Back at the home
September 20th, 2006
So I’m back in Keswick Ridge, in preparation for the concert I’m doing this Saturday. I guess I should have posted some more updates in the past month, but it hasn’t been too interesting – just busy. I’ve been working full-time at the helpdesk (I’m mightily glad that I’m finished with that now!), doing a bunch of choral gigs at church and with the Montreal Symphony, and frantically trying to prepare for this solo recital.
This concert’s been quite exhilarating to put together. I haven’t done a solo recital since I finished my master’s degree three years ago, and haven’t done a harpsichord recital in Fredericton ever (for that matter, I don’t know if anyone ever has, at least not in the past century or so). But it’s been going very well, with a good mix of familiar and obscure (some familiar for the audience, and some for me!), simple and difficult. I’ve been playing a few pieces that I performed many years ago – I always find that to be a rewarding experience, since I can feel how much I’ve improved. Something that took 6 months to half-learn now takes a couple of weeks to play very nicely.
If you can’t make it to the concert, I’m going to attempt to record it, but can’t make any promises – my laptop has pretty terrible input sound quality, and I haven’t gotten an external sound card yet (though the Tascam that Mershie suggested is looking like a keeper), so I’ll be struggling with the minidisc.
In any case, I have a preview available: the Scarlatti that I’m performing Saturday is available (in ogg format, as usual – let me know if you have trouble playing it, and I can get you turned away from the Dark Side). Unfortunately, it’s one of those acrobatic Scarlattis, so on a recording, you won’t get to see all the fun hand crossings and leaps, but you can surely imagine them. Without further ado, Sonata K.54 in A minor.
Let’s see your poster! I remember you were going to show me but I don’t think I ever saw it.
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