I had my eyes closed. The visuals were not especially interesting... a black background and undefined forms of mild, light colours, mostly of orange shade played in one corner of the dark scene. On the other side, my hearings were quite occupied. Boom, boom, boom, boom... The rhythmical four-beats pattern continued to hit louder every second, while my mind tried to find out the source of it.
Do I hear my heartbeats, like when I am running from something? Is it fear? Danger? Passion?
Are my eardrums playing tricks on my mind and I hear something that turns into beats in my head? Or maybe I am just dreaming? Pretty probable - with the eyes closed.
No, it's not a trick. I do hear that constant boom-boom... I know, I hear the deep beats of some electronic track, as if I would have my headphones in my ears. Loud and clear, now I am sure of that! I am not that crazy. Yet.
{Hands searching for headphones on my head, eyes still closed...}
Nada. Nothing on my head and ears, not even music is switched on in our home... but I should wake up finally. There are things to work on, not to mention additional tasks like a rehearsal I am having today. I used to have rehearsals with a singer I started to collaborate with during December but then the holidays came and my trip. Last week we didn't manage to meet and today is the day we will resume work. A constructive rehearsal as we agreed on the pieces that will be practised. She has a ton of different pieces and I don't have time to study all of them every time. Also, we add every time new compositions... a thick folder of scores is what I have reserved for my singer partner.
When too many things are happening around we tend to forget how to focus just on a few important things. That is why I will prepare the piano accompaniment of 3 pieces for the rehearsal today. Well, she wrote me the list of 6 pieces, but three of them I already know or are easy. The other three pieces that I will certainly need to look better are those that I am going to share now with you. Two of them are with orchestral accompaniment (though I have the piano arrangement) and one is piano-voice. I just started to study this one and already fell in love with it:
It is an aria from Jules Massenet's opera Werther. It's my first time playing the accompaniment for an aria by Massenet though I played the piano part of a different composition by this composer. I like the calm pace of it but at the same time, it is not a piece you would listen to relax on a cheerful, sunny day. It is full of sorrow. We don't even have to know that the aria finishes with words that the heart is crushed and broken, we can clearly hear it from the harmonies and melody.
Greek tragedy! Again a new thing for me, though I do practice this Aria since December (and it still needs more practice). It is just written in a weird (not very suitable) way, both for the singer and the pianist. The composer is Luigi Cherubini, and the opera we are working on is Medea. Let me try to explain in simple words, so I can also understand what is happening in this tragedy. The main character, Medea is having some emotional troubles. She has been betrayed by the man she loves and has children with and the pain makes her crazy. Literally, as in the part we perform, she is having deep thoughts and crazy doubts about what to do, but in the end, she decides to kill her children and that way to take revenge on him.
Why do I say it is not written in a very suitable way? Because my part (the piano arrangement - which is the same as the orchestra part) is not musically supporting well the story. If I would not know what Medea is saying in this part, I would think it is a lot less dramatic story.
But that is what I have. Accompaniment that I have to understand well and work on the performance part and bring more drama. First, to polish the technical parts my scores are showing me and then think about tactics how to make it sound deeper and more dramatic.
Bach is also on the musical menu today. I do have to study this composition more than until now. We played it already in at least two rehearsals, but I get frustrated when I don't play it perfectly. Hahahahaha, "perfectly" is far away from the stage I do it now, so the best thing would be to get up, (note to myself: right now!!) and study this aria Erbarme dich, by J.S. Bach. A beautiful, deep composition, with long phrases full of expression. Compared to all the mediocre music we can hear all around... this is just music from another world.
What I need to work on here is not just the complexity of the voices (as I play the part of the main violin plus all the other strings in the left-hand part) but also to take care of the phrases, how my singer partner will shape them and where she is breathing. She has a bit different approach to this one, as she sees herself as another instrument, like a flute. She doesn't want to perform it from the approach many singers have. No forced voice is her goal. Be like an additional instrument and make harmony with me. Huh, a bit difficult at the moment as I need want to play it already without errors and without thinking about notes. Making harmony, making a connection - that is what she wants. Arriving until the end with as less as possible mistakes is my current phase.
