oboeinsight

I just found out about Bassoon Talk, a site by Rufus Olivier, Jr., whom I saw on occasion when he was young, but haven’t seen since. His father, Rufus Olivier played (and I believes continues to do so) in Midsummer Mozart when I was playing in the group. Rufus, Sr. is an incredibly nice man, and great fun. He’s one of those musicians who appears relaxed and seems to be having a great time doing what he does.

Sadly, I found the blog due to the death of bassoonist David Bartolotta, who was killed in a car accident on June 13th. David subbed with Symphony Silicon Valley a few times this past year.

Sad times, as there have been several losses (in San Francisco Symphony) in the recent past. I never get used to this.

Do check out Rufus’s site. It looks like he posts infrequently, but I enjoyed what I saw.

“I wanted players to feel a sense of quality. I strove to write music that was very melodic and in-depth but the music provided by DirectSong’s relationship with Naxos Records ensured that some of the greatest (classical music) composers of all time were represented in the game. The one thing about classical music is that most people take it for granted without really fully appreciating how amazing it really is. Not everything sounds like a prissy harpsichord or big tympani,” Soule explained. “The range of some of the music in zOMG! is quite unsurpassed and quite entertaining. Walt Disney built his company on Classical music and my approach to Gaia has been very similar. We hope that over time, players will gain a real ear for knowing the difference between Debussy and Mozart.”

Okay, I know zOMG! is a game, but that’s it. I skimmed (being a skimmer) the article and realized what some might feel like when they are reading about music; some game stuff is like a foreign language to me. I don’t really “get” the whole gaming thing. Maybe they don’t get the oboe thing, though.

… and who knew a harpsichord sounded prissy?

I’ve been feeling like the oboe solo from the 2nd mvmt of Dvorak’s 9th this whole week.

This is extremely fun and very clever. Many thanks to The Omniscient Mussel for putting this up at her site.

The video is by Eleanor Stewart. Many more thanks for her creativity!

Hoedown from Rodeo from Eleanor Stewart on Vimeo.

Thanks, Bruce, for putting this up at Facebook. (Sorry your blog is having issues, though.)

But really … maybe the guy was just too darn warm?! Now I’m usually cold in a plane, but I suppose some people might not be like I am. (Although I can hardly imagine!)

She said the man was “completely naked” as he was taken in handcuffs off the plane.

As the plane took off again, Keegan said the usual announcement to please fasten your seat belts came over the loudspeakers with a twist.

The message included “a reminder to everybody to please keep your clothing on. It got a couple chuckles,” Keegan said.

I read it here, thanks to my sister sending me the link. :-)

(Thanks to Susan Spector, Perfect Pitch blogger, Metropolitan Opera orchestra oboist, and Mets fan, for alerting me to this one!)

Playing, singing is not merely a matter of expertise [...] the industry wants you to think that’s the case [...] the real question is, “what do you have to say?” [...] Your job is to keep people up at night.

I can’t listen and still type well or I’d get more down here. (I think I’ll look for a transcript of the speech.) For now, though, go here and listen to pianist and scholar Robert Levin speak at the 2009 Curtis commencement. It’s worth your time, I promise you.

“You have to make our art new. Without that renewal, it dies.”

… for voice … by Danielle Licari who, it says on the YouTube page, was “known in Asia as the absolute queen of scat” …

… and she must have liked oboe literature:

J. S. Bach:

I almost forgot! I’m getting braces today, and I have an oboe lesson in a few hours. Super fun!

(Gee, this tweet wouldn’t be sarcastic, would it?)

Okay, I’ll just go hide now. When I was eleven I was just starting to play, if I have my dates right. This young girl is pretty darn good!

Vivaldi Oboe Concerto in C Major
Movements 1 & 2:

Movement 3:

I’m going to guess we’ll be hearing more of Song Hyun Jung!

Youth Choir Balsis sings Richard Genee, Insalata Italiana:

Here’s the text:

Piano, piano, dolce, soave ed amabile
Forte, piano, pianissimo
Venite gua
Forte, fortissimo, forte, piano,
Crescendo, stringendo, più mosso
Rinforzando, diminuendo
Decrescendo, morendo, smorzando.
Recitativo, O Dio, O cielo,
Coloratura, lo tremo.
A piacere, colla parte, fermata.
Lento, con espressione,
larghetto, sostenuto, ritenuto
Espressivo, ben marcato,
Pizzicato, arco, arco,
Precipitato, sospirando,
ritardando, arco.
Tra ta ta ta, suona la tromba
Tra ta ta ta, a la vedetta
Con fuoco, staccato
Assai scandaloso,
non più lamentoso.
Bravo, bravissimo,
sono contento!
Volti subito
L’accompagnamento
Con rabbia, con furia
In tempo di polacca,
con impeto, con scandalo,
con grazia, con anima.
Agitata ta ta ta ta,
Più mosso stretto
Fine dell’opera.
Felicità, felicità.
Fine dell’opera.

Played the oboe tonight funny that the band hall has a bar!

In case this isn’t terribly clear … I think I don’t know how to post pictures well! … this reads:

FOR SALE
Püchner Bassoon #7677
$13,500
tuned & serviced by Holden McAleer
Contact: Paul Barret pbarrett [at] lava [dot] net (808) 263-0021

I’m watching The Singing Life on PBS. Something one of the men from Chanticleer just said doesn’t connect with this instrumentalist at all. He said “We’re all extroverted people,” and went on to say that they are that way on the stage and after with people and that that’s what makes them singers and musicians.

I wonder if that’s a difference between singers and instrumentalists, or if it’s just some singers who feel this way. I do know that when I was in school the singers were the noisy people. And huggy too. We used to call them “mouth majors” which I’m sure wasn’t appreciated by them! But it is true that singers tend to be noisier than instrumentalists if I am speaking generally. Is it that much of a surprise? They emote via their mouths. I emote via my oboe.

I’m guessing I’m generalizing too much. But whatever.