Dinata Misovec

We lost the phone again this morning.  We searched the motorhome and the car, but could not find it.  I blamed Andy.  He blamed me. I had a medical appointment in Key West.  It is a fifty-mile drive for us.  When the appointment was over, we went to Golden’s Deli for lunch again so I could get another lox and bagel fix.

Then, we made a quick stop at the auto body shop to see if our new tire had been delivered.  We couldn’t call them because we still had not found the phone. We were driving out of Key West when the phone rang.  It was in the car somewhere, but we still couldn’t find it.  Fortunately, I could answer it with the car.

It was Joyce Peckman, President of the Florida Keys Concert Association, calling from New Jersey.  What was she doing in New Jersey, anyway?  There was a crisis, not in New Jersey, but in Islamorada where Frederick Moyer was scheduled to play tonight.  He had arrived and was setting up for the concert when he realized that he had left his “screens” in San Pablo church in Marathon.  He had also left his foot pedal in his hotel room in Grassy Key. (More on that later). I told her we could pick up the forgotten items and take to them to Islamorada so Fred could practice rather than drive around all afternoon.

A few minutes later (while we were waiting for our coffee at Baby’s) Marcia Kreitman, one of our major volunteers in Islamorada called.  She put Fred on the phone.  He described where the screens were in the back room of San Pablo. He said he would call his hotel and have them get the foot pedal from his room and have it for me in the office. Gosh, he was so grateful. You’d think I was saving his life.

Well, we were saving his concert!  The screens were what I described last night.  The white sheet of plastic sticks to the underside of the piano top.  The video of the keyboard is projected onto the white plastic and everyone in the audience gets to see his flying fingers on the ivories. I didn’t mention the orchestra last night.

When he plays Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, he has a digital orchestra accompanying him.  It is not a recording of a real orchestra, though. The orchestra’s performance was created from “sampled sounds”.  What?  A man in England, whose name I have forgotten, has collected notes (as in do re me) from professional musicians.  He has a library of every instrument playing every note in every possible way.  To create the digital orchestra’s performance, he programmed the notes from the written music.  I don’t know how.  And this is where the foot pedal comes into play. Frederick starts the orchestra-playing program with the foot pedal. His hands are busy on the piano keyboard.  So, without the foot pedal, it would not be a concerto.  It would be Frederick Moyer playing the piano part.

Continuing with our trip.  We drove on to Marathon, drinking our Baby’s Coffee mocha lattes.  We made a quick stop for breakfast fruit in Publix and picked up our mail from the UPS store.  Another quick stop at the motorhome to put the fruit away and make a quick change to nicer clothes (the same stuff I wore last night at the concert in Marathon). Then, we picked up the movie screens off the grand piano in San Pablo Catholic Church.  Frederick had given me specific details on how to handle them. The sheet plastic felt something like a very nice shopping bag. Our next stop was Gulf View Resort on Grassy Key for the foot pedal.  It was waiting for me at the front desk. On to Islamorada.

The concert venue there is also in a church.  We have passed it many times but had never been there.

The building used to be a movie theater.  It is perfect for a concert.

Frederick Moyer was practicing when we walked in.  He was so happy to see us! More happy to get his screens and foot pedal.

After delivering the goods and chatting a bit, he got back to work.  We took seats in the front row. I didn’t think he would need to practice so much; he gave a virtuoso performance last night.  Practice, practice, practice.  I guess that’s what makes him a real professional, perfectionist pianist. It was fun to watch.  He flipped through each piece of music on his computer and played selected passages over and over until he was happy with them, and then moved to the next selection and repeated the “practice”.

We were so close, I didn’t even have to use much zoom. When he finished, we walked to the lobby and he gave me one of his newest CDs, which has the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 2 on it.

I made a stop in the ladies room and discovered a new sight.  There were small black stones in the sink. It was strange, but also very cool.

I took this picture of the auditorium as I walked back in.  Andy is sitting there in the front row.

When the concert patrons began arriving, a slideshow appeared in front.  They ran through photos of this season’s performers.  This shot is when Moyer’s picture came up.

This is a bit before the concert began.  Everyone had not arrived or been seated at that point. Poor Andy, in the front row, is a bit out of focus. Note the elderly lady two seats over in the white jacket.  She is 102 years old and quite a celebrity with the Islamorada crowd.  It seemed as though most of the patrons stopped by to greet her.  She is also a founding member of the synagogue. To her left, also out of focus, is John Cooper’s wife.  John is a very big man and she is very petite – and goes by the name of Mini Cooper!  Too funny.

Yes! We were invited to sit in the front row with the big donors.  That was a great reward!

John Cooper gave the introductory remarks and introduced Frederick Moyer.  John is a past president of the concert association and the current treasurer.

Before Frederick Moyer began his concert, he thanked Andy and Dinata for saving the day and bringing him his needed equipment. Note that fine plastic screen stuck to the piano with static.

Last night, I posted that I liked the Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 14 (Moonlight Sonata) best. I loved it again tonight.  The big surprise was the Rachmaninoff concerto, which did not move me last night.  Tonight, I was caught up in the music and swept away with it. It was enough to make me cry, but I didn’t really. I was deeply moved by the music though.  I told Moyer that after the concert and he quietly responded, “I played it much better tonight”.

After the line of concert patrons greeting and complimenting Moyer had gone down, we posed for a picture.  There was a bright light right by Andy’s head, so I did some crude Photoshopping on it.  Don’t look too closely.  Just note, Frederick Moyer smiling with two of his new Best Buds!

 

Don’t take my word for how awesome he is .  Check out the “Applause” tab on his web page.  http://www.frederickmoyer.com  And, by all means, don’t miss this totally cool video:

Schumann: Sonata No. 4 (Sketch): First Movement

http://www.frederickmoyer.com/Schumann/4d3ba35f1c84f/