Susan Spector blogs about hecklers. Check out her blog entry, and of course peruse others … she’s an oboist in the Met Opera, as you can see by looking at their roster. And she’s also a Mets fan. Baseball and oboe. Good stuff.
I am so thankful for my friend Mary. Some time ago I had one of these headaches. She said her husband gets ‘em, so she called him to ask what works for him. The answer? “Four ibuprofen.”
Yes. It works. Or at least it works for me.
So thank you Mary! And Kent, too! I really doubt I could have survived Carmen today if I hadn’t had this cure.
Poor Carmen. She won’t survive. Again.
Even though yesterday was far too crazy, I had planned on church today.
So much for that.
I woke up (not until 8:30 or so) with one of my headaches. This is the kind that pounds when I move. It pounds when I even think sometimes. And I know it’ll pound if I try to sing. So no church. Sigh. That wasn’t in the plans.
Now I have to eat, so I can take a whopping number of ibuprofen. Because if this pounds at 3:00 I’m in serious trouble for Carmen.
Meanwhile the computer will be shut down, because the head pounds when I try to read, too.
Get the picture? I really must stay awake until opera is over. I feel like I could use a good nap. But alas, it isn’t going to happen.
I’m going to guess that I’ll be just fine once I begin playing. :-)
We are on the final break here at the Marriage of Figaro rehearsal. I think I might even be done before 5:00, which would be lovely.
Mozart is so difficult. You can hear every little intonation issue, and time is so important. The group is doing well, but if I had the winds for an hour or two I think I’d be hounding them about pitch the entire time. It’s improved greatly over the rehearsal … 20 cents too sharp to begin with is not a good thing! Go figure.
So now I’m going to have part of the Milky Way candy bar I bought. Yes indeed, it’s a health food sort of day. ;-)
(Oh … and it turns out that the recital hall is now has wireless access. How cool is that?)
I do have to dry my hair and make myself presentable, but other than that I’m packed and ready to go to UCSC and opera. Yes. I meant I’m ready for both. While I have time in between, I have to be ready for both, in case I hit traffic and have to go directly to the hall. So I’m in “half black” (pants/shoes) and will bring the rest of the black with me.
A musician may not be late.
Period.
I now see that I have two 15 minute breaks along with the 45 minute lunch. So I’m not working as much as I thought; it’s only 5 hours, 45 minutes of UCSC rather than 6 hours 15 minutes, and then the 3 hour opera, which equals a bit more time as I arrive around 45 minutes before curtain. (Yeah, Mike, I know the stage folk all get there much earlier!) And of course I have to leave home an hour & 15 early to get to UCSC … it’s a 45 minute drive, but I always allow for traffic.
So there we go: easy day.
Tomorrow is gonna be a tough day, I think. It’s not that I won’t like what I’m doing, but it’s that I’ll be very, very tired.
I begin at UCSC. At 10:00 AM. According to the schedule I finish at 5:00 PM. I’m working with the orchestra as they go through all of Marriage of Figaro. I think I have a lunch break of 45 minutes in there, but I’m not sure there’s another break. I suppose I should check the schedule.
Then of course I have Carmen at night, beginning at 8:00 and ending at 11:00.
Oh yes, I’m going to be tired. So as soon as the Giants get this game over with (it’s 5-1 right now, in favor of the good guys, with only one inning left) I think I’d better hit the hay. (Lincecum has been amazing … 12 strikeouts!) I’m guessing you won’t see a lot of posts tomorrow; there isn’t any wireless access in the UCSC concert hall, which is where I’ll be sitting.
I do have some things I want to blog about … just no time or energy at the moment to get into it. Later, folks!
