Through the closed doors we hear applause. It’s intermission. Tired of the full day we decide to go to our chairs right away. Row one on the balcony, seat twenty-three and twenty-four. These seats turn out to be the most beautiful places of the house, right in the centre of the royally decorated concert hall. We sink deep down into the ruby velvet and discuss all the events of the day that have succeeded one another endlessly. It doesn’t seem long before the audience enters the hall again. Two well dressed people look quite surprised to see that we occupy their seats. I show them our tickets. They discuss the situation. In Dutch! The lady tells us they didn’t collect their tickets, but urges us to stay in ‘our’ seats. They take the two empty chairs next to us. A short explanation of our days’ adventures follows, together with a little monologue on how to conduct Tchaikovsky Pathetique. In reaction the man invites us to come to the reception after the concert. He introduces himself as the Netherlands Ambassador in the Czech Republic. During the first half of the concert, the orchestra performed a new composition of the Dutch composer Peter van Onna. It’s absolutely very seldom that a Czech orchestra performs a Dutch contemporary work. It might have been the first time. Our well deserved meal accompanied with champagne and wine is secured! We have a fantastic evening before we walk back to the hotel over the old cobblestones, here deep in Europe.
The next morning we check out early. I cannot believe my eyes when I check out. On the hotel desk is a Faber Castel blue/red pencil, exactly the ones I use for score marking. I explain the hotel lady that my pencils are stolen with the car and that I need that exact pencil to mark the new scores. She hands it over with no hesitation, happy to be of help. Those pencils are rare, I assure you. It’s much more difficult to find one of those in Prague than to find the right Bruckner score. One more problem is solved. Let the score marking begin. We take a taxi to the airport and rent a car to continue our journey to Romania. The taxi driver is positive my next car should be a Ford. “Volkswagen Passat’s are stolen daily here.”
Not convinced by the copied Bruckner score with two-hundred-eight loose sheets and tiny notes, I decide to give it another try. After all, a score is for a conductor what a chart is for a captain, or, if you want, a sea kayaker. It’s the Musik Wissenschaftlige Verlag Wien, the Bruckner edition, that receives the phone call with the question whether they have the score of Bruckner Third Symphony, version 1889 in stock. The answer is: “Jawohl”.
Vienna is not very much of a detour. Normally we would drive ‘ Prague – Bratislava – Budapest’ to go to Romania, but ‘ Prague – Vienna – Budapest’ will lead us through some pretty Czech and Slovakian countryside. In Vienna we can also buy new tails and other clothes. We can pick up the score in the music store that is situated in the same building of the Bruckner editors, in the Dorotheergasse, heart of Vienna. They will close at half past six. I am afraid won’t make that in time, we are still driving close to Prague and don’t have a GPS anymore. Also, it has started to snow. “Is there anybody that can bring the score anywhere in Vienna this evening? I have to start marking the new score tonight in order to be ready for the rehearsal on Monday.” A helpful lady, Ms Pachovsky from the Bruckner edition, one of the scientists that does the research to the different versions of Bruckner’s works, has a solution. She will go to a concert in Vienna tonight and will bring the score with her. At twenty past seven she will be at the stage door of the famous Musikverein, the golden concert hall from which the traditional yearly New Year’s concert with the Vienna Philharmonic is broadcast. With a bit of courage on the road it should be possible to be in time.
to be continued, stay tuned!
No comments:
Post a Comment