If last May's recital at Muttart Hall featuring Edmonton Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Martin Riseley and pianist Stephane Lemelin was tearful and moving for the audience, it was even more so for Tanya Prochazka.
That's because the local cellist was originally supposed to perform with Lemelin at the concert. Riseley stepped in when Prochazka had to bow out due to exhaustion from a series of radiation treatments she was receiving due to a reoccurrence of cancer. Prochazka wasn't supposed to make the show, but at the last minute, she summoned up some hidden reservoir of strength and appeared onstage briefly for a few numbers, much to the amazement of friends and colleagues.
"It was very touching," she allows over the phone on a short break from practising, "and very amazing. It was hugely life-affirming, which is a phrase I really don't like to use. But there you go."
It's perhaps unfair to make Prochazka's struggle with cancer over the last few years the main focus of any story, especially given the mark she's made on her adopted country as both an educator and a musician. The Australian-born, Paris-educated cellist has accomplished much in her time here as professor of cello and conductor of the University of Alberta Symphony, as well as a highly regarded performer. Besides, Prochazka herself doesn't appear to dwell much on her recent difficulties, and almost takes an analytical tack when describing the results of her treatment.
"There was an interesting phenomenon I had to deal with when playing that show," she recalls. "One of the side-effects of the chemo was that my nerves were numbed. The 'messages' don't get through to your fingers for movements that you want to do. I didn't know where my fingers were. It was very weird."
The dispassionate way in which she observes this effect masks what no doubt was a terrible sensation for her. Prochazka loves to play, and her lengthy recuperation, both here and in Australia, didn't allow for practising -- and, oddly enough, she missed the practising even more than the live performances.
That all changes tonight when she teams up with Lemelin for the concert they were supposed to give back in May, one she's been looking forward to as much for the joy of playing music with her old friend as for a return to performing.
"He's absolutely fantastic," she says. "Playing with Stephane is a real joy, and I'd like to make sure that he doesn't get overlooked in all of this talk of my problems."
There's little chance of Lemelin being overlooked in any of this; the former University of Alberta music professor is well-known to Edmonton music fans for his many collaborations here. Now director of the School of Music at the University of Ottawa, the highly regarded pianist is still an occasional presence in the city, as well as a constant fixture on the Canadian scene.
The two will be performing all five of Beethoven's sonatas for piano and cello, something both have done a number of times before.
CONCERT PREVIEW
TANYA PROCHAZKA AND STEPHANE LEMELIN
When: Tonight at 7:30
Where: Muttart Hall, Alberta College (10050 MacDonald Dr.)
Tickets: $20-$30, available at Tix on the Square, 780-420-1757, or at the door
Info: Edmonton Recital Society at 780-264-2844
Originally run in the Edmonton Journal, Jan. 8 2010.