oboeinsight

The season is over. Now it’s on to Les Mis for me.

… and we weren’t together much of the concert, so perhaps last night was the same, and and I just wasn’t noticing because I was so busy working. (Trust me, this can happen! Sometimes I’m just too self involved!)

Anyway, I do know one reason we weren’t together. You can always email me if you want to know. Some things are best left off of my site.
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We had a symphony concert tonight. Ahhhh, Brahms! I just love his music. It just wraps around me. Incredible stuff.

I heard tell that the orchestra didn’t sound as together as we have in the past. I’ll be curious to read the reviews, although, of course, the reviewers aren’t necessarily perfect, so who knows what they’ll say and if what they say is completely accurate. From where I was sitting, it felt quite good. I really wonder what others heard out in the hall. It’s frustrating to know that what we were doing wasn’t working for some listeners. I’m not sure how that can be fixed, though. The stage is quite limiting and there’s not much we can do in rearranging things. It’s much smaller than the CPA “barn” stage. (The hall itself is much nicer, too.) But if the audience is hearing an “untogether” group something is obviously awry.

(Another chance to use the word “awry”! I love that word.)

But anyway, despite the negative report, I certainly enjoyed the concert. Especially Brahms.

Now if we could just do the Serenade sometime. THAT would be splendid!

And now it’s nearing midnight (will be past midnight by the time this posts, I’m sure). I’m beat. And we do it all again tomorrow. Show biz!
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… Symphony Silicon Valley will be giving our last concert of the season. We are playing Rossini’s Overture to Barber of Seville, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2.

Ahhhh, the Brahms! What wonderful music. There are times when I just want to stop playing and listen. I want to melt. It really is beautiful.

While the demise of the San Jose Symphony (RIP) was heartbreaking (to say the least — and of course it was also “incomebreaking” for many of us, a fact that the new “SSV” can’t completely repair for us), its death did me one favor: I now get to play works I never would have played. Because I sat in the English horn chair for San Jose Symphony I missed Brahms. I missed a lot of Beethoven (although I sometimes sad assistant principal for those). I missed a massive amount of repertoire because composers don’t always include an English horn part (fools that they sometimes are!). I heard it of course; I was librarian for some years so I had to be there, and other times I might play one or two works on the program and I’d stick around to hear the rest. But playing some of this music is new to me and I’m loving it, even while I sometimes want to ask if I can “sit it out” just so I can be wrapped in music and not be distracted by my own part. :-)

Anyway, the Brahms is a great work. The Rossini is … well … Rossini … fun, full of energy, easy to listen to. The Rachmaninoff appeals to nearly everyone and a Barry Manilow fan might perk up during the second movement. So I’m guessing this is a good concert for TAFTO month.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I write TAFTO you haven’t been reading Drew McManus’ site so you might want to check that out. Now.
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thinks I’m all wrong. He may well be right.

It’s very rare for me to say that I know I’m right. I’m willing to hear others out. And I may just be too dense to “get” all the subtleties of the opera.

I’m also willing to listen to the opera again.) I’ve been known to change my mind. I also know that while some works “grow” on me and improve with age and listening, others don’t. (Take Carmina Burana, for instance! When I was in high school I thought that was one incredible work. Now I can take it or leave it, leaning more toward the leave it side. But oh no! Will this get me into more trouble? Probably so. Sigh.

Read my public humiliation here. ;-)

See, here’s the thing. “I’m an oboe player, Jim, not a critic.”* Or a composer. OR a scholar. And I’m also very wimpy and somewhat flip-floppy and I’m especially easily intimidated. So being critiqued by someone like ACD makes me think I’m probably all wrong.

That’s how my mind works.

Or doesn’t work. You decide. ;-)

*If you don’t get this silly quote you are probably just too young or too old. (I, on the other hand, am “just right.”)

In Other News —
we had two symphony rehearsals today and I’m back on second oboe and there are a whole lot of low note entrances that are driving me nuts! Playing second is such a challenge, and often a frightening thing. The thing about the second chair is that you are not really supposed to be noticed all that much. Play to loudly and you are wrong. Miss an entrance and you are even more wrong.

