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JUST ANOTHER LAZY SUNDAY
Work, rest and play in the life of a musician by Edward Peak
It’s easy to forget that all performers, be they musicians, actors,
dancers, magicians, comedians or any other performing persons,
are all descended directly from the strolling minstrels and court
jesters of old. In those days, they were there to entertain and give
their audience some brief moments of respite from the humdrum
of everyday existence.
In other words, all performers are in showbiz, even serious musicians,
opera singers and ballet dancers. As artistes, we are immensely lucky to
have the ability to be able to pursue our chosen paths and even to get
paid for doing it, too.
In most areas of life, there is usually a catch, and there certainly is for
performers, a huge catch. Generally, we work when everyone else is at
their leisure. When King Henry VIII was ready to be entertained by
his court musicians, he had probably already partaken of a sumptuous
supper, and it was very likely late in the evening before his band of
musicians had even started to entertain the assembled guests.
So, from the earliest days in the life of a performer, we all get very used
to just starting work when everyone else has already finished for the
day, had supper and is ready for a jolly evening. We might complain
about it, but we love it and wouldn’t give it up for a gold clock.
Performing really is a very strange drug. There have been countless
studies made of the psychology of a performance and how it affects the
practitioners. Some suffer greatly from performance stress throughout
a long career, but they still do it. Others seem to glide through their
career with not a flicker of a problem – most are somewhere in between.
One long-term colleague during my thirty years as a performer with
the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra was such a very laid-back
chap. Before a concert, to get himself into a position where he could be
sufficiently aroused to be able to concentrate on the music, he would
dose himself with several large cups of very strong espresso coffee and
take a couple of energy tablets. This sort of regime would have had my
eyes popping out of my head, but he thrived on it.
The focus of the week for most of the world is the weekend, a distant
oasis of indulgence and relaxation to be longed for throughout the
working week. For performers, the weekend usually means the
culmination of a lot of hard work preparing for a concert or show.
Saturday evening was always the traditional time for major events in
the arts, a time for strutting our stuff to a new audience.
There is also, however, a phenomenon called the Matinée. This was
traditionally found most commonly in the theatre, at presentations
of a play, opera or ballet in which a number of performances each
week, usually on Wednesdays and Saturdays, would take place in
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the afternoon, with a further showing in the evening. Following
continental European practice, afternoon orchestral concerts have now
become quite common in Great Britain over the last decade.
The Orchestra dell’Arte was formed ten years ago. I have the best seat
in the house as the conductor of this amazing group of musicians.
From the beginning, we wanted to be able to present not just orchestral
concerts, but also chamber music, which is usually a group of players
performing in a venue which would probably be too small for a full
orchestra. Chamber music can use either string players, wind players
or a combination of both. A typical chamber concert could feature a
group formed anything from a trio to an ensemble of ten or twelve
musicians.
A gigantic amount of music has been written by the great composers
for this sort of event. Mozart, Schubert, Haydn and many others often
feature on these occasions. Instead of a large body of, for example,
violins all playing the same part in a large orchestra, in chamber
music, each part is played by just one person. This puts very particular
demands on the players and is something that adds to the huge thrill of
being in the middle of such an exclusive ensemble.
With this in mind, dell’Arte presents two major chamber series
in addition to the main orchestral season. Throughout the winter
months, there are monthly chamber concerts in Heswall at the URC
in the middle of the town. Featuring players from the full orchestra,
the season’s programme features a great variety of instrumental
combinations and musical styles.
Each Monday throughout the year, there is also a temptingly titled
Cake and Classical series at the Atkinson Centre in Southport. Living
up to its name, on these occasions the audience are regaled with coffee,
a large slice of cake and an even larger slice of superb music. Sunday
afternoons are the time of choice for our main orchestral series. As the
Orchestra of St George’s, we perform in the glorious Concert Room at
St George’s Hall in Liverpool. Following much consultation with our
regular patrons, we realised that Sunday afternoon was the time of
choice for many, so our main concert series now starts at 3pm.
Highlights of our tenth anniversary season at St George’s will include us
being joined by the amazing violinist Jack Liebeck who will be playing
the Brahms Violin Concerto on Sunday 23 February 2020.
The anniversary season comes to a climax with a fully staged
performance of Puccini’s most searingly emotional opera Madama
Butterfly on Sunday 14 June 2020. A team of top singers from Welsh
National Opera will be joining us for this – one not to be missed.
Find out more about how I work, rest and play at: dellarte.co.uk