I am home from seeing my son’s girlfriend, Megan Hopp, in the play Machinal. She was the lead, and she was so darn good. I am very impressed by actors. Sometimes what I do seems less “big” … this was one of those times. Watching her on stage was something else. The play is about 2 hours long I think, and she is on stage for nearly the entire time. There is no intermission. And then I cried. The end of the play is … well … it’s painful to watch, and extremely horrible (she dies in the electric chair).
“Of course some people turn their noses up,” says Tasya, “but what we’re doing isn’t actually classical music and we’re not trying to pretend it is. It’s not like we’re doing this because we couldn’t go down the classical route, because we weren’t good enough. This is a choice we’re making when we’re young to have an amazing time, and to record an album. I can’t be bothered with this snobbery about us,” she adds. “We’ve all been to the right schools.”
“I really miss the orchestra and I miss classical music,” pipes up Vicky. “I only left two months ago.” She sighs. “But you have to go with the best job.” They’re all aware that being a professional musician isn’t about noble notions of preserving the classics. It’s about getting a job. All four are from musical families – Izzy’s parents run a music school in Hertfordshire and Victoria is one of six siblings who play stringed instruments to a high level. “A classical career is not an easy life,” says Tasya. “It’s what I trained for my whole life but there was more money in being a session musician for non-classical stuff. I wish there was more support for these amazing classical musicians who do such serious work.”
I can see how tempting fame is. And the musicians are young and gorgeous. I do hope they make a bundle because they won’t be young and gorgeous forever. (I was never gorgeous, but I really was young at one time!)
I’ve been listening to opera (real opera, not just classical with words). I can listen to one or two per day, and I haven’t yet come across one that compares with the first I listened to.
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Hear Me At Work
Here are just a few recordings from the past. It's rare I have anything I'm allowed to share, due to union rules.
