Just back from beautiful Prague, a flying visit to play for Daria Klimentová and Arionel Vargas in Wayne Eagling’s Duet for the 15th anniversary of the Philip Morris Ballet Flower Award gala (called, appropriately, ‘Rendezvous in Prague’ – which is exactly what it was for us, as well as them), done to the Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde, on this occasion, to Liszt’s piano transcription.
I don’t think I have ever been quite so gut wrenchingly (literally) nervous before a performance (and I mean before – I hardly slept for a week). Performance nerves are so similar to fear of flying, that I manage to survive flights by doing what I do before before the tabs go out in a performance. And like flying, once you’re in the air, it’s usually OK.
In the end, of course, we all enjoyed it, and there were golden moments among the nervy ones (it didn’t help that I brought two right-shoes with me, and had to rush out to Tesco to buy another pair in the 40 mins between the tech-run and our slot in the dress rehearsal).
Amazing how many memories you can have of a two day visit, and here they are in my Prag in Scherben gallery. I had a book years ago called ‘Antike in Scherben’ which for some reason was on my mind today. Prag in Scherben describes this gallery rather well, as it happens. And as it happens, Antike in Scherben was compiled by a Czech, too. What a small world.
Oh, and after the show, I bumped into Yannick Boquin at the stage door for the first time in 14 years. Now that is a small world.
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To the ROH again to work with Ballet Black. It’s days like these that I love my job, to the extent that I almost envy myself doing what I do. Imagine being paid to play on a glorious grand piano in a cavernous studio at the Opera House with a studio full of gorgeous dancers doing lovely balletic things to the music that’s coming out of the piano.
