The Russians

I once read that death claims in three. Rostropovich was one of the greatest musicians, cultural/political activists, and mentors the world ever saw. I implore you to read this New York Times obituary if you don't know much about this amazing man: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/arts/music/27cnd-Rostropovichcnd.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3 Yeltsin was the first president of the Russian Federation, or modern-day democratic Russia after the Soviet Union broke up. He served from 1991-1999. My memories of him are mostly the images that flickered across Peter Jenning's ABC News Tonight. He led Russia during a difficult time (post-Soviet Union) and that took a great deal of courage. Frederika's grandmother was a very intelligent woman. She was one of the first ladies in university to have studied science (she was a prominent physicist) and she also spoke four languages fluently. I didn't know her personally, but I find it amazing that she made significant advancements in areas that did not welcome women easily. Rest in peace. Thanks for everything. In other news, I'm just busy with chamber music rehearsals and my routine. The weather has been a blissful 75-80 F everyday (22-26 C). I'm heading to Amsterdam tomorrow for three days to visit Nick and observe the happy celebration of Queen's Day in the Netherlands. Apparently there are millions of flea markets all over the streets and everyone gets quite drunk. Hmmm. Should be fun. I leave you with a quotation by Rostropovich. In an interview with National Public Radio from 1987, he said: "My mother carried me for 10 months. I tell her, 'Mother you have extra month, why you not make for me beautiful face?' And mother tell me, 'My son, I was busy with make you beautiful hands."

An Offering

Candlelit vigils, Kleenex, insensitive news media, American violence, gun control, murder, capitalism and democracy, 157 Iraqis, loneliness, college campuses and their supposed joie de vivre, immigrant difficulties, terror, Korea, Holocaust, professors, dorm, students, outrage, shock, grief, isolation, Virginia, fear.. Silence. On our refrigerator in Chicago hangs a serenity prayer called "Desiderata". I recall staring at it, bleary-eyed, while sitting at the kitchen table and finishing papers on a late-night wind during the high school years. One sentence stays with me, and I hope it will forever: "In all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, the world is still a beautiful place." All I can do now is just breathe and search within for compassion.

Listening to Rent

Unwinding after a...well, a pretty light day :) I practice about 5 hours a day here, but I'm hardly ever ragged and turned topsy-turvy like I constantly was in Boston. I used to run around like a chicken with no head and certainly no caloric break/sustenance from classes to rehearsals to work to gigs to errands to Whole Foods to Back Bay Yoga to Harvard in order to squeeze in some time with Lakshmi to Symphony Hall to NYC for the weekend to the MFA for a cultural 'break' to Music Espresso to NEC for lessons to the freakin' Cape for a concert to...where, the moon???? Yes, all that in one day. Whereas in Detmold, I wake up, do my hour of yoga, shower, enjoy a nice breakfast, and practice from 10-1. The siesta here from 1-4 annoyed me at first, but I actually really like it now. It literally forces me to make time to eat, read, study, cook dinner for later that night, and just enjoy my life. For example, I sat outside under 70 degrees of warm sunshine in the beautiful garden (I think that my house was planted right smack in the middle of Frances Hodgson Burnett's "The Secret Garden"...well, minus the whole English rose garden thing) and read Harry Potter in Spanish for two hours. I can't remember the last time I did something like that. It was probably in Chicago; definitely not in Boston. Busy bee Boston. It's often warmer outside than inside the house! This isn't because of the American tendency to keep the house air conditioned to the point of creating an icebox. The walls of the house are up to 1.5 feet thick, requiring an immense amount of heat to keep the entire place at a comfortably warm temperature. I live in a real Valhalla fortress. Consequently, I have to prance around the house in sweaters and legwarmers. Such is the price to pay when you don't actually pay anything for your rent. It ain't so much to ask. We had a quartet meeting today at my place over tea to figure out who our second violinist should be. Our first violinist revealed that she was actually dismissed from her teacher's studio in Detmold and therefore has to attend a different Hochschule come next autumn. She spoke in such fast & heated German that I wasn't sure if I got all the details, but I think there was some misunderstanding with a former student in the studio, and it resulted in her getting the boot via an SMS from the professor. An SMS...geez, what a jerk. He didn't even have the decency to call her in person! I can't imagine how I'd feel if I was in that position. For her sake, I hope we'll have a good quartet experience. My quest for a violist in our Brahms Piano Quintet group still continues, because I certainly don't have the viola chops to play that viola part, and nor do I want to. An early Beethoven quartet is one thing - a mid-Romantic massive Brahms piano quintet is an entirely different sort of beast. I'm listening to Rent at the moment ("Ginsburg, Dylan, Cunnigham, and Cage...") - what memories it brings back! I feel a bit sad sometimes, in a nostalgic way, knowing that these years and scenes of jumping around the house with Neetu while lip-syncing all the words perfectly are more or less a figment of the past. We do, however, manage to keep the kids inside of us alive by still fighting over borrowed sweaters/who does the dishes next :) My latest website find is Hilary Hahn's online journal (www.hilaryhahn.com/journal), a record of a 'nomadic musician...a modern day troubadour.' I've always respected her as a musician, a mature, seemingly-down-to-earth human being (uncommon among famous concert artists), and now, as a lyrical writer. Unlike many concert artists involved in the solo act thing, her journals and attitude towards people makes her quite approachable and 'normal.' She also has good string player practice tips, too, for those of us who need them (I always do). I bid thee farewell by offering a parting blessing for the wonderful Kurt Vonnegut, who passed away today at the age of 84. "God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian," is one of the last books I read before moving from the States, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We'll miss you.

In the Aftermath of Parents' Visit

I'm sitting in my new apartment on the "other side of town," as old landlord Klaus menacingly put it to me. It's a beautiful old manor (I'm guessing from the mid-1800s) with three floors and various tenants all under the surveillance of Frau Rehmer, an older German woman who is so OCD about conservation that she saves her dishwater to feed to plants. A bit much, I think. I am actually subleasing my two rooms from a very nice, green-friendly couple - Eugenia & Frank. Eugenia is from Mexico and although she already speaks quite decent English, she needs to pass an exam in order to be certified in teaching English in Germany, and since I'm a native English speaker, she and Frank are offering me an apartment until mid-July (when school is done) for free in exchange for speaking and practicing English with her. I have two rooms, a bathroom, unlimited phone usage (within Germany) and internet, and we all share the kitchen - I pay only utilities, which amount to fifty euros a month. It's a fantastic deal, and the house is much closer to school (about a five minute walk). Eugenia & Frank are gifted and enthusiastic cooks; we've already exchanged many recipes. Although my living quarters aren't as warm and fuzzy as what I had before, I am quite happy with the situation. Everyone is returning to Detmold next week after Easter. I've got some time to practice and catch up on life after a crazy six week 'break' if you can call it that. My parents were here for one week and we did the works: spent 3.5 days cleaning the old apartment, packing, and scrubbing the new one, I played a recital in Paderborn which they listened to, they met Kiwis, Germans, Asians, landlords (new and old) and even my Nepali vegetable-selling market friend Bhuwan...we then spent a quick 2 days sightseeing in Berlin, then 3 days in Wuerzburg with my cousin's family, and then I zoomed back to Frankfurt to drop them off at the airport & continued on to Detmold where I hastily returned the car before 2 PM yesterday. We had a beautiful VW Passat, and I enjoyed the thrill of being behind the wheel on the Autobahn (Germany's highway system) at 140 mph, ohhh yeah :-) Basically, I'm gearing up for the second half of my first year in Germany. Can't complain about anything as long as all the spiders down here in the basement leave me alone at night. Ewww.