“So it’s like a symphony, right? The piston goes down, and comes back up.”
What is it with ad companies and using music as some sort of metaphor or example for whatever they’re advertising? And how the heck is a piston going down and coming back up like a symphony?
Of course advertisers and newspapers love to [...]
I like Wagner’s music much better than anybody’s. It’s so loud that one can talk the whole time without people hearing you.
-Bob Marley
—–
Some neighbors to the west side of our house have had music blasting both today and yesterday. But I don’t even have a clue what they are playing. All I hear—and feel—is the bass cranked up to who knows where going boom thump boom thump boom boom thump thump.
And this makes me grumpy.
Which makes me [...]
… not that I’m one of the “gals with big jobs” …
And yes, I realize it is totally unhip to say “gals” (but it’s also unhip to say “unhip” so oh well!), but when someone says “guys” what’s a gal to do? ;-)
“All of us guys with big jobs are always looking for new pieces [...]
Art is a kind of illness.
-Giacomo Puccini
—–
According to this I am officially OLD because I remember this. Well, I don’t remember this video, but sure remember the song. I whistled right along, thank you very much!
Now I’m allowed to say I’m old. But someone else. NO WAY.
—–
Looks like I’m not a top 100 classical music blog any longer.
I’d go cry in my beer, but I’m not having a beer. So oh well.
—–
Last night, prior to the opera, I had this glib little conversation with some colleagues. I’m not sure how we go on to the subject of reeds, but I tossed out my little story about a coaching session I once had with a principal player of the San Francisco Symphony. (This was years ago.) The [...]
It is a coincidence that these two words rhyme, cause me great distress, and won’t behave?
Now if only my reeds would flourish like weeds, and my weeds would fail like my reeds, I’d be a much happpier camper. But I am currently a Most Unhappy Camper. I’ve been working, working, working on reeds. Nothing [...]
Someone did a search on brain damage and oboe playing.
Yep. This is the perfect place to land. ;-)
—–
Or should it be “It was the reed, stupid!”?
I guess my feeling as if it was the OBOE was merely panic mode; once the first reed didn’t work nothing worked because I was freaking out.
Pulling out the instrument today, I went over the top joint, where I was just sure there was a problem. Not [...]
Our server seems to be up & down; I just had to restart the computer yet again. So I do apologize if you sometimes don’t see me here. I’m not sure what’s up because I’m a certified Computer Idiot.
Anyway, off to teach and work on my oboe … back later ….
—–
My music has a high irritation factor. I’ve always tried to say something. Eccentric lyrics about eccentric people. Often it was a joke. But I would plead guilty on the grounds that I prefer eccentricity to the bland.
-Randy Newman
—–
I had opera tonight. I wasn’t stressed about it at all. When I’ve done seven rehearsals and three perfomances and things have gone fine what’s to worry about, eh?
Hah!
I did a bit of warming up. Not as much as usual, though, because I was handing out music for the next Symphony Silicon Valley set [...]
There is too much emphasis on technical perfection nowadays, and not enough on what music is actually about — irony, joy, human suffering, love.
-Mstislav Rostropovich
Just a few links:
Washington Post
New York Times
Regnum News Agency
KYIV Post
Just a few videos:
Bach: Prelude, Suite No. 1 (no date given)
Bach: Bourree, Suite No. 3 (1962)
Haydn: Cello Concerto (1981, with Ozawa)
Brahms: [...]
I just read this (the writer is commenting on the narrow bore of the oboe) at a blog: I can attest to this, having gotten a swab and a finger stuck in the oboe in separate occasions
Now, if the writer of the above reads this blog, please tell me how in the world you got [...]
“…and also played the oboe.”
The above is about Alex Ross. Yes, this Alex Ross.
It says so right here.
I knew there was something about him ….
Heh, no, I’m not going to elaborate! You can decide if “something” is a good or bad thing. I suppose it depends upon what you think about us oboists, eh? [...]
Can Mozart Sell Sneakers?
And I ask back, “Will sneakers sell Mozart?” In other words, with the popularity of the ad, might some folks say, “I like that “song”, and I want more!”?
—–
I was so ready to play my “difficult excerpt” and we never got around to it! Shoot. I didn’t realize we’d be playing every student’s work for flute, oboe and clarinet in the orchestration class. So I had about 5 minutes to talk (at the end) about the oboe and English horn, and no chance [...]
“… has frequently performed with … Opera San Jose…”
Heh. The person who has this in a bio hasn’t played with OSJ much at all, and I believe it’s probably been at least 8 years.
Bios. They must be taken with a grain of salt. Trust me.
Earlier this morning I was listening to the radio … except I wasn’t truly listening so I don’t even know what the segment was about … but a politician said this:
We do believe we can be successful because we have to be successful.
Hmmm. One sure can’t think that way with music … we actually have [...]
Only in the pathetic museum world of classical music would anyone complain about a girl being semi-naked on an album cover.
-Don’t know who this is, but RTWT here
Hmmm. “Only”? Strong word!
… about that whole Classical Music Is Dead or Dying thing. I know it’s rough. You wake up each day thinking, “Oh how I’d love to go to a concert, but of course classical music is dead.” It’s sad, isn’t it?
RIGHT.
No. Concerts. Anywhere. Nearby.
—–
So, you’ve just gotten a call from a friend, inviting you to the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic’s next concert.
Immediately, your mind races. “Will I have to wear an evening gown? … Isn’t the Philharmonic for senior citizens? … I don’t know anything about classical music!”
Right. Every woman I’ve ever spoken with wonders if she should wear [...]
I will be talking about and playing the oboe and English horn for a university orchestration class tomorrow. The instructor requested that I “play an easy orchestral excerpt, a hard one, a scale, and student pieces/arrangements” to which I responded … well … anything can be difficult, really!
It’s all about context, you know?
I talked [...]
