Mission Impossible

The lovely June and her teapot. My favourite person in Daytona Beach

Tom and Malcolm during Mozart rehearsal

Mozart’s Letters in Deland

Daytona Speedway Rehearsal!!

After a very welcome day off where I personally did very little except move from pool to beach, the second free day saw a lot of us whizzing around at high speed. The organisers of the festival had very kindly organised for us to visit the Daytona NASCAR racing track. Being used to the kind of motorsport we see in Britain, with its turns and tight tracks, I was intrigued to see what makes a sport where the cars go around a huge banked oval track, so popular. Like everything in America, the track was huge. It is 2.5 miles long with a couple of grandstands which hold a couple of hundred thousand people. Two of the three banked corners are at an angle of 31 degrees which means you have to go fast otherwise the car slips off the track.

The best thing about our visit was that we all got to go round the track in a pace car at about 140 mph. Four lucky members climbed in the window of a real racing car and deafened us all with an even faster lap. I’m not sure which was louder though, the exhaust of Sylvain’s screaming! What a fantastic experience-I can only imagine the thrill as fifty of these cars race at 200mph, three abreast. Now I see what all the fuss is about!

I had to make a swift exit, as I had another chamber concert, Mozart’s Letters, over in Deland. Tom, Malcolm, Rebecca, Mathew and I played a concert where some of the letters Mozart wrote to his friends and family were woven in between some of his chamber music. We had the pleasure of playing in the refurbished Athens Theatre, an old vaudeville hall which had a great acoustic and a great audience. To be honest, as soon as Matt opened his mouth and his boomy English accent came out, we couldn’t really lose! After the show, we had a reception out on the street and met some lovely people who all commented that it was so nice to see us obviously enjoying ourselves. Well, whats the point in looking miserable just because you play classical music? Great theatre, great music, great audience,what’s not to smile about? We also were happy as we stayed in Deland after the show and went to a new Indian restaurant called Cress and had a fantastic curry! What a great day.

The following day, we had rehearsals for the last couple of concerts and a free evening. This was just as well as the next day went on forever.

After several of June’s cups of tea, we began with a rehearsal for the family and community concert where we were joined by a group of very enthusiastic young Floridian musicians. They were members of the AT&T youth ensemble and had been working with LSO players all week-finally they played on stage with us. Paul Rismann led the concert, which was conducted by Mike Francis, through a fast paced tour of the Enigma variations and various other pieces. By the volume of the response of the audience, I could tell they liked it!

We had a short break to get some lunch before we began the rehearsal with Lalo Schifrin for the evening show. Its always great for the LSO to let its hair down, but the skill of Lalo’s orchestration and composition means that we aren’t simply a backing band. The orchestral writing in soundtracks like Bullit, Mission Impossible and Dirty Harry are full of power and instantly take you back to the films. He once wrote a score for the Exorcist which wasn’t used in the end – the rumour is that is was too scary – seriously!! I had the chance to put a few questions to him and his wonderful band in a pre concert talk. His CV is so varied and astonishing, just reading it makes me feel like an incompetent musician. He studied classical composition in Paris with none other than Messiaen (who didn’t like him doing Jazz), and whilst playing in a bar was approached by Dizzy Gillespie to join his band. Even Alex Acuna, the drummer in Lalo’s band has god like status – he was the drummer in Weather Report and even played with Elvis Presley! However, the star of the night for many was the multi instrumentalist James Morrison. He played trombone, trumpet and flugal horn brilliantly. I can’t possibly describe what he does, you simply have to hear it, but at several points in the evening he had the LSO laughing at his sheer virtuosity and skill-this man can get higher up than I can!

On the trombone!

At one point he was doing a call and response solo by holding his trombone in his left hand and trumpet in his right and swapping between the two-unbelievable. Please do search him out, you won’t be disappointed.

In the pre concert talk, someone asked how much they practice. There were various answers as you would expect. James however said that he never practiced-he played so many instruments, how would he know which one to practice. He wasn’t joking.

A fantastic night with some truly remarkable musicians. In fact a rather humbling night to be in the company of such versatile and talented men.

I am off to practice.

Superconductor

Simon Trpceski was a delight to interview, and I pronounced his name correctly you’ll be pleased to know. It turns out that in his spare time he writes pop music, he tells me that at home in Macedonia, he is almost better known as a pop star! He sadly didn’t sing anything for us, but I am going to pay close attention to the Macedonian entry in next years Eurovision song contest.