I sure get angry with composers who make the second oboist come in pianissimo on a low C. Why the heck didn’t he just write it for English horn and make our lives easier? Huh?
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The opera is over. If you click on the link below you’ll be hearing who knows what! :-)
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I’m listening to a broadcast of Lorin Maazel’s “1984″. (Online. BBC 3. Isn’t the internet cool? Just go here.) “1984″ quickly became a greatly panned opera. The conductor turned composer, it has been said, put a good amount of his own money behind this performance. (Opera San Jose did that once, performing “Ode to Phaedra” because the composer paid for us to do so.)

I can’t say I’m thrilled with what I’m hearing, but I have a difficult time coming in on the middle of an opera. I would have preferred to see it as well, since there is the visual aspect of opera. But so far I would say it mainly sounds … messy. Messy and noisy. I’ve hit on an English horn solo now. Ho-hum.

Oh. Really ugly moment. Bad voice. “Why there’s no you …” in case that tells any of you where I am in the opera. (Am I dissing a great singer? Oh dear. I hope not! It’s probably just the poorly written part, similar to Star Wars poorly written dialogue which makes the actors look abominable. Yes?) “I’m so blue without you. So bluuuuuuuue.” Bad poetry too. “Tell me why, tell me why … there’s no yoouuuu.” Ah. Now we move to the blues. I get it. She’s blue so the trumpets play the blues. Got it.

I’d love to hear what the orchestra members thought of it. It doesn’t sound like anything I’d want to play, but sometimes these things can surprise us and be great fun to play, even while not a thrill to hear. Anyone know any of the orchestra members? Will any ‘fess up?

And the broadcast continues … so far I’m not blown away. And I think I’ll go read a good book instead.

“La la la. La la la. La la la.” (I really got into THOSE lyrics.)

Oooh. Messy wind playing. I wonder if the parts are near impossible.

Okay. Applause. Must be the end of Act I.

Definitely time to take a break!
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I had mentioned a while back that I had a tooth that was reacting to cold. Nina, of A Sort of Notebook fame, suggested it was a cracked tooth. I suspected she was correct, but I didn’t make an appointment since I knew I was going in in about a month anyway. (Well, okay, I admit it; that wasn’t the only reason I didn’t immediately call my pal the dentist.)

So yes. I finally went in last week. The dentist wasn’t in but the hygienist said it did look cracked. So I went back in today to see Mr. Let-Me-Work-On-Your-Mouth-And-Ask-You-Questions-At-The-Same-Time. Yes. Indeed. The tooth is cracked and must get a crown.

Ugh.

Because I have a big job coming up, the dentist is kindly getting me in very quickly to take care of this whole thing. I’m grateful, but nervous too. I’d rather give birth, as I’ve stated many times before. In fact I’d rather give birth without medication (which is the way I had our three children) than go to the dentist. But, alas, I will be in there next week to have him hurt, maim and in every way he can make me sad and miserable, and then I go back the week after to be crowned Queen of Everything.

Oh. Wait. I guess that’s not what he’s crowning me, is he? Oh well.

But I really am thankful that he’ll get me in prior to the beginning of the job. Once that starts I won’t have time for things like this. This is one problem with being a musician; we have to schedule appointments around our work and that can be difficult since we sometimes don’t know when we’ll get work until a few weeks before. With me, a dentist appointment that involves any kind of pain can’t happen on a day when I play. I’m not willing to take the chance that something may go awry. Not any more.

Anyway, the better news — the big job news — is that I have ten weeks of employment this summer! I’m happy to say I’ll be playing oboe and English horn for the Les Miserables tour when it comes to San Francisco. This is such a blessing; prior to being hired for this my summer was entirely empty. Now I know I’ll have a steady income when before I had nearly nothing. Whew! It does mean a lot of driving, and that I’ll need to get a good number of reeds going, and I’ll be driving up there six days a week, and it does mean, too, that my house will be a mess and I’ll be a walking zombie much of the time, but NO MATTER … hoorah for work!

I sure do! So yay for the musicians of the American Ballet Theatre.

