Back to the Gironde if nothing else for some needed quiet time in which I tried to clear the still nagging discomfort from dodgy kidneys with a 3 rd course of antibiotics, prescribed this time by my ‘ médecin de campagne ’: would it ever end? I had just had a great time with the gentle orchestra from Ljubljana(see July), by the way has any of you been there? It’s a beautiful town filled by little restaurants alongside its charming canals; a square where its daily market is adorned by arrays of sumptuous flowers; a magical corner where three romantic bridges converge and ‘melt’ into a scene in old Vienna, Prague and Venice. One can even visit its strategically placed Castle unhindered by the half-expected mass of noisy tourists… but here, nearly absent!

Actually, the next concert I was preparing for was a duo-recital with Meneses which was to take me to Dubrovnik: a town everyone raves about! It is rather a knock-out! From my hotel room high above the sea, I could see the Old City where hoards of young people of all nationalities come to have fun and do so in uncommonly hushed fashion! The Festival people were a delight, especially beautiful Ana Tomic (of course, not pronounced the ‘tempting’ way, but with a ‘ch’ sound at the end) who kindly included us in her otherwise “en famille” birthday-party”. When on the very day of the concert my kidneys still hurt badly, she even found time to accompany me to the doctor who, hearing of the ridiculously long condition, prescribed a double-dose of antibiotics, enough to get rid of that nasty infection, once and for all!

Oh, but that evening, when finally we were allowed into the venue of the Concert only two hours beforehand, the vision of the most battered-looking old Steinway I have ever seen on a stage, depressed me no-end….and may I add that the problem wasn’t just visual – I felt quite insulted! Hard to believe it from a Festival of this quality! It duly spoilt my sense of occasion. Even Antonio later admitted that it would also have put him off! Lucky he having his own gorgeous instrument! I couldn’t avoid being utterly miserable. Had no other pianist ever made any comments, why not? Presumably, they will be invited back, whereas I …!

Grrreat: win some, lose… lots!!

Soon I went for a week to Paris, from where train journeys were a bit more straight-forward to-and-from the Auvergne where the very last engagement of the month took place. Almost trembling with excitement I faced my eagerly awaited return-visit to the Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, where 2 years ago I had had such success (see Press Reviews). After quite a struggle of mind, I decided it was important to ‘invest’ on this Russian-roulette situation and reluctantly accepted the challenge to play Rach 3 … on one rehearsal !

When young and fearless, I knew no better: this happened constantly. These days are gone and I try to avoid living that dangerously: unless I play a Mozart Concerto or a Shostakovich 2, I require ideally a piano rehearsal, 2 with the orchestra + the general. The more rehearsal time, the easier important inflection of moods and my own ‘pacing’ can be conveyed to the conductor in question. This year’s orchestra-in-residence was from the Ukraine. Let’s just say they weren’t over-friendly: my impression of their attitude was a blasé lack of interest. When during the performance some normality was restored and I saw two or three musicians surreptitiously smiling, I wondered whether they’d be punished if caught enjoying their music!

I had requested a piano-rehearsal, the morning of the concert; then the conductor arrived and simply said: “sorry, I forgot my score”… I swallowed hard, counted until ten and said to myself: “this touch-and-go situation is of my own making, let’s make the best of it”: with a smile, I handed him my own ‘pocket-sized’ copy … and off we went!

The rehearsal with orchestra was at 6 pm, starting from scratch for the performance at 9 pm. It took guts not to despair at this ‘eleventh hour’! I’m glad it all went well (v. Press Reviews) and as of on the 1 st visit, I played two encores. The response from that public is one of the warmest applauses ever, making it hard to believe that they are known to be ‘cold’: either that is wrong or they love my playing and would sit there screaming cheers and listen to an extra recital, just as happily! Unlike some famous colleagues, I refrained from incessant encores …

It saddens me that France and my career don’t go together for no fault of my own, judging from the fans of Puy-en-Velay. How nice that two very dear friends of mine had driven from Bordeaux, the only ones to be there for me:

« Merci Sonia et Frédéric: c’était super de votre part »!

Squeeze in there a one day- trip to Bayreuth where I joined my husband where we saw Wagner’s ‘Siegfried’. Excluding a very disappointing tenor (in my humble opinion), the occasion and uniqueness of that venue will remain unforgettable.

With summer and the month of August ticking away, at last I went back to the Gironde where my own mini-festival was soon to start. Ahead of me all the copying, cutting and collating of parts I had put-off doing for lack of available free time, imperative now before I could learn the thousands of notes! Loads of last-minute decisions, programs to finalize plus preparing the house for some ten people staying with me: I could only hope for fine warm weather: things would be much easier with the various hammocks on offer, relaxing walks or bike rides to choose from and the beckoning cool swimming-pool!

How would this mad dream-project turn out? Back… to the future!