At Home with London Mozart Players: violinist Ann Criscuolo's letter from isolation
In the second of a series of blog posts from the London Mozart Players violinist Ann Ciscuolo documents some of the activities an isolated musician gets up to during lockdown
Last updated 17th Apr 2020
Week three of the lockdown, tensions are high, loo roll stocks are low and the soundtrack of my life as a professional violinist has suddenly been put on pause.
I’m the 'number five' player in the first violins of the London Mozart Players (also affectionately known as the 'LMP'). I'm really missing my colleagues right now too. Very exciting projects, concerts and recordings previously that were previously penned in the diary have now sadly been shelved. Even my teaching too.
Lockdown has meant different things for everyone. For us at the LMP, we're keeping in touch daily with our audiences through LMP At Home.
Every day one of our members posts something on the LMP website which starts, of course, with Mozart Mondays, then Chamber Tuesdays, Weekly Wednesdays, Thursday Thoughts, Family Fridays and Solo Sundays. Inspired programming (and alliteration) from our CEO and co-principal cellist, Julia Debruslais and the LMP team.
Audiences jumped to their feet and cheered
Just one week before everyone went into self-isolation, the LMP did a marathon Beethoven piano concerto day at St John’s Smith Square with Howard Shelley as the soloist. I'm so glad this was able to go ahead. It was an amazing atmosphere and a very special event marking 250 years since Beethoven's birth and Howard's 70th birthday. What a way to celebrate! It was a packed hall.
The three concerts in a row started at 3pm with Concerto No. 1 and six hours later, ended with Concerto No. 5, the famous Emperor Concerto, after which the audience jumped to their feet and cheered.
It’s difficult to adjust to the massive change we’ve all experienced between being so busy and suddenly having no schedule at all. I am practising in the mornings (actually doing more than usual) before my teenagers struggle out of bed, then taking the dog for a run. I’ve also started practising the viola, mainly so I can learn Schubert’s gorgeous Arpeggione Sonata. It’s also a very useful extra string to my bow when I’m coaching chamber groups.
Digging and connecting up with family
I’m lucky to have an allotment with some friends just up the road. It’s a beautiful spot on the edge of a golf course and next to a small wood. It feels more like the countryside than the outskirts of a busy metropolis. I’m popping up there with a flask of coffee most days. I usually only get there once a week if that, so I’m thinking Monty Don would be very impressed. I may even be able to offer boxes of very wonky veg by the end of these three months.
I’ve been ringing my mum in Dorset every day while she’s been isolating. She’s an amateur viola player who’s desperately missing her own weekly orchestral rehearsals, the pub afterwards and her two string quartets, all of which are central to her social life. Unfortunately she’s hopeless with technology so hasn’t been able to check out any of the LMP online activity.
Time to catch up on archive performances
I’ve enjoyed having the time to explore some of the live streaming that’s been on offer over the last few weeks. We’ve been watching the National Theatre at Home as a family.
I watched Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion by the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra with Sir John Elliot Gardiner. It was beautiful playing and singing and I loved the special care with the chorale cadences. Just magic.
Last year, in some of my freelance work, I played in Wagner’s Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House. Whilst the music was amazing, sitting in the pit means you don’t get to see the set and the acting, so I had no idea how the production looked. It was amazing to be able to finally see this last week by watching a live stream version of Gotterdammerung from Bayreuth.
Sorting through the memory box
Like many of us, I’ve been clearing and sorting out the house, room by room. One day, I spent a whole afternoon looking through a box of old programmes and touring schedules from LMP concerts. One of our recent tours to China was a highlight, particularly playing in the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing.
It’s a stunning space with a huge dome made of titanium and glass. Visitors enter by walking underneath a moat and can look up and see the water over their heads. It’s been lovely looking back at my LMP memory box over the last few weeks.
When the final day of lockdown comes and loo roll stocks are back to normal, I’m looking forward to making lots of new LMP memories as the soundtrack of my professional life starts playing once again.
Discover London Mozart Player's 'At Home with LMP' series - video content published daily - on the LMP website.
Read other posts in the At Home With London Mozart Players blogs on the Scala Radio website, including Martin Smith's 'So now what?' from last week.