I don’t know who’s playing, but Yo-Yo Ma is gonna be on a commercial.

Okay, okay … that was ME talking.

I was just reminding Dan that the superbowl (Hmmm. Should that be capitalized?) is on on Sunday. He responded somewhat indifferently, saying he didn’t even know who was playing. Nor do I. But my response above is all you need, right?

Truth be told, we used to watch the game and yak through the actual game but, come commercials, we’d hush everyone up. I’m guessing I won’t be as thrilled this Sunday, as it seems that the past few years haven’t been nearly as good, aside from the all important oboe ad.

Vancouver Opera really has some fun stuff going on. First, they have a blog which is quite savvy of them. (I wish SSV and OSJ would start something up.) They have a Facebook page. They feature Opera Manga. And just last night they invited some bloggers to attend Carmen and do some live blogging, even featuring them in the lobby.

How fun.

They only had four bloggers. When I attended San Francisco Symphony’s Blogger Night (gee, that was a while ago, I wonder if they’ve done another and taken me off the list?) there were many more of us, but I like this smaller idea better. More attention for the few bloggers, for one thing.

Here are the bloggers, in no particular order:

delicious juice dot com
Miss 604
This Chick’s Life
Beyond Robson

I’m not linking directly to their opera blog entries, but I’m sure you are smart enough to find them … yes?

28. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: BQOD

I don’t think I ever had the patience for classical music, having had my attention span honed since birth by the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the King. But suddenly last summer I had grown up enough to sit still through a sonata, and my reward was beyond anything. I have always loved opera arias, but now I learned about where they fit into the opera and what they were about. I learned names of musicians and singers and musical groups performing symphonies by Dvorak and Lizst and Bach and Salieri. I learned that Salonen was leaving the LA Philharmonic this year (wonderboy Gustavo Dudamel is taking his place).

:-)

I love reading stuff stuff like this.

28. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

Thanks, Drew, for alerting me to this!

27. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Birthdays!, Videos

Born on this day in 1756. (Hey, I was born in ’56 too!)

Below you’ll find some of his Gran Partita, pieced together from various groups (I don’t see the whole thing by one group). Of course hearing original instruments and then modern might be jarring to the ear. (And I couldn’t find a few movements.) But it’s Mozart! And it’s the Serenade. What a wonderful work!

1: Largo – Allegro molto

2: Menuetto

3: Adagio

5: Romance: Adagio

7: Rondo, Allegro Molto

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

This one is sort of confusing … Dvorak/English horn first Debussy/Oboe second. I’m obviously clueless about the rules! :-)

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

Mozart Oboe Quartet … on English horn

(And the video doesn’t just stick with the player, so I’m guessing he’s not serious …?)

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Announcements, News, Opera

The San Francisco Opera plans to commission new operas by American composers Christopher Theofanidis, Mark Adamo and Jennifer Higdon.

I read it here.

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

Mozart Oboe Quartet: Rondeau

(This oboist was put up earlier, when only the Tan Dun work was available. Oh … and everyone is waiting through all the measures of rest so I suppose it must be required. What a long listen that makes these audition videos!)

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

English horn: Dvorak: New World Symphony

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

Rossini: La Scala di Seta

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

Rossini: La Scala di Seta

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

Rossini: La Scala di Seta

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Announcements, Opera

San Francisco Opera has announced their next season. I just received their email:

Dear Patricia,

Welcome to a new season! In 2009–10, we take an exciting journey together, exploring impressive works with some of the world’s most sought-after voices. This also marks the first season for incoming music director Nicola Luisotti, who kicks off the season on September 11 with the Opening Night Gala performance of Verdi’s Il Trovatore, starring Marco Berti, Stephanie Blythe, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sondra Radvanovsky.

Additional Highlights of the Season:

Laurent Pelly’s delectable production of Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, with Diana Damrau and Juan Diego Flórez.

For the first time since 1952, Puccini’s Il Trittico will be presented by San Francisco Opera in its entirety and with an ideal cast, featuring Patricia Racette as the star of all three operas, with Paolo Gavanelli, Brandon Jovanovich and Ewa Podle?.

Richard Strauss’ adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s provocative play, Salome, stars the sensational Nadja Michael and is conducted by Maestro Luisotti.

Francesca Zambello’s exploration of the four-opera cycle The Ring of the Nibelung continues in June 2010 with Die Walküre, conducted by Maestro Donald Runnicles.

We celebrate the return of Puccini’s great California Gold Rush opera,
The Girl of the Golden West, starring Deborah Voigt and Salvatore Licitra.
2009–10 is a season to celebrate—one that showcases San Francisco Opera’s rich history and propels us towards an even more exciting future. Visit sfopera.com to learn more!

Get to Know Maestro Luisotti:
Watch a video with exclusive interview footage of Maestro Luisotti, including clips of his conducting our 2008 production of La Bohème.

Last week I received a letter saying the series to which we subscribe won’t have all the operas … I believe it stated it would be missing one of them. I guess I’ll have to carefully peruse the info when it arrives to see what’s up. This year we have ten operas. I only see nine listed for next season. So I guess that means our series only contains eight. (See how I excel at math?)

Here is a list of the operas:

* Il Trovatore
* Il Trittico
* The Abduction from the Seraglio
* The Daughter of the Regiment
* Salome
* Otello
* Faust
* The Girl of the Golden West
* Die Walküre

Hmm. I wonder which one we don’t get automatically. (We may, of course, purchase single tickets for that, along with our series subscription.) And I wonder if it costs what it cost this past year, with one less opera.

And gee, no overlaps with Opera San José this time. (That frequently happens. SFO wouldn’t be checking with us, I’m sure. I don’t know if we check with them. Kind of doubtful.)

26. January 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

Mozart Oboe Quartet: Rondeau