Its like that feeling you're naked in front of the class.
October 29, 2013 7:54 AM   Subscribe

You're the solo pianist at a lunch concert in Amsterdam, expecting to play a Mozart concerto for the crowd. The orchestra starts, and to your horror you realize they are not playing the concerto you've prepared. Watch what happened.
posted by pjern (13 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Double. -- jessamyn



 
That sounds like a No-Pants dream. (Actually, I think I've had that one.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:01 AM on October 29, 2013


I'm curious about how this happened. Did they not have any rehearsals beforehand?
posted by ook at 8:04 AM on October 29, 2013 [1 favorite]


Can anyone translate what he said to her? Whatever it was, he meant it.
posted by jquinby at 8:07 AM on October 29, 2013


Not a very relatable story. Maria Joao Pires is basically a genius and so the upshot of all this was...she remembered the other concerto and played it perfectly.
posted by Teakettle at 8:08 AM on October 29, 2013 [6 favorites]


Not the same, but maybe related: I remember hearing about when Jimi Hendrix would break strings during a show -- throwing the whole intonation of the guitar off -- he would compensate instantly by bending the strings as necessary or by playing a fret off. I couldn't find a clip of this, but I did find Stevie Ray Vaughn doing the same thing, then changing guitars in the middle of the song without missing a beat.

But to be able to recall a whole concerto by memory, under pressure with only a few moments' notice, that's pretty damn cool.
posted by not_on_display at 8:10 AM on October 29, 2013


Not a very relatable story. Maria Joao Pires is basically a genius

Ah, you have it! Next time I find myself in a no-pants dream or a test I haven't prepared for or the like, all I have to remember is: try being a genius, that'll fix it
posted by ook at 8:12 AM on October 29, 2013 [4 favorites]


Digging about (the comments here were helpful), this seems to have happened about 15 years ago in an open rehearsal: audience in seats, but musicians still dressed casually.

But even if it wasn't a paid, formal performance, the sheer sick horror on the face of Pires as she realizes that she isn't prepared in front of her peers and the public, even though this is "just" a rehearsal, then the way she pulls it off anyway, is a brilliant little story right there.
posted by maudlin at 8:18 AM on October 29, 2013


You can see that the conductor is in street clothes (more or less) with a towel around his neck. He and Maria speak to each other on stage. This is a rehearsal, albeit an open dress rehearsal in front of an audience. Chailly is speaking English but it's difficult to hear. Basically he tells her, "you know it too well" and tries to get her to calm down and brace herself. I think the confusion was caused by Maria's manager and there was a miscommunication of which Mozart concerto to play. All in all a very cool clip but this was NOT in a big concert.
posted by ReeMonster at 8:21 AM on October 29, 2013


Not a very relatable story.

I disagree. It's true that no ordinary person would have been able to escape with the same superlative grace that she did, but if you look at her face when she realizes what's happening and you don't relate, then you are missing something fundamental to the human experience. Anyone who performs publicly in any capacity for a living has had this nightmare. When I saw the look on her face my heart stopped--I literally almost threw up, just watching the video. Then to watch her understand what is happening, understand what she has to do, and do it, flawlessly, all with those haunting introductory measures of the concerto swelling around her--it's incredibly intimate and incredibly relatable. I can hardly face going back to work.
posted by The Bellman at 8:24 AM on October 29, 2013 [4 favorites]


no ordinary person would have been able to escape with the same superlative grace that she did

Hey now. I recall when my sister who had had a little too much to drink decided to do some karaoke and sang the words to a different song. She didn't have her glasses and there was some miscommunication and well one thing led to another. To her credit, she realized it half-way through, but went on to the end with gusto. (I wish I had been sober enough to remember what the mash-up was, but it worked well enough.)
posted by three blind mice at 8:27 AM on October 29, 2013


Practice, performance or otherwise, I wanted to vomit FOR her.
posted by ElDiabloConQueso at 8:28 AM on October 29, 2013 [3 favorites]


Ah, you have it! Next time I find myself in a no-pants dream or a test I haven't prepared for or the like, all I have to remember is: try being a genius, that'll fix it.

I once had a dream that I discovered that I was in a play with two co-workers right before we were supposed to go on stage, and, of course, I didn't know my lines. I told them that it was all going to be ok, because it was just a dream.
posted by amarynth at 8:38 AM on October 29, 2013


double?

posted by valdesm at 8:48 AM on October 29, 2013


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