GRABANDO MONARCA 2 (English I) julio 2013

GRABANDO MONARCA 12-JULIO 2013

Well, almost there.  Sounds strange, no?  Like saying the baby is three quarters born, or seven-eighths or something. But that is the truth.

Monday 8, the magnificent Yamaha C7 arrives.  Wonderful transport company, everyone seems very in love with his work. After the attentions of super-piano technician A**C**., the piano is simply incredible.

 I am ready: it is time.  Last-minute appeals from composers terrified that I will massacre their pieces have no impact on me.  In any case, does anyone really believe that such things affect me?  No, no.  Those who know me understand how completely insensitive I am.   Impassive I sail on into the gale.

I’d designed a work calendar, the order of recording.  We changed a couple of pieces around but otherwise we stuck to that schedule impeccably -- to use engineer Roberto de Elías’ words.  Wallach.  Derbez.  Jurado.  McNeff.  LeBaron.  Ortiz.  

If you want to know more about these composers and the M

onarca muses they chose, please visit www.cantodelamonarca.com !

 

So Thursday 11 at around 8:30pm we finished recording the Prelude and Étude #3 “Jesusa Palancares” of Gabriela Ortiz.  ¡¡ORTIZ!!  The electricity in Cerro de la Luz, Coyoacán, Mexico City, MÉXICO, The World was PALPABLE.

OK, so we have finished recording!!!  AHEM … we’ve finished recording everything we COULD record so far.  The beautiful piece of my dearest M.L. arrived on 20 June, as in the TWENTIETH of JUNE TWO THOUSAND THIRTEEN … I in the middle of that little seven-concert tour in my home state of Guanajuato and with barely enough energy –mental, musical, spiritual, whatever you like—to even look at the score.  I did it down at the piano and read through it. I’d heard the piece on 29 April when I was in the DF and stopped by M’s house to visit and to hear the piece.  Beautiful, glistening, sonorous: intricate and peaceful at the same time.

Oh well, no way around it.  A dear colleague commented, “Oh jeez, what else can you do?  Get to work and practice like a dog so you can make a respectable recording.”  Strangely comforting; as tho’ to say, “We are Highly Trained Music Professionals, we know how to deal with these situations.”

So that it how it is.  Today we finished ALL the editing of ALL the pieces we have recorded.  I was thinking of staying for a bit, to practice the afore-mentioned Very Late Piece … but just in time I realized that the most sensible thing to do would be to GO HOME, rest ears and mind, soul, everything.  Listening to what we’ve done these last four days, I realize that I am FATIGUED.  Full of adrenaline but fatigued.

Tomorrow Sunday I will look at this piece away from the piano.  Monday I will practice it WITH the piano.  And Tuesday –Deus veult— we will record it.  We’ll do the editing.  And then I will be able to say that we are done.