Writings from the Road

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The Alabama Trip

Lindberg Farm Chamber Music, Huntsville, AL
Athens State University, Chamber Music Series, Athens, AL

Friday, April 27, 2007

We left for the South Bend Airport in the evening. This meant an hour’s drive for us, but the fare was a lot cheaper!

Saturday, April 28

Up at 5:30 a.m. to catch the flight to Huntsville, AL. Everything went smoothly until the airlines employee tried to print our tickets. (For these purposes, this airline will remain nameless!) For some reason, something seemed wrong with the reservation. After calling his supervisor over, they determined that our transaction had been processed incorrectly (through no fault of our own) and they were not going to let us board the plane until it was sorted out! The next half hour found us on the phone to the travel agent’s emergency line and running back and forth frantically (all three of us) between two airline counters….all to no avail. At 10 minutes before the flight, when I was on the verge of having a complete meltdown, the supervisor decided he would come to our rescue, and quickly printed out the tickets and got us on the flight. The entire flight was held as we were the last to board…the three of us (plus cello!) staggered aboard and collapsed.

One of the many joys of traveling. Fortunately, all went well with travel plans from here, and we arrived in Huntsville safely and on time. The very helpful personnel at the Hampton Inn in Athens agreed to let us check in REALLY early, and we spent the rest of the day resting in our rooms, trying to catch up on the missed ZZZs from the previous night. I got the chance in the afternoon to watch the Detroit Pistons sweep Orlando in the NBA quarterfinals to advance to the next round. Go, Pistons!

We always try to catch a bit of local color through the restaurants we choose. We were advised by several people that in Athens, we simply had to try the Catfish Cabin. Always up for an adventure, we went for lunch, and had what has to be the best catfish any of us has ever tried. Fried, but not greasy, breaded coating just right. Not a dieter’s delight, but worth every calorie! Everyone in the restaurant seemed to be interested NOT in talking…instead, they were concentrating intently on their catfish, not to mention listening in on our conversation!! I think we created quite a stir in Athens that day. An Asian guy sharing a southern lunch with a Dutch blond and a Polish brunette is not an everyday sight there.

The weather in Alabama was absolutely stunning. When we commented on this fact to some of the locals, they told us that for them, this was simply another day in a series of lovely days. They don’t know what we Michigan-based people have to endure all year long! Michigan this year had snow in mid-April. For us, this quite sunshine and clear skies were a breath of heaven.

The concert that evening was at the home of Bill and Margaret Lindberg in Huntsville. Mr. Lindberg, a true lover of good music, has a marvelous in-home chamber music series that we had the good fortune to play on in 2003. When Bill found out that we were returning to Alabama, he invited us once again to perform in their beautiful home. When he called, I remembered right away that he owns not one, but two stellar Steinway pianos…he gave me my pick for the evening! Not often that I have the choice of two equally beautiful instruments. Bill and Margaret have added onto the back of their home what they call “The Music Room”. The room has high ceilings, tile floors and Asian Rugs, and can seat about 50 people. He programs an in-home series each season, and tries to catch groups as they tour through the area. They also feature a delectable post-concert reception….always a plus!

On an interesting side-note, one of our “in-concert anecdotes” this evening included our story about our flight travails with “airline x” that morning. Following the concert, one of the patrons introduced himself as an employee of “airline x” and said that he would make sure we were well taken care of on our return flight! Yeah! It’s great to know somebody on the inside!

The program this evening included the Shostakovich E Minor Trio. Since Rostropovich just passed away this week, we dedicated our performance to him. Renata gave an eloquent dedication, recalling that she was performing with Rostropovich (as a member of the English Chamber Orchestra) in London at the time he renounced his Soviet Citizenship. The fact that this is such a cello-oriented piece, opening as it does with those famous artificial harmonics, and such an emotional piece…especially the Passacaglia third movement…made it perfect for a memory of “Slava”. Bruce and Renata played with such passion in this performance…truly inhabited by a bit of his spirit, I felt!

Renata was so concentrating on collecting her thoughts about her Rostropovich dedication that she forgot to properly set up her pages of music prior to starting the first movement. This is really important in this piece, because once the violin starts, it goes nonstop! There are no rests in this movement which would provide a moment to recover and get things together. After she turned the first page of the movement, she found herself looking at the blank side of what should have been her next page. The next few minutes found her turning while bowing, bowing while turning, using everything but her feet to get things set up again. And she never missed a beat! Amazing. Yet another fun little aspect of live performance. Things never get boring! We laughed so hard about this afterwards in the green room we were nearly in tears.

Post-concert munchies found us going through the drive-through at Bojangles. This is a southern fried chicken chain. Hey, we all allow ourselves one piece a year, and this was it!

Sunday, April 29

This day dawned as a beautiful Alabama morning once again. Renata spent the morning busily practicing her repertoire for her upcoming concert in Washington, D.C. with Opus 21. Bruce and I took the opportunity to exercise, talking a power walk to explore Athens. Hey, gotta work off that fried chicken and catfish!

The concert in the afternoon was our second appearance at Athens State University. Our posters were up all over campus, and we played a joke on a few passersby by standing next to our poster, approximately in the same pose found on the poster. A few people looked a little puzzled, but I’m not sure if they got the reference!

McCandless Hall, on campus, is a wonderfully cozy hall, just the right size for chamber music, and with excellent acoustics. Our host, Guy McClure, had the stage set beautifully with fresh flowers. Despite the beautiful day (which, again, is nothing special for these Alabama-types!), we had a nice turnout and tremendously enthusiastic audience.

These afternoon concerts are great. We had the evening to relax in preparation for yet another EARLY morning! The alarm went off at 4:45 a.m….yikes. As I’m writing right now, we are on the final leg of the journey back to South Bend after a 2-hour delay in Atlanta. Yep, another oh-so-pleasant aspect of traveling!

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