Short Oslo visit

My dear Dad drove me to the trainstation at Kjelsås today. I was going to go back to Kristiansand with the 11.11 train from Oslo S, so he thought it convenient to take the train down to the city. It turned out to be a bit nerve wrecking...
Yesterday I had a morning date with Wendy, a percussionist (former student of the dad!), at 08.30.
We took the bus to Kristiansand Airport together. We were both going to Oslo with the 10.30 flight. I was going there for a funeral and to visit the cello doctor, Wendy for the written exam for her lisence.
I had my fridge with me, so I had included some negotiation time on the airport. Luckily I didn't need any, except for checking in. My booking number wasn't valid. Hooray.
Wendy and I split up at Gardermoen, and when I came to Oslo S, I realized that I had some spare time before I had the short rehearsal with the organ-player at 13. I rang my sister, and she had 30 min. break, so I jumped on a bus and visited her at school. My first time to Elvebakken VGS. It was great to see where she's spending so much time!
Then I headed off to Helsfyr.
No problem.
Looked for the krematorium (it's just a chapelle now, but it used to be a krematorium until august).
No problem.
Asked for a place to warm up.
N problem.
Where were the organ player? And when to play? Where?
some problems.
When he finally came, we had 3 min. of tempo setting, and then he was off.
Problem!
The place was a maze, we had very little time left, and we had not even been through the Swan. Well, it all went well. Luckily. Despite that the Swan was more like an old one, struggling to breathe and absolutely not ready for takeoff. But it pleased the family, so I should not complain.
Afterwords, I met Mum for a coffee at the central station. We met Guro on our way too, so she joined us.
It was a very pleasant coffee date, I could have one every day!
At 16 I was on my way to Urs, the magic sound doctor for my cello. I spent around 1.5 hours in his workshop, and now it's almost as nice as it was in May. The dryness of autumn makes strange things with my wooden soundbox, but we're experimenting with millimetres and it works.
Then I could catch my bus to Dads house and see Pauline and Helene. My sister is having Desucon this weekend so we were bleaching her hair, sewing a belt and being very creative. And then watching True Blood. Finally.
And this morning I got to see my Dad too, before he drove me to the trainstation. He got very nervous on my behalf because the train didn't show up. It turned out to be 15 min. late, and then I would miss my second train. Next train would be too late for me; I wouldn't be there for the premiere of La Boheme. ooops.
But 11.11 I was well seated in my train, and now I'm on my way out the door to play some beautiful music in a way too small pit.

Good byes and cello airport trouble

I've left Stavanger for Oslo - again. Next time I'll return - it'll be for the audition (anxiety!)

The day started being filled with grief and sad colleagues in the funeral. An incredibly touchy ceremony where his colleagues, friends and students (all trombone players) played hymns and interludium, and the string players from SSO played Barbers "Adagio".
I couldn't just go home again after this, so I joined a few others for a cup of coffee.

Back home it was time for packing my loads (cello, handbag and a few things in my backpack - all as hand luggage). Robi came home quite early (17.00) and offered to drive me to the airport around 8. We had time for a talk over a cup of tea before sending me off to Sola.

I should have understood this was a day who had several things up its sleeve for me when Robi dropped me off at the Helicopter terminal...
We got some second and third and... good byes through his car window while I walked over to the ordinary terminal. There I used the automates to check in, printed out my two boarding cards (I had been a "nawti, nawti little girl" -booking ticket for my cello without asking Norwegian for permission. And then checking it in by the automates. "Nawti, nawti!!" (hear this with the tiniest, sharpest voice you can imagine..)) and went upstairs. I met Solveig there too (a violinist) so I had company.
I put my creams and lip gloss and other girly artifacts in the plastic bags, my handbag and backpack on the belt and then preparing my cello to go through the machine. But - NO!
"It's too big, it'll ruin the machine!" said the female guard.
"It always goes through, and it has never been a problem anywhere", I told them.
"No, the machine is so expensive and we can't send it through" said the female guard. "I'll ask the guard in charge to take a look at it"
The guard came, and asked "What instrument is that?" -got his answer, called a phone, left, came back and said: "No, I don't think it'll fit". (Even though I have sent my cello through these machines several other places - Stavanger included - before, without ruin one single machine.)
"You have to check it in and send it" he said.
Great! An idiot!! I had my ticket and everything, and luckily he wasn't such a big idiot that he insisted on this. "ok, I'll beep it then" he said.
I went through to the other side, and he took my cello on the side.
Then I had to open the case, take out my cello and wait until he came back with the beeper.
He checked the case in 3 places, and my cello on the shoulder and upper back. He was going to check it directly on the furnish - something I didn't let him to do without checking the material of the beeper. Apparently, he had to do it all over again because I touched it. Arrgh.
Solveig was waiting, but found company in a conductor we both know.

