oboeinsight

So MMmusings thinks I might be jealous, eh?
Nope. Not I. Not of Swan Lake anyway! I could have opted for Swan Lake rather than Rigoletto and yet I didn’t. Go figure. It is a lovely solo. But the entire ballet … it’s brutal on the oboist. Still, I do love the expressiveness of [...]

So someone blogs about Alex Klein and “The Commercial”. She puts up a few comics too. She then corresponds with him. Eventually he comes to her school to give a masterclass.
Too cool, huh?
No, this isn’t about me. But still it’s cool. Read about it here.
It makes me wonder though: who should I be blogging about? [...]

… to ACB!
So what are you now … EIGHT? Cool.

I’ll be sad if it’s the case, but wondered about it when I saw four operas listed recently. Then Robert Gable provided a link to yet another wonderer.
I realize a lot of people i talked with didn’t care for the opera, but I liked it and was hoping to see it again.

After Rigoletto this week has felt a bit odd. I will admit that it’s nice to be home every night, but I get rather lazy, and I sure watch a lot of junk TV. But I’ll remain a Project Runway junkie, (Hey … PR idea … design for an orchestra! Tee hee. Of course I [...]

Speaking of auditions, I ran across three videos of oboists who are auditioning for something called IYO. Hmmm. Anyone know what that is? International Youth Orchestra? Italian Youth Orchestra? Something else? Do tell.
Video One
Two
Three
(Not numbered due to abliity, just randomly done.)

China Philharmonic Orchestra
vs. Lang Lang
That’s what I see here, although it might change and then you’ll miss it. Too bad, eh?
Alex Ross saw it first.

Some of you will get this, some not. I’m guessing Mr. Kaulkin will. How ’bout you, Mike? The rest of you? Do tell! ;-)
(Thanks, Kelsey!)
“… and a little more beer ….”

I’ve had students come to me with some major problems. Sometimes it’s fingering issues, and sometimes embouchure. Sometimes it’s even basic things like, “Oh, I’m supposed to dip my reed in water?!”
Please, please, please … study with an oboist! Study with someone who is actually playing the darn instrument, not someone who used [...]

Can you imagine being told by the conductor that you must apologize to the chorus if you, as an instrumentalist, made a mistake?

Aykal has an excellent temperament and balanced approach; a redoubtable task-master and charismatic wit. The first wrong note was met with a glare, and an instruction to the poor culprit - an [...]

Four-and-half-years ago, Spector approached Leeds after one of his seminars and told him about her dogs falling asleep when she played the piano. She hoped that he would want to work with her on a CD for dogs.
RTWT
Yeah, everyone’s heard by now that classical music soothes dogs. But I still had to post this. [...]

Do you like opera a bit, but don’t like to stick around for three hours or more? Check out Five:15.
I wouldn’t mind hearing what these folks came up with. I doubt I’ll get to Scotland soon though, unless someone wants to send me there. (Pretty please?! I love Scotland!)
Apparently there were no women available [...]

Gotta Dance!
With shopping carts. (Or “trolleys”.)
;-)
I just found this charming. And I’ll bet those people had lots of fun doing it, too!

Here is a good blog entry about auditions. If you want to know what musicians are up against, read it. Jason Heath has written about the cruel and unusual punishment as well (including a post about his horrible experience with San Jose Symphony—for some reason I feel to blame, which is so darn pathetic and [...]

… but yesterday I was put on film. I really was. But no biggie, to be honest; UCSC had to videotape a few lessons for my review.
This sort of thing is nothing stressful to me. Maybe it’s not to most musicians who spend time on the stage. I simply don’t pay attention to a [...]

Blogging at its freest is like going to a masked ball. You can say all the spiteful, infantile things you wouldn’t dream of saying if you were in print or face to face with another human being. You can flirt with anyone, or try to. You can tell the President exactly what you think of [...]

When I see a name I recognize, and see that a former Opera San José singer is getting work, I always want to cheer. The instrumentalist’s life might be a bit difficult, but I think the singer’s life is much more difficult.
So hoorah for Jason Detwiler. I see his picture here, and he’s singing [...]

Since the Merc finally announced it, I guess I can post this too. No comments for now. Perhaps later ….
Symphony Silicon Valley
2008-09 Season Preview
Amram Barber Beethoven Berlioz Brahms Debussy Dvorak
Ellington Ginestera Guilmant Haydn Mendelssohn Prokofiev
Respighi Schubert Shostakovich Tchaikovsky
Symphony Silicon [...]

… or would it be operatic dreams? Hard to say.
“Recover, recover, recover. Sometimes you’ve got to recover.”
Great lyrics, eh? ;-)
But really, why am I dreaming this singin’ stuff? It was a male chorus that was singing. I was in the group, though. We were marching (the song sounded somewhat like a civil war song) [...]

Have you thought of translating it into Latin, so you won’t have to listen to the words?

-Stephen Sondheim (regarding Bernstein’s’ Mass, according to this)

Here is an article about local arts groups going green. No mention is made of all the paper used for programs. I’ve thought about this a lot … so much paper. So many get tossed. Would there be a better way?
I know we all want to read about the performers and the music. I [...]

So some clarinetists can do anything. Whoa.
For instance … he STOLE the oboe solo. How dare he? ;-)
Too bad the guy can’t play high notes, eh?
(Part Two)

For my bassoon playing friends …
Abassoonata. (Not exactly poifect, but hey ….)
And what is it about bassoons and the tango. Do they think they’re sexy or something? Huh?
See? … Again? And this guy is really rockin’ out.
Then again, you can always polka instead. As a bassoon playing bear.
Um. Okay. I’d better leave [...]

… if Bathroom Divas is every shown here in California? I’d sure like to see it!
You can see a sample of what goes on here. The voices aren’t ready for prime time … but they certainly sing better than I ever could. Is the tempo just a bit a draggy, or is that just me? [...]

I don’t think I hold my oboe with keys facing me when I’m just holding it rather than playing it. But I’ll have to check and see … maybe I’m not right. Still, when I saw this picture it just looked wrong to me.
What looks right is that the actor does look like she [...]