A Frog, A Jaguar, A Concert and Rodrigo

Time to update you on some of Robin's activities over the past few weeks.
At the beginning of January he set off for Miami where he joined Crystal Serenity.
It was over a week before his first concert so there was plenty of time to adjust, and to enjoy the sunshine in Grand Cayman, before any serious practise started.
But daily practise is required whether it's a concert day or not.
As I've said before, Robin sometimes feels a little inhibited rehearsing in his room for fear of disturbing his neighbours with endless scales and arpeggios.
So if possible he finds a quiet place somewhere and takes himself off.

On one such occasion he was joined in the lift by an American couple.
As is often the case in lifts, either everyone stares straight ahead into a void of silence, or, someone starts a conversation.
The couple chose the later and asked Robin if there was a guitar in the case or was it a machine gun?
His reply, "It's a guitar but played like a machine gun, however today I'm just supplying elevator music."
He spends a lot of time with comedians...

I did receive some very enthusiastic emails from Cartagena, Colombia, as Robin had purchased a beautiful frog:



He was delighted with it and put his new friend on display in his room.
It was with some dismay that a few days later he found a small piece of wood on the floor.
Not a frogs leg but definitely its foot.
Luckily, as I have said before, no guitarist travels without superglue for those emergency nail repairs, so within minutes he had repaired the footless frog.
The next day a very sheepish and anxious housekeeper appeared uttering the words, "I'm very sorry Mr. Robin but I broke your frog."
Not a sentence he ever thought he would hear.
She was greatly relieved to see that no long lasting damage had been done.

After bird spotting through the Panama canal, and a day on the Pacific before arriving in Costa Rica, still no concert had been performed.
But, it was scheduled for that evening.
So there was only time for a quick trip into Caldera, in which Robin returned with a tray:




I must say that I was relieved that the concert had finally arrived.
The tension mounts gradually when away for so many days just waiting for concert day.
It went very well and the American couple discovered, that when required, Robin can in fact play the guitar like a machine gun....

After a couple of days at sea, a quick visit to Puerto Chiapas, Mexico, and some dolphin and sea turtle spotting off the coast of Acapulco, Serenity arrived in Cabo San Lucas.
Robin likes it there. You may remember this post involving an iguana and a sombrero.
This time there was no sign of the iguana but there was a rather splendid wooden jaguar head:



Or maybe you prefer this view:



Shopping aside there was work to be done.
After the success of the first concert Robin was asked to perform a second one.
As you know he is currently rehearsing Rodrigo's 'Concierto de Aranjuez' for a performance later this year.
He had also been spending time with Naki Ataman, a pianist Robin has met a number of times.
You can read about a previous meeting with Naki in this post, 'Dangerous Time in Los Angeles...'

A musical collaboration emerged when Robin asked Naki to join him onstage to perform an arrangement of Rodrigo's Adagio for piano and guitar.
The introduction:

"Normally I perform this piece with an orchestra but tonight I have replace them with the incredible Naki Ataman. Up until today we have only ever played tennis together."
It went beautifully and both audience and musicians were very pleased.

Eventually Serenity arrived in LA and Robin was required to dispose of some clothes in order to pack a jaguar head, frog, tray etc.
I am now left wondering where exactly we are going to put them....

Robin Hill and Izzy Cooper to Perform Rodrigo's 'Adagio'.

The QE2 spent a long time getting through the Panama Canal yesterday, as there appeared to be a lot of traffic.
Consequently, they didn't stop for a few hours in Cristobal, Panama, but continued on their way.

I did have a message from Robin that he was due in Cartagena, Columbia, later today, and that he was rather confused as he knew he'd been there before, and only a few weeks ago, but couldn't remember anything about it.
I couldn't either, so I searched the blog, and realised why we couldn't recall Cartagena, when I read this post.
He never went into town.

He may not this time either, although we'll have to wait and see.
The soprano singer, Izzy Cooper, has asked Robin perform one piece tonight in her concert.
They have met a few times before, and always got on very well, so he has agreed to play.
Cartagena may have to wait yet again. It's more than likely that rehearsals will be taking place.
The piece they are performing is Rodrigo's 'Adagio', the song version, which was arranged by Rodrigo himself.
Basically the voice replaces the Cor anglais and the guitar plays the original part.

I must say, I'm sure it will be beautiful, and I wish I could be there to hear it.
I'll let you know how it went.

Dancers' Dilemma

Well I don't have any pictures of Cartagena to show you as Robin didn't make it into the town.
This highlights the amount of committment required to perform in public at such a demanding level.
Rehearsal and practise always comes first.

Just before he was about to head off into town, to have a look around, the cruise director called.
The forecast for later that evening wasn't good.
A storm was brewing out at sea.
The show scheduled for that night was a group of dancers.
They can't perform if the sea is too rough. Dancing is difficult enough when the stage is stable, never mind if it's pitching and rolling in an alarming manner.
At least a guitarist is sitting on a chair...albeit a moving one.
So the cruise director put Robin on standby, to swop his concert from Saturday, to Friday.

Consequently he didn't go into Cartagena, even though it is one of the rare occasions that it is a port he hadn't been to, and, had told me earlier, looked very interesting.
Instead he stayed in his room, and cranked up the practise, to concert day level.

He didn't mind.
In some ways he was ready to get the first performance done.
It made for an uncertain day though.
Am I performing/aren't I performing.
He was told he wouldn't be informed until about 7pm local time.

The last I heard from Robin the sea was calm, but the decision hadn't yet been made.
He was assuming things were back to plan A, and the dancers would dance, and he would go through the whole pre concert preparation again tomorrow.

I haven't heard from him yet today.
But I guess that when he gets up, he will be getting on with some serious practise.
Even though Crystal Symphony is going through the Panama Canal today, he will just have to look at it through his window, as he gets on with his scales and arpeggios.

Cartagena - Colombia

Robin spent yesterday at sea, and used the time to practise and memorise, 'Cancion y Danza', by Ruiz Pipo.
He won't be playing it in concert on this trip, it needs to be firmly cemented in mind and fingers before a public performance, but he will quite likely introduce the piece into his repertoire very soon.

Today, Crystal Symphony has arrived in Cartagena, Colombia, and Robin is looking forward to going ashore.
From a distance it appears to be an interesting mix of old and new buildings and the area is famed for its emeralds.
The port itself is on the Northern coast of Colombia, with two old fortresses either side of the entrance to the harbour.

It's has been said that in years gone by, a huge chain was attached to each of the fortresses, remaining out of view under the water.
When a pirate ship was spotted, the chain was pulled up, ripping the bottom of the incoming ship, to protect the land from the pirates.

Luckily, no such problems today for Crystal.
I'm hoping for some nice pictures at some point and will pass them on when I can.