You can't imagine how happy I was to see that the stewardesses knew how to deal with cellists! They gave me the extension belt straight away, and left me alone after that. Yay! My flight was delightfully peaceful - and I finished my book "Tett intil dagene" by Mustafa Can. (Read it!)

Bus vs Airplane

This last week has been crazy. I've learnt how it is to be working double - in two different cities.
My schedule:

Sunday - bus to Kristiansand
Monday- 10-14 rehearsal, KSO
15.45 flight
19 Don Quixote at the Opera
Tuesday- 0558 bus to city (then airport train)
07.50 flight to Kristiansand
10-14 rehearsal KSO
Wednesday- 10-14 rehearsal KSO
15.45 flight
19 Don Quixote
Thursday - 0558 bus (then airport train)
07.50 flight
10-13 Dress rehearsal
19.30 Concert
Friday - 16 bus to Arendal
19 concert
Saturday 0910 train to Oslo
18 don Quixote
Sunday -Walk with mum by the ocean and saw a great exhibition (www.ellens.no)
18 don Quixote

I am really tired today!
Thanks to Vojta, I didn't have to bring the cello on the planes. I was only bringing my hand luggage and bow case. And my cello had vacation from the pit.

After the performance on Sunday, Mum was really funny during the drive home. We were giving one colleague a ride home, and in the darkness you find the strangest of creatures. One homeless person collecting cans and bottles in the lights from passing cars. And up-your-bum-drivers.
We had to go down a really narrow, quite steep and winding road to get home. Out of the blue (well, black is probably a more describing word) there came a red up-your-bum driver. Of course. He tried to get a good view of the road - to know when to pass us. This is more or less impossible on this road, unless you are highly suicidal. Halfway down we had to leave this roller coaster of a road. And guess what - the up-your-bum driver had the same route. Mum hates these ones. Why do they have to drive so close they can almost smell your ass?? I wonder.
Our road has a speed limit of 50, so she drove almost too slow just to piss him off. Then she put her foot on the gas and almost hit 60 just to let her car roll home, continuously loose speed. Some few metres from our gate, the red car were ready to pass us. Just then, Mum had to give signal to turn left. Of course.
I guess the guy got really pissed off. Suits him right!



Location: Mums kitchen
Eating: Breakfast, soon anyway. Oat porridge.
Drinking: Coffee
Listening to: The fan over our oven.
Mood: My mum is cool! And I'm still smiling of the flirtatious conductor yesterday. Too many cute girls and guys to wink at. He was quite busy, I can tell.

Exciting, terrifying, fantastic weeks

which I have to write about. Should, of course, have written it all before but - hey; I was enjoying it all somehow!!

First: Paris with KSO and gypsy musicians a'la Jango Reinhardt.



We played 3 concerts in a Cirqus! and lived in a 4 star hotel close by (4 stars in France, that is).


My hotel room!


The circus had long traditions. Some of the old, original posters were on the wall.

The old stables were perfect for unpacking and warming up.

During the days (except thursday) we were off until the concert at 21 so we could see quite a lot of the city. Sadly, the orchestra were the target of a flu-epidemy so almost all of them were quite put off. Luckily the French authorities are not as strict as the Norwegians, so they allow all dodgy kind of drugs to (possibly) kill the flu efficiently. I was one of the lucky ones who escaped the flu! (I guess it was because I had the stupid flu some years ago..) but Lene had to keep her bed for some time. She has written a lot about our adventures in Paris, check it out! (She has a lot of pictures too!)
I had my agenda in Paris; Looking for bow, possibly a baroque bow and cello and find some black concert shoes (of the shiny, black sort. Laque?). It took some time, so all the touristy things I managed to do was: Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and walk around Montmartre and see the famous windmill on top of Le Moulin Rouge. Didn't even find Amelies little coffee shop... But I also wanted to save some for a more romatic trip back with Robert *sniggle*
My plan for the Paris tour was pretty successful. The perfect bow for my cello (I think. Still have to understand how it works properly) found me, but then my budget were blown so baroque cello and bow have to wait some years...
Lene and I went walking around to look for shoes and other artifacts, when we saw the huge shopping mole "Printemps". They have a whole floor only for shoes (mostly Gucci, Prada and other HUGE names) and there I did find my shoes! Of course, they turned out to be a pair of Dolce & Gabbana... Needless to say, I'm a happy girl :)



I have eaten escargots!


Lene had some time by herself when I tested bows, so she ended up in a very famous makeup store. This was the result!


