I Fell For André In Reading

                             

I realize that the title of this report may seem a little strange because all of you know that I fell for André several years ago when I first saw him on PBS; however, there is a funny story regarding this title.  More on that later.

 We left the house at 2:30 to get to Reading by 4:30.  Now we only live one hour from the venue but they told us to be there in time or we would not get in so of course I was very nervous about the time.  We arrived in plenty of time and spent some time across the street at Quiznos drinking Coke while I kept my eyes peeled on the Box Office door.  At 4:15 we decided to stand at the door, not knowing that all that time the doors were open and we could have gone in.  It was a beautiful summer-type day with blue skies – perfect weather for what would turn out to be a perfect evening.

At 4:30 Kerstin’s assistant (I am so sorry I forget his name but I was so nervous) came to meet us and gave us some hints of what was to come.  I saw those passes hanging on his arm and I just could not wait to get it around my neck!  He said “follow me and we will go to see André at the sound check”.   You know what is happening but it is so hard to get your mind around it and of course my body wasn’t getting it at all because I could hardly walk due to my knees shaking.  We walked into the concert hall and our guide said “there is the Maestro practicing on his violin”!  I looked and didn’t see him at first but he was sitting up front with his beautiful violin and then I saw him from the back.  We followed our guide up to the front and he told us to sit anywhere we would like.  Well of course we all took the third row directly across from André. (There were 4 of us at this point; 2 joined us later).  André looked over and waved to us and he walked toward the stage for the start of the sound check.  I watched as he changed from his beige jacket to the traditional blue jacket.  I took some photos of all this which you will see.  All of a sudden I heard the JSO playing the beautiful waltz “Gold and Silver”.  It was thrilling to hear this in an empty hall and André was playing the violin with them.  After this he walked to the back and the Platin Tenors came out and sang a little from Puccini that they will do in the concert.  The sound in that hall is tremendous and I was hoping they would do the entire song but of course when André was satisfied with the sound he cut them off.  Mirusia and Carla sang a few notes but it did not take long before André was happy with the sound so that was the end of the sound check.  Oh, almost forgot that they played Espana Cani and the “bull” came out but it was so funny because they did not have the bottom part of the costume on and all you could see were these legs (they were wearing shorts) walking down the hall.  It was so funny.

  After that we followed our guide as he announced he would take us to dinner.  I was thinking we would probably have a little room in the back and would be treated to drinks and finger food.  Well I almost had a fit when we followed him into the dining room where André and the JSO were having dinner.  We were told to get in line and feel free to take as much food as we wanted.  Well you know me, when excited the first thing to go is my appetite!  But I got in line and in front of me was Carla.  She immediately started talking to us and said it was so nice to see us there.  I find she is very pleasant and friendly.  So we had a nice conversation as we waited with our plates.  Just then André walked by us.  I said “hello André” and he said “hello – bon appetite”.  He then went to his table.  The food was absolutely out of this world.  They had Weiner Schnitzel, stew which was really pieces of roast beef with peppercorn, Tilapia, all kind of vegetables and so many things I probably missed.  I took only a piece of beef and a veggie and a bottle of water.  By now my mouth was so dry I could hardly talk.  It was a hot day, about 93 (very unseasonable for us) and it was very warm in the rooms backstage.  Clyde took full advantage of the food and had seconds of dessert.  Kerstin’s assistant sat with us as well as Kerstin and we had a nice conversation with her.  She told me all about her new baby.  She said the hardest part of touring is missing the family.  She told us that this concert was not sold out and we were all discussing the affects of the economy.  Clyde asked about Central Park and Kerstin told us that it is still on the table but the logistics are enormous and the set is really too big for the area.  She told us that Toronto was the only venue in which the full Schoenbrunn could be set up. I told her we were at those two concerts and the set looked absolutely stunning when you walked in and could see the entire castle.  Kerstin also said that regarding Central Park the permitting is difficult but she also said that if it is possible André will do it. 

Someone in the group mentioned how healthy André has been and Kerstin said that he has not been ill for the past 30 years.  She also told us that they do not know what they would do if anything would happen to André because they have no one else.  He is the show.  She then proceeded to tell us that André enjoys landing airplanes on his I Phone, so when she cannot find him she knows that he is landing planes.

After the dinner we were escorted to the PBS Meet and Greet where we joined our friends Nan Cole from Tampa and Jolanta Szulc from New Jersey.  We talked about an hour and met with some of the JSO, Els Mercken and Klaartje Polaan.  This was Nan’s first time in Pa. and she was having so much fun.  Jolanta had never been to the Sovereign Center so they were both in for a wonderful concert.