Simon played the Grieg piano concerto in the opening concert of the festival for the LSO. He was fantastic. He talked earlier about the simplicity of the folk music he played on accordion as a child and how the Grieg was very similar. Of course, it’s the hardest thing in the world to play a simple melody and make it sing, but he did it beautifully. I look forward to seeing him play in London next year.

The second half of the show was devoted to Brahms 1^st symphony. Its one of my favourite pieces and a joy to play. Daniel Harding is the conductor in residence this year and he seems to be enjoying himself. In fact, in the programme for the festival he is described as the “European Super conductor”. I always thought that was something to do with quantum mechanics, but Dan doesn’t seem to mind, he’s so relaxed he’s probably following the path of least resistance anyway. Still whatever you call him, he does make the symphony very exciting indeed. The audience gave us a standing ovation which was our queue to move next door for a party where we all danced to a fabulous big band.

This morning, I managed to sit by the pool for a while before the rehearsal. I haven’t mentioned the weather, it would seem like I’m bragging, and if you are reading this in Britain then lets just say its a bit nicer here. However it was soon time to go to the huge arena opposite the hotel for the LSO Pops concert. Tonight is was all themed around speed. I was nervous as it would mean playing fast-a lot. I was right, flight of the bumble bee was the second piece followed by a bit from Harry Potter where the woodwind players zoomed around like broomsticks. But the prize for the night has to go to Carmine Lauri our leader. He stood up in front of a sea of people and played Moto Perpetuo unbelievably fast. I don’t quite know how he does it-his fingers were moving so fast they were a blur. I saw him afterwards by the pool drinking a beer-well deserved, but I’m sure he was probably dipping his fingers in the water to cool them down when nobody was looking. Tommy Pearson was compere for the evening and did a great job keeping the evening flowing along nicely.

I am writing this bed, despite some of my friends going out, I have turned in for the night for tomorrow its my turn up the front. Bryn and I are the soloists in the first half, playing Mozart’s Flute and Harp concerto or as its known here, the Flat and Sharp. I don’t get to stand up at the front very often so I am a bit nervous. No, terrified actually, and to make matters worse we have Mahler 1 in the second half. before that however I have a pre concert interview to do with the soloist. As even I can’t talk to myself for 45 minutes, I’ll be having a chat about harps and strings and things with Bryn before the show.

I’ll let you know how we get on…

Croeso i Gymru !

When we were kids, travelling along the M4 in the back of the Triumph 2000, my brother and I would always crane our necks so that we could say we were the first one to see the Severn Bridge. Shortly after crossing, I always used to feel a tingle of excitement as we passed the sign with the red dragon which proudly said, “Croeso i Gymru”. My dad smiled as the mountains of home gradually rose up in the distance and the crackly radio was tuned to a Welsh speaking station, unfamiliar on my tongue yet welcoming to my ear. But it was always about JPR, Phil and Gareth. In those days, the M4 stopped somewhere around Cardiff and so it was a tortuous cross country journey to Cwmllynfell, near Swansea to see Gran. But we knew that when we got there, the fires would be roaring, a meal would be on the table, the dog from next door would be round on the scrounge and the Western Mail would be ready for dad to read in the chair by the Rayburn. Happy days.

I am very lucky in the LSO to travel to some fabulous places and play in some wonderful concert halls. This year though, no concert was more important for me than last Saturday night in Brangwyn Hall, Swansea. Not only was half my family there but we were giving the Welsh Premiere of Quirk by Karl Jenkins in which I am one of the soloists. Some of you will have seen us play this already in the Barbican back in 2005 as part of the centenary celebrations. If you did, you’ll know what great fun it is, with John Alley and Neil Percy racing about the stage trying to play about 35 different instruments between them! As the icing on the cake Karl, officially a national treasure in Wales, was conducting, with Sir Colin conducting the rest of the show.

The weather in Swansea was, a little wet to say the least, and most of the orchestra turned up looking a little bedraggled. Alan, our stage manager and Mark Richardson who was doing just about everything backstage had already lifted all the orchestral instruments up the steps into the hall, but also the extra piano, harmonium, honkey tonk piano and celeste that John needed. Oh, and also the marimba, xylophone, vibraphone, glockenspiel and assorted drums, cymbals, triangles, woodblocks and rainsticks that Neil needed! They were wet and disappeared to get something to eat while we began our rehearsal.

