Reminders through the posts of other Hive users are constantly coming to me that I still haven't shared with you some of our trips from last year, whether family trips or those that happened due to other circumstances, like work. Portugal, Poland, and Italy are waiting in line, and yet today one visit to Madrid (that also happened last year, in June) arrives on these virtual pages.
I can't complain, that was a year that started with a journey to another country, and many others came as a continuation of that activity. But we are staying in Spain for now... and we will focus on music and not really on a travel kind of blog post. I think it will be a mixture. 😁
This little visit to one of Madrid's chapels happened because of one magical woman. Her name is Medea. Or was, as some sources claim she was mortal, but other writings focused on her divinity. She was the goddess of magic or witchcraft, the daughter of the king of the lands of Colchis, and the wife of Jason.
Well, this was not the arrival to Madrid, but the moment I climbed to the street level after I took the subway from the main train station. Plaza de España - it is where I saw the daylight and felt the warmth of the concrete of the Spanish capital. The police cars were there in case they wanted to escort me to the hotel, but I told them that it wasn't necessary. My accommodation was very close, a few minutes walk and easy to find. How good it was to enter the nice spacious room of the Hotel Opera... I took a shower and a short nap to get back into shape. I was there for the music, you remember? No time to waste.
You can't miss this building when you leave the hotel. Now you see why the name... because it is this close to the building of the Royal Theatre - Opera.
This is the same building, but from the opposite side, with the statue of Isabel II. There was an entrance to the subway that I used to get to the venue where I played. This time I went just to the rehearsal.
Madrid is a smart city... or it should make people smart. The thing is that when you go to the subway and have a bit of time you can also read a book, at least a few pages. Not a conventional size of a book, though. But I am wondering if people are educated and like to read and have good manners, why that paper is thrown on the ground? Don't people know that they can use a bin instead?
Anyway! Rubbish was left behind, the ride under the ground was fun and quick and the place where I had the rehearsal (and in the evening the performance) was conquered.
It was in a chapel of the Higher Music Center Our Lady of Loreto (Centro Superior de Música Nuestra Señora de Loreto). Before the rehearsal started I strolled through the halls and a few classrooms. In one of them, I found a very old piano.
This was the last gaze toward the street and light and I was entering a different land. I passed the third door but there was still another one to cross. Should I choose the regular way - the entrance, or the side small opening, that could be a window?
We will be fine with the conventional entrance! There were also people that I would meet for the first time, like the director of this project about Greek tragedy and especially about Medea by Euripides. Our first meeting and impression should be nice (and not a tragedy... or comedy? 😂)
Finally, we crossed all those doors and entrances so the chapel was here to amuse me with its beauty. It was divine, calm, and so bright!
Let me introduce you to the upright piano I played that day. It was not the best piano, however, it served well. It was fine. Still, I had to practice a few passages to get used to the mechanism and response of the hammers and keys (every piano has a bit different touch).
After the rehearsal and meeting the organizers, the team and having everything sorted out I had a few hours to get back to the hotel, eat and approach the venue with a different outfit. This time for the main event itself. Four actors performed the tragedy and the director talked about philosophy and the main characters and their meaning in this tragedy.
It was interesting to listen to her, but our turn arrived - I accompanied a singer (a Greek soprano) on the piano. We played an aria from the opera of the same name, Medea, written by the composer Luigi Cherubini. We practised it for a few months because it was complicated... but it was worth learning since this experience would not come true if it had not been worked on beforehand.
This last photo was sent to me by the director of this event. I am not a sorceress nor a magician, I could not take a photo of myself while playing. 😉