Spot the space invader! They are all over Paris, but I wasn't really good at spotting them...

And back home, the week of Mahler 1 and audition preparations were awaiting...

Mahler was very exciting, in all aspects. And it didn't help being nervous for monday either. Sunday night I got another little practical joke made on me by my cello. It didn't want the endpin back in! So I had to leave it overnight in one of the dressing rooms.
And now I know this: I don't like the atmosphere when 30 nervous cellists are being forced to stay in the same tiny space for drawing a number!!
I didn't win this job either, but I got closer!

Location: In mums livingroom
Mood: Tired, confused and happy - going to Stavanger in a few hours!!
Drinking: White tea (not VERY expensive one, with several strange rituals around it)
Eating: Warm, crispy cheese toast
Listening to: Grandma watching TV upstairs

Picture gallery 1

Tromsø:



Doughnut-making with Grandma:


Christmas at Dad's:

Slovakia:

Oslo, by Akerselva where the beaver is living:


My "artistic"cellocase:

Time goes fast when having fun...

I have lots to put down in my blog, so now it'll all come in one big one. I think it'll be A' la Helene...


After coming to Stavanger on Monday I started to get acquainted with the baroque cello. I thought I had a mountain of time to spend on it, but on Thursday night I got a phone from a very stressed singer in Bodø who needed a cellist for their Sunday concert on "All Saints Day" (Allhelgensdag).
So, I left Robert back in Stavanger (I think he feels a little forgotten some times, since I leave him all the time...) and headed for the city who is a little north of the polar circle. On Friday I had a rehearsal with the Baroque ensemble at 12, but 14.15 I had to run off to catch the 15.30 plane. Unfortunately I didn't have a seat for my cello so Anders Moberg (a cellist in SSO) was so kind to lend me his flightcase. A cello to send always takes time, so I was very stressed to get to Sola Airport in time. Luckily the Friday rush-hour had not reached its peak yet (it usually gets pretty jammed on the roads around that time...) so since Robert offered to drive me there it was no problem at all.

I have to say that I find it a bit strange how they think about dangerous artifacts in the security check. They had absolutely no problems with 5 knitting needles...

18 I was in Bodø, got a ride from the not-anymore-so-stressed-singer to the church and warmed up before the evening rehearsal for "Kystrequiem". (Coast Requiem)
It turned out that a lot of my colleagues from the Music Conservatoire in Trondheim was playing in the orchestra (small ensemble, only 6 violins, 2 violas, 1 cello, 1 double bass, piano, perk, flute and trumpet), even the composer! And not to forget Ingvild. I was so happy to see her!!
Our conductor was a bit nervous; she had never conducted an orchestra before. I must say she did a lot better than many of the more experienced choir-conductors I've seen before. She did a great job!

When I was in Bodø, I thought I could drop by Paulines aunt and cousin. Aunt Arnhild was quite well despite her back problems, and she was very talkative. On Saturday night I went to eat with cousin Mart and his wife Tatjana. I had never met her before, and it's long time since I've seen Mart, so it was incredibly nice to talk to them! I learned a lot about "hellerisstninger" in caves around Bodø, about the Russian language, problems with Norwegian and music.
Later that night, all the musicians were invited for a bacalao party at Sveinars (the pianist) house. He had an amazing flat - it looked just like it was cut out of a magasine where they show a great retro style or how to make a flat feel open and full of space but at the same time keep the atmosphere warm.

Sunday before the concert, Ingvilds parents invited me to have dinner with them at their house. It was a super thing to do before the requiem. The concert wouldn't have felt as good as it did if I had to try to find a restaurant on my own (or with the other musicians in the hotel) and then probably stress about the time... Ingvild, you have a great family! (Just missed Margrete, but on the other had, I had lunch with her the week before.)

Monday (3rd of November) I had a very early flight. 6.50 is not really my favorite hour..
And when I got to Oslo airport it was foggy so of course the planes were not on time. Bjørn Pettersen called me when I was sitting there, half asleep."Hello Tonje. Where in the world are you?" I seriously got a fright. Did I miss the rehearsal with Kyrkjelyd now? It was originally planned to be from 10-13 and then again from 16-19 but it was postponed to 15. I thought I remembered this. But with that kind of call you don't feel secure about it anymore.. No, I wasn't late. It was Sirkka-Liisa whose plane from Krakow was late so he wondered if it would be ok to have rehearsal from 19-22 instead. Phew!!!!
It was a pretty pale cellist in the quartet that evening, even though I had a few hours of rest between my flights and the rehearsal. But it was great fun to play the Yano-Yanovsky piece!!
We were only the string players, so we made all these great plans that Mona (our soprano) were going to conduct us a bit. She got pretty anxious about that when we finally told her Tuesday morning. "..to ask a soprano to do such a thing! Yes, they are really known for their sense of rhythm..." She managed pretty well! I know for my self that I would have been lost quite a few times during our 5 concerts if she hadn't. To swap between 3:2, 6:4, 5:4 and 7:4 is not always very easy without conductor.