So, time to switch this keyboard to the black and white one, to my piano. But one question for all of you... did you forget about the boom-boom part from the beginning of this post?
You did?
Cool, as then it means that music won upon the noise that is coming from one apartment which is getting refurbished in my building. Unfortunately, history is repeating as last January my very first neighbour was rebuilding her apartment. It was a huge and very noisy work for a couple of months... Now, on the first floor, someone got the same idea, and no, it doesn't matter it is not the first neighbour. It is still a very loud hammering and the boom-boom thing that is coming to my hearing. Anyway, the piano will be switched on now, the party in the building can start!!! 🎶🎶
HAHAHAHAHA had such great fun reading your intro and then the closing. So, in effect, you can deal with neighbours rebuilding sounds as if it's some electronic dance track! How wonderful! I shall try to teach myself the same {WINK}
Though I realise your goals for playing the piano, I so much like what your singer is trying to achieve. Though am not at all a musician, I can relate much to what she wants. The harmony. The connection. In many different actions and activities, I've experienced such profound 'being in harmony'. Mostly with a track when listening to music. But certainly as well in an activity such as skiing....WHAT? Did you write: "Skiing?" ... Yes I did {LOL} When I used to ski, a long long time ago, I from time to time had this sensation of 'harmony' with my own skies, the snow, the mountain. Usually when I got into a flow. Mostly when going downhill at places the average skier isn't around. Often, when the cadence of the body became perfectly synchronous, from curve to curve, from jump to jump. Ah well, just one of those activities. Harmony! Connection! Being One! I can only say: Try to find it as much as possible {WINK}
I am glad you had fun with this one, I had much fun too writing it :D
Reminded me of the circumstances I found myself in last year in January, and then of your post as the reaction to it hahahah. Lol, can't decide which is the best, your video creation, your writing or the fun some people had in the comment section 😂
I would definitely prefer to listen to some music with that beat instead of the sound of a hammer, but I can use my mind and make things suitable for my wishes and preferences lol 🤣
You know that I have to find good vibes with the musician I collaborate with, I told you that, so we are on that path. I have to feel comfortable and like the person and the process and then indeed we can make harmony and connection. 🎶 When I learn my part well hahaha. A tiny detail 😆
Oh yeah, skiing. I remember you like flying downhill hahaha, full speed and no slowing down. Of course, where the average skier doesn't go! Why would you use the beaten path and the easy way? 😁 Cool!! The described experience indeed can be lived through different other activities, it is not just a certain thing one can be one with, it is more the state of the mind one can achieve when feeling that is on the same wavelength with a person or any other thing! ;)
Owww indeed, I do remember all that was happening last year as well. Darn funny 😂😂😂
Our imaginations can be quite good. But it is still an art to transform the unwanted into something positive. Am glad you master that art 🙇
ABSOLUTELY! Spot on! We ARE on the same wavelength 🎶 😉 🙇
Maybe not always, but mostly aiming to get there :))
🙇
I listened to the video, I really liked it!
And especially Callas, I'm sorry 😊
At the expense of boom-boom, my neighbors decided to diversify the sounds by adding another tuk-tuk and drrrrr ....
I knew you would like Maria Callas :)
My singer partner is also an absolute Callas fan 😉
Hahaha, you have a whole orchestra then :D
@mipiano I also really like the song From Souvenirs To Souvenirs performed by the Greek singer Demis Roussos
this is my favorite of his songs.
And for me it is surprising that in his homeland, in Greece, he is not very popular.
Hey, also my father likes to listen to Demis. It's sometimes happening with artist, that are not much appreciated in their own countries as in the other ones.
Yes, sing for me (Phantom of the Opera).
