Train Wreck

I went to Ballet West's Nutcracker last night with Golda and Ruby (because we just can't get enough of it!).  Peggy Wheelwright, a violin teacher, had her group performing in the lobby before the ballet.  They were all dressed in matching pink-and-black holiday dresses and suits, and they sounded very good.  Even the tiniest ones were cranking out the holiday standards, embellished by the taller and more experienced players with their riffs and turns.  Ruby commented, "If that's not Suzuki, I don't know what is."

The well-mannered, buttoned-up little musicians were exactly what I had in mind for my little herd of kids, before I had kids and still knew everything.  I can't say we're there yet, but I can say with confidence that we probably never will be.  We had to put together an ensemble for Golda's Family Flute Recital.  Her teacher suggested Scott on the bells, but really, for as much money as we spend on lessons, someone in the Dopp family should be able to come up with a few measures of Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella without having to resort to Golda and a one-man bell choir.

You would think!  After procrastinating for most of November, I finally figured out an arrangement that seemed pretty painless for everyone.  That's when the quarreling broke out.  Golda and Ari both wanted to have the melody the entire time.  I remember enough from six semesters of music theory to know that 120 measures of flute and cello playing in unison, or an octave apart, is not good harmony.  I repeatedly explained to Ari that this arrangement is for a flute recital and it's OK for her not to be the star.  Nothing I said had any impact on her thought process.  She plays for 16 measures and pouts for 104.

Golda, in a similar vein, keeps saying, "Maybe Ari could stop like, three measures sooner."  Ruby, on the other hand, finally admitted that she was playing badly on purpose in hopes that I would kick her out of the project.  Freestone has been a good sport, but Ptolemy and Tziporah add way too much screaming to the mix.  Xanthe has managed to stay out of the fray on this one.  Her piano skills are not quite advanced enough to accompany this bickering bunch.

Scott caught some of our little practice on camera today.  Fortunately, he missed the rehearsal where I was shouting, "Just do what I say!  I'm the one with the music degree!"  And he missed a whole segment of Ari playing really loud, trying to just take over the melody by brute force.  He missed a lot of arguing about who isn't counting and who needs to practice more and who stole Ari's wallet.  (Huh?)  He missed Freestone wandering off every time he had a rest.  What the camera also didn't record, because it never happened, was a whole family of young musicians in matching outfits with squeaky-clean hair, playing beautifully in harmony and complimenting each other in British accents.

Curse reality!  I'm hoping for a Christmas miracle tomorrow at the recital.  Worst case scenario, Ari can just play the whole song alone.  You know what would have been better?  Scott playing the bells.