Saint-Saens for lunch

Today I am surfing during my lunch hour, but with being self-employed, no one can stop me… eh-eh… but today I put on some music. It has been awhile since listening to my favorite clarinet CD on the first piece, Sonata in E-flat Major for clarinet and piano, op. 167 by Saint-Saens (which is four tracks long… it’s a sonata afterall) and I must tell you that Paul Meyers is one of my favorite clarinetists … after Larry Combs, of course! His interpretations of the pieces are superb. Wow… and the Saint-Saens … so beautiful! Now that the blue car has a CD player (thanks to the kind donation from the red car, which worked perfectly since they’re the same make) I can listen as I drive to my appointments.

I have been toying with the idea of putting together a recital for my students, but with all the web design I have been doing lately, I really have not practiced much at home. Part of my hesitation is not knowing a pianist. If I did do a recital, however, I would want to play the Saint-Saens, something by Carl Maria von Weber, and maybe something I played in the early years of my undergrad like a Tarantella or something fun and dance-ish. My studio is 90% middle schoolers; I wouldn’t want to bore them to death! It wouldn’t be something I would stress over as I have been very good about cutting stress out of my life. I would still have fear, though. Fear of playing for people. Its funny that the easiest thing in the world for me to do is also the source of my biggest fear. To challenge that fear on a daily basis has not done much for my musicality… only for my personalilty… you wouldn’t believe how outgoing I am when I teach! Speaking of which, I do have more lessons coming up and I will need to be leaving shortly to make them in time. (I allow 30 minutes for a 15 minute drive; that’s how I cut most of the stress out of my life.) If you ever have the time to enjoy some good clarinet playing, by all means do.