The Joke
by berberis on Jan.16, 2012, under Choir, Concerts, Rehearsals
Monday, 16th January 2012, Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave, New York, NY 10019.
Karl Jenkins: The Peacemakers (World Premier)
Soprano: Antoni Mendezona
Violin: Jorge Avila
Flutes: Kara Deraad DerkeNY Jazz
Soprano Saxophone: Rob Derke
Electric Bass: Carlo de RosaUillenn Pipes: Joseph Mulvanerty
Conductor: Karl Jenkins
The Joke has its own page.
I never imagined, when I was perched on the edge of the stage at the Broadway Theatre in Catford, that – one day – I’d be singing at Carnegie Hall. I’d heard the joke, and the story of Florence Foster Jenkins, but performing there was as likely as having a Xmas No1.
And, to be honest, it was less practice, practice, practice than an unhappy event providing the resources for a happy one.
There was a bit of a nervous moment when, at the airport, I was asked the reason for my trip. I said holiday, and then mentioned that I’d be singing at Carnegie Hall whilst I was there. Did I have a work visa for that?
Um…
New York in winter is cold. Not the sort of cold we get in the UK, which is greatly ameliorated by the Jet Stream. It’s face-numbingly, mouth-freezingly, eye-wateringly cold. It’s buying a woolly hat from the street vendor because you are convinced the skin over your skull will shrivel so much, and so quickly, that your hair will pop out. It’s also – where you can – walking with your back to the wind that blasts you down the street. And coffee in Astro Restaurant on 6th Avenue at every available opportunity.
This was the trip where I first had proper false nails done. I’d always bought the sets from the supermarket/chemist before: the glue was never strong enough, the nails were never the right size/shape, and the end result was short-lasting and unsatisfactory. We found a salon along one of the streets and I decided to take the plunge. One set of crimson talons later, we resumed our wander around the city that never sleeps.
Perhaps this isn’t the place to admit that, apart from The Peacemakers, I’ve not heard any of Karl Jenkins’s music before. For me, it’s in the same genre as David Fanshawe, and the latter’s African Sanctus has made me not want to listen to anything else in that genre. However, even if I don’t really like a particular piece, I will still sing as if it’s the most wonderful music ever written because that’s what I’m on stage for – to look as though I’m enjoying it.
The older I get, the more convinced I am that an experience is better than any possession. How I was able to be in New York may not have been how I would have wished, but I owed it to myself to get something happy from what had been a miserable few months.
A world premiere – World, mind you – in Carnegie Hall! If you’re not enjoying it just for that, you’re doing something wrong.
