oboeinsight

Planes:

Pre-concert talk: 2
Star Spangled Banner: if they flew over I didn’t notice — I was busy standing and playing English horn
Bernstein (On the Town, 3 Dance Episodes): 1
between pieces: 1
Mendelssohn (Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture): 1
Bizet (Suite No. 1 from Carmen): 4
between pieces: 1
Rossini (“Lone Ranger” part of you-know-what): 3
Beethoven (Symphony No. 5): 4
between pieces: 1
Sousa (Stars & Stripes): 1

Number of recorders heard … impossible to tell! But bright red recorders were handed out to kids before the concert and I wish I could have recorded the recorders for you. It was cute! (They were pretty quiet when we played, which was surprising.)

Guess who sponsored our concert? (Along with the Mercury News and KDFC) And guess who conducted the Rossini? :-)

1) Forgetting one’s music glasses and getting a headache in the first hour, attempting to read the music

2) Thinking you forgot your reading glasses, playing for an hour, getting a headache, and finding the reading glasses in your bag after all.

??

Why would anyone name their headphones oboe?

I note, too, that they are unisex.

When asked a while ago of his interests outside of music, he replied, “Butterflies.”

So does everyone know the answer already? Am I out of it, once again? Do tell.

For the answer go here.

I have a triple service day today. I have a rehearsal and concert with Symphony Silicon Valley (morning and afternoon) and then a 7:00 San Jose Chamber Orchestra concert. It’s a lot of playing, but nothing grueling on the concerts, so I’m not really concerned about anything but … drum roll … having enough time to get dinner!

Yes indeed, I can always find something to worry about.

The only thing worse that being told you have to wear a long sleeved white blouse or top for a concert when you don’t own one is being told, after you have purchased a long sleeved white top and removing the tags, that you don’t have to wear it after all.

Sigh.

It was so easy to send out the email with the instructions to wear the top. Wouldn’t it have been just as easy to tell us to nix that thought the minute the nixing was decided? I would have thought so. I guess they didn’t.

SYDNEY has its Opera House – but has it got a real orchestra? Within days of NSW Premier Morris Iemma making unwise cracks about Melbourne being left off the World Monopoly board, The Sunday Age can reveal that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra mimed key parts of its performance at the opening of the Sydney Games in 2000.

And it gets better – it was, in fact, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra whose brilliant playing was heard by millions around the world at the Sydney Olympic opening ceremony.

I read it here.

The musicians, of course, all knew what was going on. But see how good they were? No one told … or at least it didn’t leak over here to anyone who leaked it to the public. We can keep a secret. (I knew a few when I was younger about some performers — not musicians — that I didn’t talk about and just smiled when the news went public. See? Gossips that we are, we really can keep a secret!)

But the big thing is, people aren’t into live performance in these instances so much as they (Or should I say we? If I heard a mistake I’d probably comment, to be sure.) are into perfection. And you just can’t guarantee perfection with a live performance.

We have things pre-recorded to avoid errors. We use synthesized sound rather than real instruments. But it doesn’t stop there. We might (will we ever know for sure?) lie about our age in order to compete in an Olympic event. Heck, we might even lie about our age, making us younger than we really are, to get a job. (Naw, that couldn’t happen, could it?) We take steroids or other performance enhancing drugs to win. We hide past mistakes — or current ones — to win a place in politics or other positions of power. We lie about our education. It’s just the human thing goin’ on, I suppose.

I know there’s more to it than just those few things. But it’s Saturday morning and, well, I need to go back to the Olympics and see what’s on.

Of course the embarrassing and hurtful news about the article — and what the article is really about … I was just veering off like I do — is all about one orchestra doing the real playing and another miming. How insulting is that to the miming orchestra? Or did they care? They were, I’m sure, paid well for their acting skills. At least I hope so. And they did get to be on TV, while the “working orchestra” didn’t. So there. I guess.

You are not making reeds. You are learning to make reeds. There’s a big difference. It’s not all your fault.

I confess: I do not like to make reeds.

I know, I know, that’s no surprise. But I thought I’d ‘fess up again. Just because.

I think Martin Schuring likes to make reeds. I know, at least, that he knows a ton about reeds. I really appreciate his Notes for Beginning Reed Makers. You need to read it. Really!