Ever personally met a famous Artist / Conductor?

[Octo_Russ]

I have to admit that i have not, but i would be interested in other peoples brush with the famous on this board.

Pianist, Violinist, Conductor, Opera Singer, even Composer!

I'm not talking about one of the many disc signing events, more of a one to one experience, what were they like?, really funny?, friendly?, pompous?, obnoxious?.

[False_Dmitry]

I work in the profession, in a modest way.  I am not going to drop names, but I have generally found that the people who rise to the top are mostly hard-working, dedicated, inspired by what they do, have a deep sense of responsibility to audiences, and are pleasant and charming people.  The idea of a world of "artistic" (ie capricious) or troubled personalities is not based on fact.  98% of the performers I've worked with (mainly in opera-houses, alhough not exclusively) have been outgoing, friendly, likeable people.  The pressures of getting shows together on ever-shorter rehearsal schedules* mean there's no room for unreasonable behaviour or flouncing around - those who do so mysteriously find themselves not asked back again, generally.  That doesn't mean that a few of them aren't a bit larger-than-life, though

* when I started in this business, in the 1980s, a new show usually had six weeks of rehearsals (it was assumed that the singers would have learned their notes before that).  This has been slowly cut down to three weeks as the norm in most places these days - although Glyndebourne remains the happy exception.

[some guy]

Yes.

And my experience has been the same as False_Dmitry's. I said for a long time that Cage was the sweetest person I had ever met. I still think that's true, but now that I hang out with composers and performers all the time, I don't say it nearly as often!

And first impressions aren't always very accurate, either. I thought Francis Dhomont looked and acted very forbidding, and that Åke Parmerud was aloof and unapproachable. Hahaha.

Wrong.

[Sergeant Rock]

It's too bad Iago is no longer with us. He met some of the greats working at Tanglewood.

Sarge

[jochanaan]

My experience has been the same as False_Dmitry's and some guy's.  In the 1980s I played with the Boulder (Colorado) Philharmonic, and--let's see--Peter Serkin, all four Romeros (Celedonio, Celin, Pepe and Angel), Harold Wright of the Boston Symphony, and the Canadian Brass played with us, among others.  Without exception they were very down-to-earth and enjoyable people.  The Canadian Brass in particular were lots of fun to be with.

[greg]

The only time I can think of that I've met someone famous was when I met Sarah Chang at a concert. I got her autograph and shook her hand- she seemed pretty nice and cool.

Some guy I talked to in line said he got the autograph of Jean Pierre-Rampal, but wasn't sure about getting the autograph and I think he left the line. I could never figure that out...

[petrarch]

Of the artists or composers I have met there are four that definitely stand out: Stockhausen, with whom I had a chat after a lecture on Sirius; Xenakis, who I got to sign my programme notes for the premiere of Dämmerschein; Nuria Schoenberg-Nono (daughter of Schoenberg and wife of Luigi Nono), who I met and had a long conversation with when I visited the Archivio Luigi Nono in Venice, as she was readying some material for a rehearsal of Y Entonces Comprendió; a lesser known composer I have had a lasting friendship with is Emmanuel Nunes.

Stockhausen was the most distant of all. All others were very friendly and quite humble.

[greg]

Yes, talented people tend to be nicer, much nicer than average, as well as more talented
(seems to be the same with popular artists, on balance)

Well, if there is any truth to this, there should be a simple reason why: they are doing what they want to do in life for a living. That = happy. (truly) Happy = nice (generally).

Xenakis, who I got to sign my programme notes for the premiere of Dämmerschein;

Oooooooooh.... 
I wish I could have met him while he was still alive. With some of the videos I've seen of him and some of the the things I've read that his friends wrote about him, he seems like he was a pretty good guy.

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

I once got into a fistfight with Dietrich Fischer Dieskau outside the ol' Ratskeller in Berlin after I told him I preferred Hans Hotter's performance of Winterreisse, and that he (Fischer) has been in a slow decline ever since the 50s. Julia Fischer (no relation to Dietrich) was on the scene and was so turned on by my manliness (I kicked "Fish's" ass), well, we've been dating ever since.

[knight66]

I encountered loads, but met only a very few. I was in a choir which sang for a lot of the then best conductors and with the most famous singers. I did meet several socially, all the ones I met were pleasant.

