With only one full day left in Switzerland, I figured I should probably blog again! Since I have last posted, I've played two more concerts, and have the final one to go tomorrow. Especially notable was last Sunday's world premiere of Horatio Radulescu's 4th string quartet. While the piece had been performed before, this was the first time it was ever done as originally intended, with 9 live string quartets!
Led by the fantastic and fearless JACK quartet (who played the central string quartet part), we spent over a week learning all of the special techniques that make Radulescu's music so unique and other-worldly. If you haven't checked out his music, I highly recommend that you do! It is truly indescribable until you hear it for yourself. I am so grateful that I got to be a part of that project, and it has inspired me to return to looking at one of Radulescu's solo works for viola, Das Andere.
This past week also included hearing Boulez sing along with the soloist as we rehearsed one of his vocal pieces (when will I ever witness that again?), an incredible performance of Mahler 9 by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (decidedly my favorite orchestra), and multiple adventures in Swiss dairy products!
All in all, I'm ready to return home. I'm looking forward to not having to avoid giant slugs on my morning runs, cooking meals in my own kitchen, and starting andPlay rehearsals for our next show!
See you soon, New York!
Hannah
Pictures: me on top of Mt. Pilatus, despite the clouds it was a great hike; these giant slugs show up everywhere after it rains; my first soft-ice experience with my stand partner Eric. Soft-ice is like soft-serve, but the flavors are vanilla and the most delicious and pink strawberry you've ever tried!
