There is a story about Rostropovich, the great Soviet cellist, who, suffering from the consequences of jet lag and vodka, fell asleep during the long orchestral introduction of the Dvorak Cello Concerto in front of an audience of 3,000 Japanese. Miraculously, half a bar before his entrance he woke up and had enough presence of mind to turn to the conductor and say: “It vas so-o bew-ti-fool, play it again.”
Performance mishaps are part of the biography of every concert artist and they are what inform the story of Toby Hausner, the main character of Ann Ireland’s latest novel, The Blue Guitar. He suffers a breakdown on stage in an important Paris guitar competition. Lapses from a seasoned and loved performer are not only forgiven by their audiences but welcomed: they are the “if” factor of a live performance and an oddly intimate gesture, a comforting reminder that the infallible artist up on the stage is, after all, human. But breaking down in a competition is...
Deborah Kirshner is a professional violinist and award-winning writer. She has written several features for The Walrus and her last book, Mahler’s Lament (Quattro Books, 2011), is a work of historical fiction. She also co-hosts the music program “Classical Underground,” broadcast live on CIUT radio.
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