I just got off the phone with B... we talked for an hour.
He called me! I asked him how he was doing and what he was up to, and he said that he had just come from a rehearsal. I asked if it was a good rehearsal and he said, no, it was a bad rehearsal (kind of laughing). I wasn't sure if I should ask about it (?? showing that I care, or prying, I didn't know??) so I we launched straight away into a discussion about what cello to play for my recital. He was really thoughtful, explaining how he thought my teacher's recommendation that I try to play on a different instrument was her way of trying to facilitate a breakthrough. But he also recommended, if there weren't any cellos that were giving me a euphoric experience, just to use the one I already own, instead of introducing a new variable so close to the performance. We talked a little bit more about my relationship with my teacher and my communication with her and how it is sometimes challenging. I thanked him for being so thoughtful and helping me understand my teacher better.
There was a pause and he asked me what I was playing on my recital. I told him I was doing de falla's suite populaire espangol and the franck sonata. He got really excited and told me that he has been learning the de falla, and last night played it with a friend! I asked him who he played with (excitedly) and he said, "you don't know them, but she does a little piano on the side, and we tried it before and she decided to practice it and then try it again." (NERVOUS--who is this girl?) We talked about the second movement, this beautiful lullaby, and some of the other movements too... he told me it was one of his favorite pieces ever. And then we talked about the franck, which it turns out he is also learning (!!) from a recording that he said he would email to me. He played me part of the recording over the phone, and we talked about the vibe of the piece, and the violinist's technique. The whole vibe of the conversation was very open, relaxed, happy, enthusiastic.
