David Weiss is the former principal oboist of the LA Phil. He continues to play oboe, as you will see by the video at the bottom of this blog entry. But he is also known for his saw playing.
Hmmm. We are often sharp on oboe. He’s always sharp on the saw. See how awfully witty I can be?! Okay, don’t answer that. But just think, one doesn’t have to worry a bit about reeds with a saw. I wonder if you still have to worry about cutting yourself …?
David Weiss on saw:
Here’s Mr. Weiss playing oboe:
Mr. Charnley will be retiring from the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra after their July 4 concert. Note the dog singing along; it seems as if the dog doesn’t like oboe, but what do I know?
No, you can’t copy my CDs.
There, I’ve said it. I’ve tried to avoid the issue, tried to change the subject. I’ve made up too many excuses. But at this point I’m tired of being asked.
I hate to be a curmudgeon, hate to be uncool. I understand you’re broke. (So am I.) I know that I’ll still have my CDs, just as good as they were before, after you copy them.
I read it here.
I do think that things will change eventually, but while it is still against the law, and still stealing, I appreciate this person’s answer.
The same thing goes, in my world, with sheet music. I will not allow students to copy music. That’s called stealing too. Whether you agree with the law or not, I won’t be one to help you break it.
Why is it that some laws are “optional” to so many? I notice California’s cell phone law (hands free in a car) isn’t followed by everyone. And cigarette smokers seem to think “don’t litter” doesn’t apply to cigarette butts.
Yeah, I’m annoying this way.
Other ways too.
… and who knew that the internet thought at all?
But here you go:
Negative: 11.8% 85 results
Positive: 88.1% 634 results
Don’t Care: 0.1% 1 results
I’m gonna have to search for that one who doesn’t care. ;-)
Although I quickly found classical music boring and the violin passé, I enjoyed learning about things like sharps and flats and quarter notes. And listening to the classical music we performed and the records our music teacher played helped me form, by the end of sixth grade, a theory of musical history that spanned the ages. It went something like this: Until rock ‘n’ roll came around, people all over the planet labored to create good music, and while all of them failed to produce anything exciting, credit should be given to all the musicians who preceded rock ‘n’ roll. After all, they made sure that music continued to exist until, finally, in the late ’60s, immortal musical icons like the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix delivered full-scale sonic annihilation, which was the apex of civilization. I didn’t have the vocabulary to articulate it quite like that, but basically that was what I thought.
2nd Thought of Day: “I once really admired the oboe, now I realize just how much it sounds like my most hated instrument – the saxaphone..”
I know, I know, I harp on this a lot, but today I’ll go into a bit more detail about one thing that has been bothering me for a time.
The D.C. Department of Employment Services fired a contractor who was working with youths in the city’s summer jobs program after officials became aware of messages on his Twitter site that Anacostia is “ghetto” and that he was loafing at work.
Once again, it’s good to be reminded that what you write can be held against you. I read it here.
In addition, pictures can be held against you. I ran across some images of a youth symphony conductor holding up a Playboy magazine. Now what he does on his own time is his business, but this was on his Facebook page, and I could see that a number of the youth symphony members were his “friends”. Whether or not you agree that Playboy is trash, this shows a lack of discernment that I find troubling in a leader of youth. But then he also says his favorite activity is smoking, and I see pictures of youth symphony members smoking with him. This just seems in poor taste to me. (I will no longer recommend that youth symphony.) I know I’m more uptight than many, but still … don’t you want a youth symphony conductor to take care in what he exhibits publicly?
We are home. I really enjoyed Traviata. I had a few minor quibbles, but I don’t write about quibbles other than to say I had ‘em. Mostly because I like the word “quibbles”.
There was a wonderful solo by clarinetist Jerry Simas. I must say that his playing this year has been superb. I’m sorry I missed the Opera San José Carmen performances on which he was subbing, as I would have loved to have complimented him on the San Francisco Opera performances I have heard this year. The banda sounded great too (Hi Janet!). (I wish Opera San José could use a banda more frequently, but I’m sure it’s about the cost.) And Netrebko? That woman’s voice can fill a hall. But the interesting thing is that even when she sings piano she fills the hall. I’m not sure how she does that. I saw a review that was incredibly harsh about her, but I loved what she did, and I think her voice sounds great. I thought the other singers were wonderful as well. I love the timbre of Dwayne Croft’s voice (he was Germont), and Charles Castronovo (Alfredo) especially moved me toward the end, when he sings (“Parigi, o cara, noi lasceremo”) to Violetta as she rests her head in his lap; he sang the beginning of that as a tender lullaby. Or at least that’s how it worked for me.
It was a lovely end of a season for us. I now look forward to next year!
“My favourite composers are Shostakovich and Beethoven, and my favourite piece is Sibelius’s Swan Of Tuonela – if that cor anglais solo had been for bassoon everything would have been ideal! The most difficult composer to play would be Tchaikovsky, because as well as the solos you’ve got some technically difficult bits and some very quiet passages, so it’s every aspect of the bassoon in one symphony. That works especially in the last movement of the Pathétique, which nobody likes, but you’ve got to get on with it I suppose!”
