Recording, Rachmaninoff, and songs of obsession

(A quick sort-of apology that there wasn’t a post last week because I simply ran out of time. I spent a bunch of my time and mental energy on getting the first draft of the chapter to the finish line and my brain cells can only produce so much before they go on strike.)

Minor news: the premiere of the Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel concerto has been moved from March to June. On the one hand, this means I have way more time to work on the concerto; on the other hand, it’s slightly complicating my performing-recording timeline over the next couple of months. I’m trying to figure out when I can place several solo concerts (with slightly different programs for each one) and go into the recording studio at least twice and not mess up, you know, premiering a concerto.

One of my plans for the year is to record the original Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel sonata; however, I obviously also have to premiere the new concerto version, and I cannot work on both at once. This week I sat down with a calendar and tried to map out prep timelines for both, and it was like doing one of those wolf-goat-cabbage puzzles. The problem is I’m good at those puzzles, but not good at knowing how I can prep a bunch of music without stressing or burning myself out.

“Why can’t you work on both at once? Isn’t it essentially the same piece?” you might be asking.