 We found our seats and waited for that all familiar “76 Trombones” to begin.  No matter how many times you hear this it is always a heart stopping thrill.  We had aisle seats so – you guessed it – high five number 3!!  Nan was also high fived and was just so happy and I was happy for her.  All of you know the program by now so I will not elaborate due to the length of this report.  So many things happened that night and I wanted this to be all inclusive.  I did not look at the program which Kerstin had given us earlier so I did not know he was playing “Intermezzo Sinfonico” but this is such a beautiful song so I filmed it with my camera.  Carla was just so cute with her “Lied von Olympia”.  “My Heart Will Go On” was just heart stopping and it was so much fun watching the girls do the Clog Dance.  Here is where the strange title of this report comes in.  During “Musik, Musik” Frank takes Polaroid photos of André and hands them to André who in turn throws them onto the floor.  Well I knew this ahead of time and I jumped out of my seat and the photo landing in front of me but then rolled to my right at which time I went to turn and my heel slipped out from under me and I landed flat on the floor, thankfully on my fanny.  All I could think of was how embarrassing this is and then Joe Fabrizio who was sitting next to us put his hands under my shoulders and picked me up from the floor.  Photos were still flying from the stage as I made my way to my seat with the picture still in my hand.  I thought I am not losing this since I really worked hard for it!!  So you can see how I really fell hard for André this time.  The remainder of the concert was just as wonderful as always.  He did not play “Elyen a Magyar” which is listed in the program and left out “Marina” during the encores.  I was having camera problems again and will be getting a new one in the not too distant future.  Luckily I had my sister’s camera as a backup.  The concert ended too soon as it always does but we had such a ball!  Oh!  forgot to mention that right after Carla’s number she was clowning with André and I missed what happened but André dropped his bow and it landed on the stage.  He didn’t look too happy about that but took it with a smile.

But we still had more to come as we met Kerstin at the entrance to the concert hall.  We were escorted to the same room and there was a large table with champagne and they were also set up with finger food along the side of the room. André was there and welcomed us with a handshake and we took our seats at the table.  I know I sound very cool and collected about all this but believe me I was anything but calm at the time!  We drank a little bit of champagne but I still could not eat anything.  I was going to get some meatballs when I saw André approaching our table and I just stopped dead.  I thought ‘forget the food and stay where you are.’  André again shook our hands and I sat down.  I thought I had better sit before my knees completely turned to jelly.  He talked to us for a while and then Clyde said “André, Jeanine is taking violin lessons for over a year” (I would have never opened my mouth about this) and he seemed impressed and I watched his eyes and they immediately went straight to my left hand to see if I had no fingernails to speak of as a way of checking out if this was a true story.  He said “a year, huh?” and I said “yes” and he said “well, when you make music it is a better and happier world”.    I am really dying inside while all this is going on.  Then André said “enjoy your drinks and then we will make some pictures”.  We also noticed André finger on the right hand was bruised and he told us that was from holding the bow so long.

 They started to set up the curtain for the photos and we all took our turns for this fantastic event.  André put his hand firmly around my arm and I didn’t know what to do with my other arm so I put it around his waist.  It was wonderful to be that close and I was hoping they had a slow photographer.  But the nice thing is I got to do it again because they took the photo with me,  André and Clyde and then Clyde (not being a shy person) asked André if he would allow another photo with just him and me.  André gladly obliged so I found myself back beside him.  You can only imagine how I am feeling about this time.  It seemed so surreal at the moment but I surely thought about it all night.

In conclusion I just want to tell you a little about the conversations we had with Frank Steijns, Mirusia, Bela, Tomas and Gary who were at our table.  Clyde mostly talked with Tomas about his son and his home.  We both talked with Mirusia about the Aussie bushfires and her home and family and I spoke at length with Frank about violins.  Mirusia told us that when she was growing up she would sing a question or comment rather than talk and I thought that was kind of neat.  Bela has this adorable dinosaur “Johnny” which he saw in Japan and then ordered it through the internet.  I think it just came recently and it was made of rubber and moved his body and opened his little mouth and you could put your finger in his mouth and it would try to bite.  He was having lots of fun with that.  

We picked up our photos which André was kind enough to autograph once they were dry and also a DVD gift.  We thanked Kerstin for her hospitality and once again we shook hands with André and bid him farewell as I floated out of the room.  To say that my dream has finally come true is really an understatement but this is one night I will never forget and as André says in his concerts “this is the most beautiful night of my life”.

Jeanine Ann on Featured Fans
(more photos)