Wednesday, time for our first concert. It was to be held in Sola Ruinkirke, and all the players were put together in a tiny bus which Bjørn drove. That was the first time I saw all the musicians in the project. Well, I had met the Libaneese singers for 2 minutes before our first rehearsal in the Dom, but I don't count that one. There were 5 of them in the Byzantine Music Group of Lebanon, an American percussionist, and then the 5 of us. The bus was absolutely packed, and with an extra person (a sound-engineer student) with loads of equip ment and my huge cello case it got pretty crowded.
We had 5 concerts all in all, and with a lot of travelling time we got to know each other quite well. The churches were all very sweet and small, cold (with a slowly working heating system) but cozy - and we got some food and hot drinks for the break between rehearsal and concert. The numbers of audience was not very great, but never less than 24. (I counted!) And absolutely everything were documented, either by digital cameras, video cameras or stored as audio files on a computer. Sirkka-Liisa baptised this project as "the paparazzi-project". This was all due to the sweet Libaneese singers. They have a church choir at home (Libanon) with rehearsals 1-2 times a week and sings for sunday mass. (They are christian arabs! I got upset when I learned that they are not allowed to enter Jerusalem because of being arabs.)
Here you can see some of the ads for our project:

Music from the Middle East
Aftenbladet

The last concert was held in the Stavanger Dom. And quite a lot of people came to listen! Ilmari, Petro and Ivan came too. They are very supportive! (I know there might have been other musicians there too, but these were the only ones I saw...) And Robi of course! I was so happy that he liked the concert. I was a little ancious about it since it all were quite meditative, but I had nothing to worry about. Afterwords, we had to gather together at the restaurant calle Bevaremegvel. 21.45 came the waiter and asked to get all the orders straight away because the kitchen would close exactly at 22. Since we were only 4 people there (Sirkka-Liisa and me being the only musicians) we thought it better to move to another restaurant. Robert fixed it so we could be at the Italian one across the street. They held their restaurant open only for us (only demand from them was: only pasta or pizza to be ordered. Or salads. Which was fine by us.)
It was a grea t fare-well party. I'm only sorry that Hanako missed it, and that Carole, Robert and I all had to be at work early next morning so we couldn't party for long.

I know I have got some new friends for life, and a little bit wider horizon.

Thank you!!!

...and now I'm back in the Scandinavian mood again with orchestra rehearsals, rain and other every-day tasks. But it feels also incredibly nice to be back in SSO, even for only 1 week.

(pictures will be uploaded when I find my chord..)

Location: Stavanger, in Roberts borrowed flat
Mood: Nostalgic, but happy
Eating: Should have eaten hours ago
Drinkin: Nipping to coffee which I bought for Roberts birthday
Listening to: The fridge. Sounds tempting!

Stavanger, sweet Stavanger

I have been in Stavanger for almost a week now, and it feels SO good!
It was incredible to see my boyfriend again, and then also get a warm welcome back from the orchestra made it all even better.
I had the most fascinating travel over here on Monday. Early morning train, quite a lot of people - even in the "comfort" wagon, luggage (one bag with wheels), normal bag and two - 2 - cellos. One modern and one baroque. I felt like a very demanding traveler.
The instant I boarded the train, I was blocking the way for someone who had to walk past me. After that I didn't know how to organize myself and all my luggage. A very helpful man came to my rescue. He turned out to be the head of "Hove festival" (a huge rock-festival in the south of Norway). Apparently he had seen forlorn musicians travel before...
When the train was at its final station - in this case Stavanger - I had equal problems getting off the train. I didn't want to leave any luggage in the train, but on the other hand I didn't want to put any of the cellos, or my luggage, on the platform unattended either. Yet again I got help from a kind soul. This time a sweet girl who was getting home for a week of rest in her studies.
And then Robi came, and it was all ok.

Ah, I was thinking the weather in Stavanger was almost only wet during fall, but this morning we had to scrape the car-windows free from ice. Winter is coming! Feels great, but - oh so cold!

