with
the orchestra in party mood and an onboard picnic! They
are a friendly group and I'm enjoying working with them.
My abiding memory of last night was to see them all
at the end of the evening, instruments strapped to their
backs, bicycling home!!!!
Tasmin
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