Back in Australia, I picked the ball up again. University started up in February. I had two years to pass everything that had slipped by me a year earlier, but now I was living back in the family house, paying a little rent to Mum, and taking a good hour to get to Uni on two trams. I was getting up early, studying in various libraries and socializing in a more civilized way. I began rowing regularly in the two-man double scull, and playing in the chamber orchestra again.
Exams went better this year, passing everything but Economic History, because I studied almost enough.
In the meantime, the big spark was that I had started playing viola, taking lessons with Marco Van Pagee. I learnt to read alto clef while doing my first quartet gigs (some quite interesting) on viola. At one point I found myself talking to Michael Hutchence while we did the music video for his side-band: Max Q... He was then 29 years old. We would play at his 30th birthday party the following year, where I caught Danish super model Helena Cristensen pinching him on the arse, while winking at me.
On another occasion, I shared the stage, miming, with John Farnham... I played on Hey Hey It's Saturday, once with the band: Noiseworks, ... (and on Count Down) and another with Johnny Bowles from Young Talent Time, who must have been trying to get his career going again.
I commissioned a viola from Queensland luthier Ian W. Clarke for $3,900 which would arrive the following year. So I was now clearly serious about playing the viola. I made-do playing an instrument borrowed from Marco, and spent $1800 on a viola bow.
It promised to be a quiet year. I was now a contemplative 21 year old, settling into a more normal life of study and classical music after last year's exhausting adventures. I began playing background music jobs on viola with various quartets, and established my own quartet business, all to finance the purchase of the new viola which I would play for five years before finding one of the sought after violas by Arthur Smith, which I would play for 30+ years.
1990: Final year of Uni - should have been quieter
I'd painted myself into the corner of having to pass all of my subjects this year to graduate. It seemed possible, if I could just keep my musical activities to a minimum this year.
The Como's were going to do Edinburgh again and wanted me to come, but I really couldn't this time. I did however get the bus to Adelaide one weekend in March to rejoin them for a couple of shows at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Very, very fun. I loved it so much.
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| On stage Adelaide (photo by Julia Summerling) |
Studies continued to go well, then the phone rang one afternoon, still in March. The Australian Opera wanted me to play the role of 'Gipsy Violinist' in a production of the widely beloved operetta: "The Gipsy Princess" by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálman, to be conducted by Richard Bonynge (Dame Joan Sutherland's husband).
The salary was $500+ per week, two month rehearsal schedule would be loose, and the 17 ! shows were mostly at night time of course, so I thought I could make it work. I'd offered to sell my Dad's Renault Fuego for him, which was leaking oil, so a bit hard to offload. While I had it on the market, I drove it back and forth at great speed between the University and the Arts Center in an attempt to avoid missing too many lectures.
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| Peter Bucknell : Gipsy Violinist |
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| Backstage at the Victorian Arts Center |
While I was working at the Arts Center in my boots, mustache and wig, during intermission I would occasionally go downstairs to visit my orchestra colleagues. During the show they could hear me playing my gipsy violin solos on stage, and this served as kind of an audition for the orchestra, and in July the manager sent me contracts for two operas which meant more schedule juggling in July and August. At this point I was still quite busy playing viola in the young chamber orchestra and doing those well paid 'background gigs.'
Then in August of 1990 the Como Quartet sent me a postcard from London. They had lined up a six week run at a theatre in Melbourne near the end of the year, thankfully that was after my exams would be all done.
My family breathed a sigh of relief when results were published. I had actually done well in my exams this time around. In my last exam, one of my pals shook his head and laughed when he saw my dinner suit hanging on the wall next to me, my violin under my chair. I had to leave the exam early to run to channel 9 studios for a gig.
I graduated alongside my little sister, same degree, but a year extra needed.
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| Peter, Jennie, Dad, Helen |
"We just wanted to meet you."
At the end of 1990, I celebrated my freedom from academia with my friends in The Como Quartet who were back in full swing for the six week run at the Stitches Theatre. We rehearsed quite a bit as the formation was slightly different now. I moved over to viola, and we added an untrustworthy Hungarian violinist and the lawyer, Nick Galloway, had just done the hard work of an Edinburgh Festival and the offshoot gigs. It was a good group, auto-abusive as always especially with the new guy, who I remember playing so badly out of tune one night that the audience started to laugh.
The repertoire at this stage had expanded from the old 1988 favorites: Eine Kleine, Bolero, Tango, Pachelbel, Old MacDonald, Wipe Out, La Paloma, to a Carmen rap, The Devil came down to Georgia, a Hungarian Dance.. actually it had not expanded much at all.
Anyway, that was 1990 in a nutshell.
January 1991: The Melbourne Symphony
If I had felt like a tourist in the world of viola playing until now, I was about to begin earning my citizenship.
I enrolled myself in the inaugural Master Course for Strings in Adelaide, led by the original iteration of the Australian String Quartet along with Jan Sedivka. It was mostly quartet coaching, but with a side of solo masterclasses, performances and some lectures. I played some solo Bach for Keith Crellin, and also in a high level quartet. We played schubert's Death and the Maiden in coachings with Bill Hennesy. I felt truly inspired and encouraged.
Back in Melbourne, I'd moved out of home and into a house with three girls, one was sane, the other two not. The more neurotic one was in her sixth year or Med, which explains it.
My viola practice took on my typical obsessive attitude and by April I'd done a successful casual audition, orchestral excerpts and all, for the Melbourne Symphony that took place on the Concert Hall stage, meaning that it was broadcast through the house speakers. I was now 23y/o. I'd also begun playing gigs in the Australian Pops Orchestra. Terrific fun, and I sat next to my teacher Marco who was leading the section.
I'd also started my own concert series, getting together some fine young players to join me for a Trout Quintet, a Mendelssohn Octet and we had a Beethoven Piano Trio too. We performed three times, so... like a mini tour. Everyone relished the opportunity and wanted to do more, but for me it was too labour intensive. I had to go door to door with everyone I knew to sell the tickets in advance. We had a full house, and a lot of people were very impressed.
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| The Players: Mendelssohn Octet in Melba Hall |
The Australian Pops Orchestra was chosen to perform with Pavarotti when he came to town, and later with Josep Carreras (with whom I would play again 35 years later in Barcelona, only an octave lower). Very fun playing with these superstars. Pavarotti was right in front of me on stage, so I could see the mechanics of the chopped apple in his handkerchief that he sucked on to stay moist.
The Return of the Como's: Adelaide Fringe '91
The Adelaide Fringe Festival came around in July/August and we had a big theatre venue booked for the entire run. It came with the best publicist I have even known. We had rave reviews in every publication in the state of South Australia.
I don't know who was controlling the personnel but a couple of guys were back on the bench and I was the violist again. Also, shoe on the other foot, members of the Australian String Quartet were coming to see us play.
The Lion Theatre made the mistake of making the Como bar tab gratis. They made a loss because of that. So we spoilt it for everyone, but they should have done their research. It was well know that the quartet had the thirst.
At this point I was dating the girl who was the new second violinist in the Australian String Quartet.
Later that year, in December, we came back to Adelaide as special guests of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra for a huge family concert. When I (Irving) had the melody in the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto, Hung shouted "Viola Solo" and everybody, including the orchestra, tried to run off stage (twice). Good gag.
We also got to perform that famous overture with three vacuum cleaners and a floor polisher, but no firearms. Irving's (my) tie got sucked into my vacuum at one point.
For an encore the orchestra played a piece that I wrote called "the ending" which was just a montage of all the endings of all the pieces of all the composers... But I still wrote it.
This may have been my last hurrah with the Como's, but Hung, I would work with again.