My Week in New York—Day Seven, The Day After the Performance
From left to right: A wonderful reading of the Chopin Ballade No. 3 by Krystian Zimmerman; Leon Fleischer performing Bach’s Sheep May Safely Graze with grace and subtlety; the opera glasses given to my mother from Mr. Cosmo and Mr. Alexander; the necklace given to me.
The day after the performance I usually do something fun, and this time I had delicious avocado toast for brunch, followed by my most important activity: a lesson with Mr. Cosmo. In-person lessons are truly special, as we can discuss subtle changes in expression and tone in the same space. We worked on Chopin's Ballade No. 3 and Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze.
In the Chopin piece, Mr. Cosmo offered some sophisticated ideas, especially on the finer details like rubato, adding variety to passages that are repeated, and color changes. I tried them out and discussed my own ideas on how to incorporate them into the piece. After the lesson I listened to many different recordings of the works, which also helps me to refine and expand my thoughts about interpretation. I never want to imitate anyone else, but instead use their ideas to help inspire my own statement about a work.
In the Bach piece, Tamino also participated! He sang right along, which led Mr. Cosmo to comment, "There's no part for soprano in here!”
I was so happy to be able to go to Columbus Citizens Foundation again that night for dinner. Mr. Cosmo and Mr. Alexander hosted a farewell dinner for me and my mother, and I ate Caesar salad, linguine with clams, and of course, drank espresso after dinner. The espresso at CCF is served with lemon zest, which is both lovely and uplifting.
At the end of the evening there was a wonderful surprise. Mr. Alexander and Mr. Cosmo gave my mother a pair of beautiful opera glasses, and me a necklace.
I am sorry to be leaving New York, but I am full of memories of a wonderful, happy, and successful time.
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