A few words about Opera:
I’m a big opera fan, and I’m so happy that the performers, musicians, and staff at Opera San José are our regular customers. I make sure I see every opera performed at the California Theatre and went to see Carmen last night, and I have to say it is absolutely one of the best operas I’ve ever seen. If you’ve never been to the opera, Carmen is an ideal one to start with and one of those where you soon find out you know all the songs already. All the artists are amazing, and I am definitely going to squeeze in another performance before they close on May 3.After the performance we had a party at the café for all the cast and crew, and it was a special occasion for principal baritone Krassen Karagiozov as he received his US citizenship yesterday and celebrated by playing jazz versions of the Carmen tunes on the piano. Congratulations Krassen!
This is from an email I received from Roger Springall, of Cafe Trieste, a place I visit when I’m downtown. (We orchestra folk weren’t invited to the little party, but I’m guessing they don’t have room for quite that many, so I’m not going to have hurt feelings. For now.) I can recommend their coffee, of course, along with the soups I’ve had, and their delicious lemon bars.
Wish I would have picked up a classical instrument in grade school. The oboe or sumthin. Would have been worth the ridicule and pounding.
If you’ve ever watched “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Desperate Housewives” or “Brothers & Sisters,” or any drama on ABC other than “Lost,” you probably know what I’m talking about. Whenever one of those shows goes into a comic scene, the musical score immediately starts featuring a jaunty oboe, or pizzicato violins, or a tinkling piano or some combination of the above. The point is to explain to the audience that the scene they’re watching is supposed to be funny, and that it’s okay to laugh even though the previous scene was dead serious.
I’m going to guess that the writer doesn’t really mean oboe. Oboe isn’t usually used as “jaunty”. We are the ones who play when someone is sad. We don’t do happy like the flutes or clarinets and even bassoon. I could be wrong, of course, but I’m just guessing ….
I skimmed it here, but I don’t have time to read the whole thing right now. Gotta get to UCSC.
used to listen to Hard Rock and was extremely wild, mischievous, energetic, and fun! Today I am more mature, I listen to softer music and I am more calm, laid back, carefree, and less energetic.
Now focus on music and setting the mood. Again, going back to the heavy rock, how does that make you feel when you listen to it? I can tell you based on experience that metal music gets my adrenaline rushing, my foot pounding, my head pulsing. It kicks me into overdrive! Now, how do you feel when you listen to light music? Let us go to the opposite side of the spectrum and use classical music as an example. If you are listening to a song composed by Beethoven, how do you feel? I am generally feeling very upper scale, sophisticated, makes me feel like learning, opening a book, become a better person. It puts me in a totally different mindset. What does it do for your mindset?
No, I’m really not going to comment. But I did laugh. ;-)
Oh. I guess that’s sort of a comment, isn’t it?
I hadn’t heard of the piano puzzler before. Listen to the piece. It’s in the style of a composer you are supposed to name (easy part, at least in this one), but it’s a song that has been put into that style and you are supposed to name the tune. Since I didn’t know what I was supposed to do I didn’t know I was supposed to be hearing a song. But I’m not sure I would have been able to name it even if I was given the instructions. After the piece is played you’ll hear the contestant, the pianist, and the radio host (?) and you’ll get the answer when the work is replayed a bit with the emphasis on the song.
(Side note: our percussionist/personnel manager has a daughter in the chorus.)
… and now I must step away from the computer. I’m experiencing a bit of vertigo, which is something totally new to me. It makes reading somewhat unpleasant. I’m hoping I’ll be better by the time I have to dry my hair (right now I can’t manage to stand to do that) and teach a couple of students!
This appears to be a legit video, as it’s up at Opera San José’s site. Nice!
Baroque classical music in the reading room can help improve radiologists work lives, potentially improving diagnostic efficiency and accuracy, according to a study performed by researchers at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD, Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, MD, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia, PA.
I think the “classical” could be left off above, you know? And of course I always hate calling all the music I do “classical” since to me that is about the classical era. But what to do? Can’t really figure out what else to call the stuff. So oh well.
I read the above here. Maybe it doesn’t bug other folks like it bugs me. I’m easily bugged.