Location: Robis place in Hillevag
Mood: Exhausted after todays practice
Drinking: Nada, should have some water...
Listening to: The silence of the clock on the wall

The little house in the forest

Mum was going to have string quartet rehearsal. This meant the house would be occupied, and since Rob and I didn't have any program for the weekend Mum came with the brilliant idea: Why not take the car to the cabin?
(Robs car didn't leak any oil, by the way. We had an adventurous trip around Bærum to find a garage that could look at it. After a looooong time they told us they had a big problem with the car; they couldn't find any leakage anywhere. Hooray!)



We ran through the grocery store to buy some food, ran home to pack some clothes and then headed off for the cabin. We got directions from Mum and key from Grandma, so it couldn't go wrong.
I have not been at the cabin since I was maybe 15, and I know my aunt have made some changes - i.e made a road all the way up to the cabin. We found the new road (this is, mind you, in the middle of the forest, far away from anywhere...) and took all our stuff out of the car and walked up towards the cabin. The road was pretty wide, flat and free from grass. I was quite disappointed, because I remember the path as a narrow, little path full of ants. I was even more surprised when we found a barrack next to the road too, and then Rob saw the cabin. Or more precisely, he saw the three houses there. We had taken the wrong road!
We turned back to the car, drove some 50 meters back and found another road. I was so relieved when I saw the "road" (it was more or less a path which you can drive on), found the cabin and unlocked the door. (Didn't have any problems with it, even though Grandma told me it was ok to bang it a bit..) It was still the cabin I remembered! They'll expand the cabin with one more room, but that's on the back so I'm ok with it.
Anyway, we put our stuff in the cabin, got the fireplace started and then headed off to get some water. There is a well between the main road and the cabin, but in the darkness it was a little problematic to see the little track. To make a long story short - we had a great adventure! And we found lots and lots of mushrooms :)
Back home, with several litres of water, we thought a slice of bread would be nice. Well, we had both kaviar and liverpate in tubes, but no bread. We had forgot bread!! I found some flour, salt, sugar, cumin and baking soda (no yeast) in the cupboard so we made some bread for breakfast. A little hard, but still tasty.
In the morning (after making bread) we got out to pick up mushrooms. We found a lot of them, mostly too old and moshy ones, but also a lot of good ones. We also found tyttebær! (lingonberries, if you think in Swenglish) After that, a gourmet dinner of duck (made completely without any oil or butter, we'd forgot that too) with potatoes and fresh tyttebær-jam, outdoor, tasted incredibly yummie!



Our two days at the cabin were so refreshing! We had great walks in the forest, I practised and we had more than enough food (we even brought back the ingredients for tomatoe sauce. We thought of having it to the pasta that we forgot to buy...). I can recommend bacon and potatoes in the fire! (Put the potatoes, with skin, in the glowing coals and leave them there until they're done.)


Rob's making bread


A random Tonje-peeking-into-the-cabin-picture


The well, or "olle" as Mum say.


The view from the toilet!


My practice-room


Our drying-mushroom-carpet!

Home, sweet home

I had to get up a little too early yesterday to manage to do my packing AND enjoy the breakfast at the hotel before the bus left Kristiansand 08.00
As a musician I'm NOT used to such early hours... (especially not the day after a concert)
The bus travel was actually really exiting, thanks to the Olympic-final in handball between Russia and *tadaa* Norway. The bus-driver put the speakers on so we all listened to it.
I was pretty tired when I stepped out of the bus with cello, bag and rucksack with computer and clothes, but heading off for my a "hot-dog-birthday-party" (pølsebursdag) at Ingvilds place. Her son turned 1 and me and Robert were invited. Rob being in Slovakia still had some problems showing up ;P
They had decorated their backyard with balloons, tables with paper cloths and a big hot grill. They served hot dogs, cakes and jelly. It was so nice to see all the guests - family and friends (both with and without children) gathered together. And the wasps. I also managed to proof that yes, you can actually buy friends (with candy...).

When I finally came home I was totally dead. Struggling on and off buses through Oslo with all my stuff - especially my cello - is not easy. The local bus was crowded, and it's quite narrow. Of course there was a baby carriage there too. I ended up pretty jammed, and had to move my cello out of the way every time someone entered the bus...

Just now, I'm so happy to be sitting on my mums homemade terrace (she made it herself!) looking at the way-too-old apple trees who thought the burden of the summer rain to be too heavy and writing this new entry. Mum is soon finished with todays "Porgy and Bess" and Eivind is going to pick her up. He came home on a short visit, which took us completely by surprise. We were on our way up to Østernvann (you know Norwegians, always out for a stroll on sundays!) when he called. The whole family minus Rob will be home for dinner!
Home, sweet home!


Mum by Østernvann. It was a lovely day for "tur"


The terrace!


Here are the two unfortunate apple trees. I'm so sad because it's "åkerø" trees (they taste delicious!)