-bassoonist Karen Geoghegan (I read it here
Well, Swan is a pretty cool piece, but it simply has to be on English horn (cor anglais). Of that I’m sure you all agree. But I was just so surprised to hear someone name that work as their fave.
You can hear her talk about her experience on Classical Star, a British TV show, on which she came in second:
Here is the final episode of Classical Star (she played Hummel for the first final work. I’d have preferred the concerto. Oh well.):
And hear the 20 year old play here:
Looks like I’ll be faking tonight’s concert… Stupid oboe reeds.
I’ve heard a friend of mine — Hi Isabelle! — say this, and now I hear it from Rampal himself. (She did study under him, so maybe she got it from him?)
According to a recipient of the email, the missive continued with details about NYCO’s proposals for revisions to the current contact with AGMA, including
a quarter of the chorus gone, all weekly soloists… fired, ten orchestra positions eliminated, all dancers and movement people fired, 4 weeks eliminated from the choristers pay, reduction in stage management staff, associate chorus completely eliminated, no health care for stage managers or [assistant directors], health care reduced for chorus and orchestra, no annual coverage of health care, only work weeks, overtime basically eliminated.
Is their orchestra a part of AGMA, then? Hmmm. I’m clueless, I know, but I just assumed they were in the AFofM.
10 orchestra positions eliminated? Yikes! I count 61 members of the orchestra on their roster. (Odd that they have more second violins than first, don’t you think?)
Anyway, things sure are sounding bleak for New York City Opera.
Their stark black & white site bothers my eyes, and when I clicked on a link that played a video it got very dim. Oh NYCO, are you aware of that? [pause to watch video until it froze] … so they are enlarging the orchestra pit but cutting the orchestra? Okay then. [Second watch of the video didn't dim it. Odd.]
Ah well. I’m so weary of hearing about orchestras and opera companies struggling. But I guess it’s going to continue and we all just have to deal. Do support your local organizations!
One thing leads to another. Having visited the NYPhil site I just blogged about, I thought, “I wonder about Bruno Labate…”. So I did a quick google, and found two tributes to the man. The second included this:
The final lesson with him was a near-disaster because I unexpectedly found myself with a reed problem. Conrad had given me some brief instruction on reed making not long before, and I was still floundering away at it. Shortly after the lesson started I unhappily discovered the fundamental truth that a reed which seems pretty good when you first make it doesn’t necessarily stay that way the next time it’s soaked and played. And that reed, unfortunately, was the only one I had. Near the end of that very uncomfortable half hour there was a knock at the studio door and one of the other students came in. He had an instrument with him on approval that Labate had promised to look over. The oboe was a battle-worn Selmer, and Labate immediately handed it to me to try out. It was a particularly untimely request. First, I was stuck with a reed I could just barely play; second, the Selmer was an open-hole model which I wasn’t at all used to; and third, the instrument seemed to be in pretty poor shape. As feared, about the only sounds which emerged when I tried to play it were squeaks and squawks. After enduring perhaps a half minute of this, Labate abruptly took the oboe from me. He removed the reed, briefly crowed it, made a wry face, stuck the reed back in the oboe and started to play. What followed was a revelation I shall never forget. For what may have been three or four minutes (I quite lost track of the actual time) he put the instrument through its paces, starting with scales, then arpeggios, then trills and ornamental figures, taking in its entire range, and finished up with a few brief excerpts from the symphonic literature. The technical facility, the beauty and variety of tone, and the musicality which radiated through it all just astounded me. And with my awful reed and that third-rate instrument yet! I had never heard anything like it, and the intimacy of that little studio added further to the breathtaking impression. Labate then handed the instrument back to the other fellow, shaking his head and saying, “Oboe notta so good.” Turning to me he added, “And you, da reed notta so good either!”
You can read the full tribute here, and another is found here
NYP has a site that allows you to check out their history. For instance, you can go to their “search artist” page and enter “oboe” for the instrument. I found out that Caesare Addimando played oboe in 1908, playing the Beethoven Trio for 2 Oboes & EH. Interesting, isn’t it, that they did that work? Here’s the full program:
Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
Beethoven: Ah! perfido, Recitative and Aria for Soprano and Orchestra, Op. 65
Intermission
Beethoven: Trio for Two Oboes and English Horn, Op. 87, Adagio (2nd movement)
Beethoven: Trio for Two Oboes and English Horn, Op. 87, Finale: Presto (4th movement)
Beethoven: Der Wachtelschlag, woo129 (Damrosch, Leopold)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
Note that they only did two movements of the Trio. That wasn’t uncommon, from what I’ve read. When I was music librarian I spent time organizing the San Jose Symphony’s (RIP) programs and history, and saw they did the same sort of thing.
… and who else played in the trio? Bruno Labate and Marcel Tabuteau!
Attn NYT crosswd writers: there are musical instruments other than oboe.
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