Mike

[oabmarcus]

I once got into a fistfight with Dietrich Fischer Dieskau outside the ol' Ratskeller in Berlin after I told him I preferred Hans Hotter's performance of Winterreisse, and that he (Fischer) has been in a slow decline ever since the 50s. Julia Fischer (no relation to Dietrich) was on the scene and was so turned on by my manliness (I kicked "Fish's" ass), well, we've been dating ever since.

are you serious? I have the biggest crush on her!

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Dead serious. She's the greatest. We sit up all night long and drink white russians and talk about eukaryote phylogeny, the chromalevolate hypothesis (of which we are both big fans), bowling, and what-have-you.

[vandermolen]

A couple of months ago I was introduced to and had a fairly extensive conversation with the conductor Vladimir Jurowski at a rehearsal in London for his performance of Miaskovsky's 6th Symphony. This was one of the musical highlights of my life (I wrote about it in the Myaskovsky thread). Years ago I had a nice correspondence with Ursula Vaughan Williams, the wife of Ralph and I got Malcolm Arnold's, John Taverner's and Lennox Berkeley's autographs at concerts. I had nice letters, in response to fan mail, from Vagn Holmboe, William Alwyn, David Diamond, John Kinsella and George Lloyd.

I also met the opera singer Maria Ewing, but this was because I taught her daughter and we did not discuss music!

[Brahmsian]

I also met the opera singer Maria Ewing, but this was because I taught her daughter and we did not discuss music!

I remember last year, watching the very racy, and revealing performance of Salome on DVD, with Ewing in the title role. 

[oabmarcus]

Dead serious. She's the greatest. We sit up all night long and drink white russians and talk about eukaryote phylogeny, the chromalevolate hypothesis (of which we are both big fans), bowling, and what-have-you.

nah, I am gonna want to see some proof. Upload a few picture of you with Julia.

[some guy]

oab, there's one problem with this, aside from XB-70's superb photoshopping skills.

And that is, while we all know what Julia looks like (boy howdy), do any of us know what XB-70 looks like? So any picture of Julia with any random dude....

Otherwise, why isn't Maria Ewing more famous than she is? (Be fair, she's a big fan of the chromalveolate hypothesis, and how many people can you say that of? Though I understand she's a bit skeptical about whether plastid-related characters support that hypothesis, which is only sensible.)

[Scarpia]

I met a member of the second violin section of the San Francisco Symphony on an airport shuttle in Austin Texas.  Some time later I attended a SFS concert in Davies Hall and there she was, up on the stage, performing Mahler 10.  I had this fantasy that she would see me in the third row and catapult off the stage to talk to me again, but alas it didn't happen.   

Are you all impressed now?

[Guido]

What about famous artists/conductors you've slept with? 

[False_Dmitry]

  I had this fantasy that she would see me in the third row and catapult off the stage to talk to me again, but alas it didn't happen.   

Where is the Lady all in pink? Last year she winked at me, I think!  Can she have died?  Can that, what?  She is passing but she sees me not....

[springrite]

It's too bad Iago is no longer with us. He met some of the greats working at Tanglewood.

Sarge

Can someone find the Monteux story from Iago. He told that to me personally and posted a short version of it here a couple of times. But I can't find it.

Here is one more from Iago:

One of the summers that I was working at Tanglewood, Serkin was scheduled for a performance of the Beethoven "Emperor" Concerto, with Munch and the Boston Symphony. He was at the Shed about 3 hrs before the concert doing his very preliminary "warm-ups". I was busy doing my preliminary duties as well, but when I heard the sound of the piano, I looked in at his dressing room, and saw that it was he seated at the Steinway. He looked up, saw me in the doorway, and said "Come in. What would you like to hear"?  Now a bit weak in the knees, I said "anything that pleases you, Mr. Serkin".

He played "Chopsticks"   Apparently he was unsatisfied with his initial performance, so he played it two more times. I said "thanks, is there anything I can get for you"? He said "no, I don't need anything right now". And I left.

He also told me many stories about meeting Munch, Lenny, etc. Great great stories.

I have personally met a few, including Carter, Krenek, Caballe, delarocha (can't believe how small her hands are!), and Papa Mehta many many times (long conversations). The older Mahta is a great person, and I love him dearly.