Quiet Moments at Home

Dear Friends,

As I write this—in the middle of the crazy month of January from The Hague in the Netherlands —we haven’t seen each other in quite a few weeks, since those electrifying performances of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons way back in the first weekend of December. I hope you caught that concert, because when this season is over, it is sure to rank high on my list of the year’s highlights. Wasn’t Elina Vähälä, our violin soloist for the Vivaldi, spectacular?

Here’s what I’ve been up to since then:

The Christmas holidays, in Vienna with my family, were very quiet and lovely, just as Christmas holidays should be. We didn't even travel for vacations.

I'm in The Hague right now to work with its Residentie Orkest. From here I come back home—finally—to Portland. I can't wait to get the Mendelssohn Midsummer Night’s Dream going, and I'm sure our audience will love MacMillan’s The Confession of Isobel Gowdie as well, an intriguing piece of music. (Or should I say: I’m sure our audience loved it, since, of course, by the time you read this, we’ll be done performing that music already. Either way, I hope you caught that concert, too!)

Right after that I have an overnight flight from Portland to Dublin, where I work with the Erieann Radio Orchestra. And from there I fly to Lahti, in Finland, where a big Berlioz piece (Romeo and Juliet) is waiting for me.

Vienna, The Hague, Portland, Dublin, Lahti. Sometimes the schedule of a classical musician works like that: five cities, on two continents, in 23 days. That’s why those rare quiet timeslike Christmas at home, just my family and me—mean so much to me.

Fondly,

Carlos

PS: February is always an exciting time for us because that’s when we announce our new season. We’re especially excited this year because we think the 2008-2009 season we’re about to unveil is an exceptionally good one. So stay tuned for the big announcement. You’re going to love it!