NEW YORK May 23, 2005 ˘ American Ballet Theatre and its musicians union announced a new contract deal Monday that the union said requires the ballet to use only live musicians and bans so-called virtual orchestras.

ABT Executive Director Rachel Moore said the tentative contract runs for three years and said the ballet was “committed to the use of live music” and pleased that the musicians would be on hand for its spring season.

from here

A real orchestra. It’s a very good idea, you know?

Which reminds me … I haven’t written about my recent CATS experience. So here goes …

Jameson and I went to see the tour production of CATS last week. I’ve never been much of a CATS fan (shoot, I’m really not much of a Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber fan, although I’m not as opposed to him as many of my colleagues), but Jameson’s high school will be putting Cats on next year and he wanted to see it. I’m always up for a theatre trip. (I saw Lennon recently too. I think I forgot to blog about that as well.)

Now that I’ve seen the musical, I’m more aware of what it is all about. It’s not about story. It’s not about caring all that much about the characters (cats). It seems to me it’s mainly a vehicle for Sir ALW’s music (using T. S. Eliot’s witty poems as I’m sure you all know) and a vehicle for some dance. I found the dancing a bit less than exciting. The music … well, I think it actually works for what it is.

BUT, something definitely didn’t work. not even a little.

“What was it,” readers are yelling. “Do tell, do tell! We can’t wait to hear.”

Well, okay, maybe you aren’t all yelling that, but I’ll tell you anyway.

The problem was the “orchestra”. An orchestra that wasn’t, actually. They did have musicians, according to the program, and I looked at the back of the hall and saw a monitor that was on the conductor/keyboard player. I believe there were drums and a guitar player (perhaps two?). But there certainly wasn’t an oboe/English horn player, or any other woodwinds. There couldn’t possibly have been any brass players or, if there were, they should all be fired. Why? Because either they sounded abominable or it was ALL synthesized. I’m 99.9% sure it was the latter. No, make that 100%.

I missed my instruments! (The original show called for an oboe/English horn/d’amore player.) Oboe? WHAT oboe? Hah! Now the tone of the English horn sounded like an English horn, but tone isn’t the only thing that makes the instrument what it is. The vibrato was laughable (or maybe more “cryable” for this musician). The way the notes connected just wasn’t the way we connect notes. A keyboard can’t DO what we do.

Thank goodness.

I hate having the real instruments replaced by synthesizers. I’m not opposed to synthesizers, but I prefer they be used as their own instruments, not as replacements for the rest of us. I would hate even more being replaced if no one could hear that the replacement was poor. But my son immediately heard the problems too, so it wasn’t just me.

Of course the majority of the audience probably can’t hear the difference, but that doesn’t mean that those who put these productions* together shouldn’t care about quality. I would hope that Sir ALW would cringe if he heard this particular tour; surely he doesn’t want substandard sound?

*I must note that this is a non equity tour, and that may be one reason that the quality is so low. The singers weren’t exactly great either. Sigh. (I wonder when will they start replacing singers with synthesizers. Hmmm.)
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I’ve been following this story (or read this) as various reports come in. My initial response, skeptic that I am, was to consider it a hoax. Reading here I immediately went “Uh-huh, there you go! I knew it!” (I’m not a very trusting person, am I?)
However this article suggests that the those who are watching him and, I assume, are more knowledgeable about amnesiacs, are convinced he’s for real. But then that particular article also suggests he gave a “virtuoso performance” while other articles say he is clearly an amateur, saying all he plays are snippets of John Lennon and a bit of Swan Lake.

More articles here and here.

So don’t you wonder what’s up with all of this? Some have compared the story to the movie Shine and others to a recent film Ladies in Lavender.

No matter what, it’s caught the attention of many. Included is yours truly.

(And I wish I weren’t such a skeptic too. I don’t like that in myself!)
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… is “Buy A Musical Instrument Day”.

Sure. Why not?

Buy two if you’d like. Make one an oboe and give it to me if you will!

I’ve yet to see “Make An Oboe Reed Day”. Surprising, isn’t it? But then, every day should be Make An Oboe Reed Day. Right?

Right.
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