Spring

Spring is here; the garden is showing its brightest colors - daffodils, crocus and scilla are enjoying the sun's warming rays.  A pair of turtledoves has returned and are cooing devotedly to each other.  On my windowsill, even my amarylis has decided to blossom. . . a bit late, but all the more imposing with its deep red blooms.  It seems as though the whole world around me has suddenly woken up after the long winter.

And on the music front, the Figaro production I'm playing in Berlin has gotten off to a great start with a full house and really good reviews.  FUN!  On top of that, I'm rehearsing for a new production of "Tales of Hoffmann." Offenbach's melodies are so familiar and still so fresh;  this show will undoubtedly also be a crowdpleaser and fun to play. Relearning these old favorites is something like rereading a good book.  Even though you know the outcome of the story, you can "rediscover" the intricacies  written into the plot. There is always something new in a piece of art, whether it be music, painting or literature.

Rainer Maria Rilke has said this a bit more eloquently than I:

     Song, poem and painting are different from all else. . .
          They ARE not. 
               They BECOME something new each time [we visit them.]
    

Amarylis - a Late Showing