Yesterday I listened to Sarah Brightman in the middle of a Havana street, full of car noises, screams of children playing with chivichanas (wooden skateboards built with wheels of ball boxes) the symphony of the city, mixed with her excellent voice in the Phantom of the Opera left me stunned. But it was a rehearsal in the Circus Tent that was set up next to the Baseball Stadium. I really enjoyed your publication and the good music.
Big hug
If it was a rehearsal in the circus tent, then it means there will be a show also :)
Well, it is probably better to say that there was a show, I am a bit late with my responses. I really need the day to be extended for several hours lol 😂
About the circus - I don't have some super great memories about it. When I was small my parent took us to the circus... and when the clown came out I got so scared that I started to cry very loudly. My parents told me that story many times so right now I don't know if I really remember how my father was carrying me out in his hands from the circus or if it is just the picture I made in my Señorita Mente. But it is here, a very vivid "memory".
😆 Odio los payasos. Pero tu señorita mente es bastante creativa, lo intuyo.
ves? otra vez the same taste we have :)))
I didn't forget about the boom boom boom boom 😁, turns out I also have some neighbors who love to do remodeling on their houses from very early in the morning.
You've got this, all 6 pieces, the ones you're already more familiar with and the 3 you're working on.
Best of luck to you!
So we have the same destiny 🤣 neighbours who like to remodel their houses/apartments! I guess you are also trying to fight that nosie with some music practicing (or listening) 🎧 😁
Oh yes, I fight it with music. 😁
🎶🎶🎶🎶
Agghhh miss @mipiano, it seems like I also here the boom boom booom noise here in my area, just in front of our house.(And I'll ended up listening to it for months-or a year from 8am to 5pm, lol)
Anyways, how long does it take for you to master a single composition?
Oh, no. Seems people like to refurbish their homes in every corner of the world 🌍.
Hmm, how much time does it take? it depends on the complexity of the composition. There are things I can sight read and play already good. There are others that I need a day or two, or similar and then also pieces that I could practice for weeks and months to master it. ;) Or I never master them 🤣
Yeah, maybe some people also target renovating their houses every summer.
Wow, so you really are a good pianist miss @mipiano 😍😍
I really amazed at some people who can play instruments. I really appreciate that kind of talent.
Thank you @usagidee
It's the same as we instrumentalists appreciate the singers!
Your voice is your instrument :)) 😇
Very much welcome miss @mipiano
Thank you. You always recall my voice. 😇💖
The song performed with an intrument llike violim amd piano is so classy 😍
Indeed 😇 All the instruments are nice, but the piano is of course special for me, and the violin too 🎶🎶🎶
Hello dear @mipiano! This opera made by the unique idea from composers. The ways she put her emotions into the performance, I can see clear how passion she is as well as the guys, so proud of them. Maybe I never heard of this amazing voice before, I wait to see more iconic discovery from you.
Thank you for listening to these videos, I am glad you liked them and this way classical music spread out its vibes 🎶🎶🎶
I experienced that annoying sounds when our neighbor renovated their house too,..
I was hoping to see a video of you rehearsing hehe .
I actually had a video of me practicing while the noise was so loud from the neighbour's apartment. It was last year, in January or February, I posted it here . The video has two parts, in the second one is when the noise is so loud so I am fighting it with piano 🤣🤣
Hi @mipiano! I really enjoy your posts, I love the way you develop each topic. I wish you the best of success with this opera.
Thank you dear @tiaene 😇
I am glad you find some joy in my posts!/
I let myself be led by imagination in the beginning. Just a little bit 🙂
Thanks for reading @freakshow90!!
Exactly, @mipiano. The way you use your imagination (posting talking) is mindblowing. That's why I'm here, almost every week. A few hours from now, I'll be posting here, on q-inspired, how you can pass by.
There is always a kind of sweetness you enjoy when ever you listen to musical instrument. They are able to pass across alot of message which will relay down to your heart... Thanks for sharing this dear sister 💗💗
You are welcome and thank You for listening to these classical music pieces 🎶🎶🎶
Anytime sis, hope to see more of your magical fingers😃