I hope you are doing well. I had a lesson today. It went really well. Really, really well. I have had a couple mediocre lessons and one really bad lesson since I talked to you last. The bad lessons are the best because you learn so much in them. They are 'bad' because I make mistakes, not in the notes I play but how I play the notes. I write down every nuance she says, sings or yells at me and I go home and work on it. Well today I brought her a piece I have been sort of working on the last couple of weeks. I have not put too much work into it, I just figured out how to play every nuance, as she likes it. Well, she REALLY liked it.
The format of the lesson is this: I play through a piece and her job is to stop me every time something needs to be fixed. Well, many things still needed to be fixed, this is acceptable, it is my first time playing it for her - but they were not stupid little things like normal, they were phrasing and gestures and advanced musicality-like things. I played through all three movements of a concerto with her (normally you would only do two in the first lesson) She was rather please, excited almost. We worked through the piece, she often muttered 'maladetz' -good boy, and she even complimented me on how I understood Russian. When I finished, with much bravado, she pretty much shouted bravo, said maladetz a few more times, she even clapped, the girls waiting for their turns all started clapping too. It was a brief round of applause, I played well. I felt great. I have noticed a positive change in how I am approaching music, I am glad I understand what she [my amazing teacher] wants, and I am developing an ear for a more advanced musical style.
The sun was shining bright and the weather was agreeable, still a bit chilly but not cold cold. I went for a walk after my lesson. My face was beaming. It is crazy how you see everything in a different light when you feel great. Needless to say, with the sun gleaming off the golden domes of the cathedrals, St. Petersburg looked beautiful today.
After my lesson I stopped to see my freinds' new place, they have a cool little Russian apartment of a little square. It is older; you could imagine two or three families living in its two rooms and kitchen during the extremes of soviet times. I have started reading Soviet literature (Solzhenitsyn, Rybakov, Kundera,) something I should have done before I ventured out here. I am beginning to understand these people. Now all I need is a grapple on the Russian language and I will be happier then a pig in shit, although I am pretty happy right now.
… I am not too sure on when school ends, but my visa expires on June 30. I would like to be here for the spring solstice, it is supposed to be a pretty big party, 'White Nights" they call it, White because the sun does not set.
Thanks for reading about my lesson. I am sure the next one will see blood spilled. I have been invited to play in a recital mid April some time. I will keep you posted.
With radiating smiles and love,
Toby
