1977 piano recital (with audio)

In the hope that I might become a competent piano accompanist for the Notre Dame Glee Club during my undergraduate years (fall 1974 - spring 1978), it was suggested basically mandated that I take private piano lessons.  First teacher:  Denise Humphrey.  I liked working with her, a lot, and think I benefited from it.

Talented - and stylish.  April 22, 1977, Crowley Hall.

My Glee Club friend, Dave Kollar, also took lessons from Denise - maybe starting his sophomore year?  Unlike me, Dave hadn't had formal lessons going back to early grade school.  Also unlike me, he progressed very rapidly. 

Denise had the idea that we should do a recital in the spring semester of our junior year -  it was scheduled for April 22, 1977 (exactly 35 years ago).  Were we really competent to put this on?  Probably not - I just wasn't good enough technically to carry off a solo program.  But having a recital to work toward was quite exciting, and definitely helped give our practice time a focal point.  And the Glee Club conductor - David Isele - was incredibly supportive, even to the point of composing "F.L.C." - a duet certain to bring the concert to a thrilling conclusion (no matter what mediocrity type of performance might have preceded it).

Perfecting F.L.C.  A couple hours before the concert. April 22, 1977, Crowley Hall.

We feverishly prepared as the big day arrived - rented tux accessories, lined up a quarter keg, made party arrangements, encouraged bullied shamed invited friends to committing to attend.  And we practiced our piano pieces, I think.  Denise really made it happen, everything from lining up programs to making arrangements at the Crowley Recital Hall.  She did us a big favor simply by getting access to the recital hall for two folks who weren't music majors.

(As I'll write about separately, I was just getting to know my wife-to-be that very semester.  But I thought PJ might be too cool to attend a potentially sketchy event like this, and I also was afraid of getting turned down if I invited her.  So I didn't ask (but wish I would have) (except then I would have been even more nervous) (oh well).)

At any rate:  the evening turned out to be a thoroughly fine occasion.  My diary states: "Had an excellent crowd - probably 90 people, only about 75 chairs in the recital room - a good Moreau turnout even [I was living at Moreau that year]."   "[M]y Mozart was weak, Chopin good, Debussy excellent."  [So much for self-evaluation.  There were no diary comments on Kollar's performance, you can judge for yourself.]

Yeah, it also happened to be Kollar's 21st birthday.  Another reason to celebrate.

Apparently the fun continued for quite some time after the recital.  Reception was hosted by Isele (who was quite adept at hosting these things) - per diary, "had Coach-punch [I don't even want to know what the recipe might have been] and our 1/4 keg, sandwiches and good times . . . [Dave and I had] a Ho Jo [Howard Johnson's] breakfast with [Jim] Foster, [Nathan] Stone, Coach [Isele's then-nickname, apropos to ND] and John Hannan, emptied the keg at Grace [Hall - where Dave lived - I guess we lugged it back there, eluding the crack security guards?] and got to bed at 4:30, it was good."

As to the performance - I do remember very much enjoying performing - but also being very nervous about performing solo.  There were some quite-nice moments, and we weren't awful.  It was very helpful, and gratifying, to have a hugely supportive (if hand-picked) crowd. They got, at least, what they paid for!

Here's the ~60-second Isele composition that ended the performance in such zippity fashion ("F.L.C."):



The rest of the performance is also archived below (though I can hardly recommend listening to the whole thing - the bare recording can be somewhat un-enticing; I think you "had to be there" with the large crowd in a small room, soaking in the (let's say) "charming" non-music-major feel to the whole event, etc.)  I don't recall who made the recording - but I like having it even if the quality isn't so high.  I also include a copy of the concert program below. 

We did another recital in 1978 - it was an entertaining event in its own right - better venue, more varied audience, more duets (including a reprise of F.L.C.).  Will post that separately someday.

Performance clips (in order per the program below):

Hayden Sonata in C Major Allegro con brio (Kollar):


Hayden Sonata in C Major Adagio (Kollar):

Hayden Sonata in C Major Allegro (Kollar):
 Brahms Rhapsody in G Minor (Kollar):
Bartok - Bear Dance (Kollar):
Mozart Sonata in F Major K. 547A Allegro (Gales):
Mozart Sonata in F Major K. 547A Allegretto; Theme and Variations (Gales):
Chopin - Polonaise in C# Minor, Op. 26, No. 1 (Gales):
Debussy - Arabesque No. 1 (Gales):

Program:
1977 Recital - Crowley Recital Hall