This afternoon, we had our first rehearsal Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion with percussionists John Rudolf and David Kent (see "Programmes for the tour"), and it went so well that, after the first read-through, we all looked at each other and said, "OK, let's play it!"   Actually, we rehearsed it for almost three hours, but none of the time was spent on trying to put it together, but rather on purely interpretive things like phrasing, balance, colour, etc.   There is still a lot we are going to do in the remaining two rehearsals, especially in the areas of shading and balance, but the four of us felt like we were part of a long-established quartet.  Too often, the piece is approached as if it were a two-piano work with percussion; in fact, all four parts are carefully integrated into one of the most tightly written and exciting quartets of the 20th century (or any century, for that matter).  Anyway, it's not very often we get to play the piece, and all of us are sky high from the rehearsal.

One reason for the infrequent performances, of course, is the logistics of rehearsing.  Taking two pianos on the road is bad enough, but the problems are compounded to the extreme when dealing with four timpani, a xylophone, tam tam, and various drums and cymbals.  Luckily for us, our school, the Royal Conservatory of Music, is very supportive of the duo, and has kindly agreed to make the Ettore Mazzoleni Concert Hall available for rehearsing today and next Monday (the afternoon of December 14, the same day as the Newmarket concert in the evening!).  They've even agreed to store the percussion instruments in a secure place 'till after the next rehearsal.  Next Tuesday, the day of the concert, everything (except the pianos) gets moved over to the Jane Mallet Theatre for the afternoon rehearsal and the concert itself.  As to the pianos, they will have already been moved by Yamaha from Newmarket (where we will have played the night before with the alternate second half; i.e., minus the Bartok).