‘What!? But they won’t let you in!’ and ‘What!? But they’ll detain you at the border!’ and ‘What!? But they’re all nuts over there!’ were just some of the responses from friends and colleagues at my announcement that I was heading to the US for three and a half weeks’ work. But my visa was valid and accepted at passport control, I wasn’t thrown in jail, and the people whom I met and worked with were perfectly sane, perfect hosts and a perfect delight.
First up was the Minnesota Orchestra, where I conducted two concerts of my own music and more well-known works by Rachmaninov and Rimsky-Korsakov. Also on the programme was an excerpt from Wagner’s Parsifal. I was prematurely enraptured by Wagner before I was 12 and remember dragging my mum to see Götterdämmerung before I was out of short trousers. Every time I conduct any of Wagner’s music, I’m thrown back to those strange childhood encounters and the magic overcomes me all over again. In the same concert I conducted my ‘Woman of the Apocalypse’ which I originally wrote for Marin Alsop and dedicated to her, although I thought it best to explain to her at the time that it was not she who was the Woman of the Apocalypse.
Next up was the incredible choral organisation VocalEssence of Minneapolis. They have been directed by their founder, Philip Brunelle, these past 56 years. He gave me the opportunity to conduct the choristers for a couple of programmes. In one, a young South African soloist stole the show. There has been a steady stream of first-rate opera singers coming out of South Africa in recent years.
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