I think I see from a distance.... no car. Jestingly I say to Kim, “Stolen”. It happens so often that you don’t see it at first sight, but it’s always there after all. Well... not so this time. No car. It must have been towed away. I’d read something on the internet about parking in Prague, about the blue zones, only for residential. We go to the nearest police station to find out where it has been towed to, where we can pick it up. I am hoping it won’t be as expensive as in Amsterdam.
After a few hours waiting in the police station, (the Prague police are in no hurry), they come to announce in their best English that the car has not been towed away. “Car is stolen” a lady proclaims with a think ‘L’ in a heave Slavic accent. It was quite a nice Volkswagen Passat that I bought only two months ago. I have to say here that Kim and I are quite good in putting things into perspective. We joke to each other, “they have good taste, they’ve selected a nice car”. According to the police it takes the pro’s only twenty seconds to steal it. Unfortunately all of my scores, our clothes and concert clothes, and our speaking Europe guide that consults the satellites were in the car. Among the scores are the pieces I have to conduct next week, Bruckner third symphony, version 1889 and a new work from a Romanian composer, Ede Terenyi, who’s score not even exists in print yet. All the markings in red and blue, with the special Faber Castel pencils that one can only buy in Germany, show the hundreds of hours of work that are saved in these stolen scores.
Bruckner revised his symphonies regularly. The insecure composer was always busy to improve his works. The modest man wasn’t aware of his genius, being of humble origin. It would be quite a treasure-hunt to find the right score here in Eastern Europe. I know the orchestra in Romania only has the orchestral parts, not the conductor’s score. Full of courage and hope we begin the search for another score. We used most of the day to deal with all necessary duties that are required when a car is stolen. Most of these duties we achieve from the police station where we find a wireless internet connection. The score search starts with a phone call to the London management of a famous Czech conductor, Jiri Belohlavek. I realise how small and connected the classical music world is. No luck there, he is conducting in the States. Another option would be an acquaintance, the Prague cellist Michal Kanka. However, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague looks like a better first option. I call the orchestra and speak to the librarian, to find out if they have Bruckner third symphony in the 1889 version. More luck there. They have a few Bruckner Three’s but none of them state the version. The friendly and helpful lady will leave all these scores at the stage door administration desk. After finally finishing all the formalities at the police headquarters we start walking through the historic city to Prague’s principal orchestra.
To be continued, Stay Tuned.....
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