Paris in Springtime…sorry, Autumn.

I can never remember whether Paris is the city for lovers or the city of lovers-its a subtle difference but nonetheless a very important one. In one city, loved up couples stroll through the grand boulevards hand in hand; in the other singletons have to constantly fend off the unwanted advances of the locals…I guess its the city for lovers, before you start complaining. It certainly was when I was here for the first time in 1995 on my honeymoon. We didn’t have very much money, and my wife and I walked and walked for hours, stopping off at museums, galleries and shops, all interspersed with cups of coffee at pavement cafes. Sadly on this occasion, I am wandering the streets of this beautiful city on my own. Its a funny thing being on tour. Whilst I feel lucky to have free days in Tokyo, New York and Paris, its not the same without the person you really want to share it with. No offence to my colleagues in the band, but I don’t want to stroll along the left bank arm in arm with them, I don’t want to climb the Eiffel Tower and gasp at the romance of the view with them. Therein lies the truth behind the glamour-yes Paris is a great place, but like all big cities, it can get lonely.

Still, I am enjoying having yet another coffee before the concert, writing this to you. The cafe is right outside the Salle Pleyel, where we have a residency, and it is called, believe it or not, the Do-Re-Mi. Last night we played the quickest version of the Classical symphony yet. When Valery came back on stage for the second time, he looked over at the woodwind section and a huge grin appeared on his face-I think he enjoys seeing how far he can push us. I am happy to say, that despite tempting fate by writing about the symphony, it passed without mishap!

After the stage move we performed the second piano concerto with Vladimir Feltsman-what a showman! He came on dressed in black with very short white hair, not dissimilar to a pint of Guinness, and played like a man possessed. The piece is quite heavily orchestrated and the soloist has to really fight to get through the texture. There are 3 or 4 long cadenzas, one of which he played with such passion that as his left hand thundered down towards the bottom of his instrument, he raised his right hand in a fist and shook it menacingly at the audience. Thank goodness nobody had any noisy sweet wrappers, I would have feared for their safety. He was so involved with the performance it was a pleasure to watch as well as listen to
. At the end of the piece, there is a sudden quickening of tempo and the piece finishes with a very fast repeated figure rushing up to a final forte chord. Mr Feltsman played the final chord with such force that he literally leapt out of his seat with his arms outstretched in one movement. He continued across the piano to shake hands with Valery-fantastic. The audience loved it and called him back on repeatedly until he gave them an encore. I have no idea what it was as my knowledge of piano encores stopped after grade 4. I can say though, that it must have been at least grade 7 in my opinion.

After the show, most people went for something to eat around the hotel as it had been a very long day indeed. As we come to Paris quite a lot, players often go to the same bars and restaurants, I think there is something about doing that, that makes you feel comfortable. Indeed, I could probably recite the menu for the Terminus Nord brasserie off by heart, I’ve been there so many times! But tonight, several people on my table ended up eating egg and chips. I guess I’m not the only one who misses home.

Spain with Harding next week…