Now the reason I’m writing this is that a lot of us stayed overnight, which technically makes it a tour. I tell you this because after our rehearsal with Karl, Sir Colin came up to me and asked if I was staying over at the Dragon hotel. I replied that I was, and asked why he wanted to know. He said he had tried to check in, they asked him his name
“Davis”, he said
“And your first name?”
“Colin.”
The lady behind the desk said, “I’m very sorry Mr Davis, but we only have a room booked for Gareth Davies”
Its amazing the difference an E can make in Swansea. He did of course get a room, although I could have gone and stayed with my aunty Sally in Gwaun Cae Gurwen if they were full.

Despite spending a lot of time in Swansea, I had never played in Brangwyn hall before, and it was a very pleasant surprise indeed. It is a traditional shoebox shape and made the orchestra sound fabulous. Why designers don’t build halls in this shape these days is beyond me, they always sound the best. The concert was a sell out, and the audience was very attentive. I could see them as the lights aren’t dimmed, which is always nice, otherwise it can feel like you are playing to an empty hall. Karl was greeted with a rapturous reception and Quirk went down very well. In the second half, Andrew Haveron once again dazzled us with his playing of the Lark. I don’t think I’ve heard an audience held in silence for such a long time at the end before. The last piece was the Enigma Variations. I have to be honest with you, having played this piece many, many times, every time it appears on the schedule I think-not again! However, whenever Colin conducts it, it reminds me why it is such a popular piece, it sounds great. Variations are often lots of little bit stuck together, but Colin makes the piece a whole. Judging by the applause we got at the end, I’m sure many people would have liked more music, but it was already past ten and had been a long day.

Some of us went to a reception held by the friends of the festival, where we were made most welcome after which John and I went for a quick bite to eat and then finally ran out of steam. I woke up a bit bleary eyed the next morning and drove over to my aunty’s house and had tea and a chat before setting off through some of the beautiful Brecon National park on a rambling route back towards London.

It was a great weekend, and brought back some happy memories for me and my family. My dad got to see me play in his home town at last and during our rehearsal he even went to see Cwmllynfell beat Dunvant at home in pouring rain, better swimmers see.
I hope we can go back soon.
Diolch yn fawr Abertawe. Does un man yn debyg i gartref !

Dusseldorf, Cologne and Chocolate

Since we last spoke, the LSO has been busy with Gergiev doing Mahler, Strauss and Mozart with Haitink, and Mozart and Brahms with Previn. It has been non stop, with a whistlestop trip to Paris that was so brief, I didn’t have time to tell you about it. We now have 3 weeks left before the end of term with one more trip to Italy later on in June, and then we can all relax for a couple of weeks before the Prokofiev Cycle starts in Edinburgh before we cover most of the globe in the following months.

I am writing this in my hotel room in Cologne as we tie up a few loose ends from the last tour. We are playing Bruckner 6 and Schubert Unfinished with Sir Colin. Last night we were in Dusseldorf in a concert hall which looks like a cross between the London Planetarium and Guildford Borough Council Chambers. I’m sure you can picture it perfectly. We actually got on a bus after the show and came to stay in Cologne. It made for a very long day as we had checked in at 8 am in terminal 5, but it did mean we all had a very welcome lie in today.

Now those of you who follow our travels, will probably be smiling at the thought of the entire LSO losing their luggage in terminal 5, much like when the instruments didn’t arrive in Dijon. I am happy to report that this time, everything went smoothly, although despite my previous experience of Gordon Ramsey in NY, his full English at £16.50 lost out to a coffee and sandwich in a well known chain.

Of course, as I didn’t have to get up this morning, I woke up bright and early and went for a run along the river in the ever increasing temperature. Its amazing how many people from the orchestra you bump into, running on tour. Mainly the thin ones of course, but with so much sitting around on planes, trains and woodwind sections, it certainly does help blow the cobwebs away.

Sadly any good I did was destroyed by a visit to the Chocolate factory here in Cologne, and the shop. There is a long line of machines which do various things to chocolate and finally spit them out into bags which a little old lady ties up and packs away. Rather disappointingly, she was a normal old lady, didn’t sing and there was no river of chocolate.

Sir Colin is on fine form once again and once again he coaxes a sound out of the orchestra which is unique. Someone asked me last week, why different conductors make the orchestra sound so different. The answer is that I really don’t know, and to be honest I don’t want to think about it too much. I’m sure somebody knows why Sir Colin, Haitink, Previn and Gergiev all make us sound different, but don’t tell me, I’m enjoying the magic.

Besides, I’ve already discovered that umpa loompas aren’t real, and the river is made of water. I can’t take anymore revelations today. I’ve got a concert to do.