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The Team: |
My journey started in Boise, Idaho at 8:35 am. I flew to Portland where I had an hour and a half layover. From Portland I flew to L.A. where I met up with Don (the composer) and Rich (producer and director). We had lunch at Cheers in LAX. Our route to Amsterdam, on KLM Airlines, took us over Nevada, Wyoming, South Dakota, The Hudson Bay, the southern tip of Greenland, across the Atlantic over Ireland then into Amsterdam. The flight took 10 hours. Since we were flying east, night lasted about two hours. The windows were closed so those who tried hard enough could sleep. I did not fare so well, perhaps napping for 20 minutes total. A
movie was shown, “You've Got Mail”, and two meals were served. I had
lasagna for dinner, and for breakfast fruit and yogurt. We landed in Amsterdam at 11:20 am
local time. The airport there is very clean and modern. We had a layover of 1.5 hours. The
waiting area for the flight to Budapest was very small and the flight was full, so with no
seating available, we sat on the floor to wait. Don continued with his final corrections
to the score. I read “A Clear And Present Danger.” |
The flight to Budapest from Amsterdam took 1 hour 50 minutes. We arrived in Budapest at 3:15 PM Monday. The new Budapest airport had only been open for 3 or 4 days before we arrived. We had to wait in line to show our passports before collecting our luggage. All our luggage arrived safely.
We were greeted at the gate personally by David Kiraly, the proprietor of Kiraly Music
Network, (KMN) the man responsible for contracting the musicians, the room, and the
recording engineers. He is medium height, dark hair, glasses, and is very amiable. Along
with him was his assistant and our beautiful and talented interpreter, Szidonia Juhasz.
Don rode with David while Szidonia, Rich, and I took a taxi to our apartment provided by
KMN. This turned out to be a charming 3 room (plus bath and tiny kitchen) apartment
located on Endrodi Sandor Utca. Our windows opened to a downhill view of part of the city
and a lovely yard and flower garden. My first impression was of the many varieties of
strange and beautiful bird song. This morning while I write the air is filled with all
kinds of song. There is a 3/4 moon above the city.
David and Szidonia left us at 2:00 p.m. to allow us time to settle into our new surroundings. We immediately set to work on proofing and correcting the final orchestra parts. About 6:45 p.m. David and Szidonia picked us up and took us to a nice restaurant, Pilvax. Here we met with the recording engineer and producer, the father and son team of Istvan and Balint Biller. After introductions were made all around and orders taken, we commenced discussing the plan for the sessions. Balint presented us with a sample layout with mic types, placement, etc. Also discussed were interpretation and time use. Szidonia handled the dialog with great skill. For dinner I ordered roast duck with Czech dumplings and kraut. The kraut was red and had a very distinct, delicious taste. A local red wine was excellent and packed a punch. Since it was Easter day David’s wife, son, and mother joined us. It was a very successful business dinner. All left in anticipation of the next day’s sessions.
Clockwise beginning in forefront: Istvan Biller (engineer), Biland Biller (assistant), Matyas Antal (conductor), seated next to his wife and two children, the waiter, David Kiraly's wife and David (producer), seated next to his parents, David Earnest (copyist), Szidonia Juhasz (translator), and Don Caron (composer)
After dinner we walked around
downtown in the Vorosmarty square. Szidonia explained that it was the main tourist section
of town (very old and beautiful buildings). Some of the businesses were still open at
10:30 PM. An old, kerchief clad woman approached me on the street selling flowers. I gave
her $2 for a small bouquet and presented it to Szidonia as a gesture of friendship. She
was pleased. We also went to a small grocery and picked up some bread, juice, and milk (in
a bag!) for breakfast. After this David dropped us off at the apartment. Szidonia stayed
and waited while Don finished correcting most of the score so she could drop off what was
finished for the conductor to have the next morning. She took a taxi home and we crashed
after a very long 48 hour day.
