tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485729541580426717.post2816437387502805892..comments2024-03-11T00:26:35.303-07:00Comments on The Many Banes of My Existence by Alexis: Program for Senior Recital in PianoAlexisARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09797016673203467911noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485729541580426717.post-746276245625689502013-08-07T01:14:51.127-07:002013-08-07T01:14:51.127-07:00That was back in the days when I had to stuff my s...That was back in the days when I had to stuff my swimsuit top or bra to appear almost normal. I was fifteen. It's the last picture I have before the broken leg/trapped in the smoky house debacle.<br /><br />What a difference three years makes. I almost look my age now.AlexisARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09797016673203467911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485729541580426717.post-66579182951006293982013-08-04T13:00:00.593-07:002013-08-04T13:00:00.593-07:00Bartok, Kabalevsky, Prokofiev, and Hindemuth and ...Bartok, Kabalevsky, Prokofiev, and Hindemuth and their ilk are considered the modernists for piano now. If I had bigger hands, I could play Scott Joplin, which would qualify, but you get what you get where hands are concerned. I can't really play Rachmaninoff for the same reasons, and I love Rachmaninoff. Small hands tear up the keyboard on Mozart, though. Mozart himself had tiny hands, so his music was written for people with small hands.<br /><br />Thanks for the compliment. That was the year I started straightening my hair. My Uncle Mahonri used to just call me The Ugly Duckling (why would anyone say that to a really little girl?) but now he calls me the Ugly Duckling Who Never Turned into a Swan. Now I give it right back to him. I call him either Einstein or Mr. Universe (he's quite fat and quite dull-witted; I would never make fun of him for it if he hadn't picked on me for my whole life) and I ask him how probation is going and remind him about stuff like not dropping soap in the shower if he gets sent up to the big house. Eventually He's going to figure out that I can insult him more effectively than he can insult me and he's going to shut his trap. The last time he called me The Ugly Duckling That Never Turned into a Swan, my Uncle Steve started to take him on, but I said, "Steve, I've got this one covered,' and I started a long line of questioning concerning just what he planned to do with the disposable douches he stole or if he didn't know what he was getting when he stole them because maybe he can't read. He ended up going and finding my mother to tell on me, but Uncle Steve told my mom he started it, plus he stood there the whole time to make sure Mahonri didn't lose his temper and hit me.<br /><br />My dad always told me I look just like my mom, and he wouldn't have married my mom if he hadn't thought she was beautiful, so obviously I must be beautiful, too. It's a slight exaggeration on all ends, but it was the perfect thing for him to have said at the time.AlexisARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09797016673203467911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6485729541580426717.post-89784440192363222622013-08-04T10:42:41.622-07:002013-08-04T10:42:41.622-07:00Very exciting, Alexis. And you were very cute in ...Very exciting, Alexis. And you were very cute in your (even younger) years. I'm curious about the Billy Joel piece and I bet your audience will be, too. I'm sure you will perform it brilliantly.<br /><br />When I was in school, modern for us was Vincent Persichetti, Dominick Argento, and Charles Ives... all of them, ick. But my accompanist at the time, who is now a piano professor at my alma mater, did ask me if I had absolute pitch because I was singing a Persichetti piece that had absolutely no pitch references in it and getting them all right. That was probably the nicest thing about that song. It was very dissonant and I didn't like it.<br /><br />Anyway, I am sure your recital will be excellent and entertaining. I look forward to reading about it.<br /><br />knottyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10127277724751832329noreply@blogger.com