Please read this blog entry to get the full story behind the music.
(I’m not sure if the singer is singing with a recording or if something is awry with the YouTube video; I hear two voices.)
To be alone on the stage after 60 years? C’mon. I need some friends with me.
-Pinchus Zukerman
Composers need to understand why writing an oboe solo over strings is WAY different from writing over saxophones. IMO :)
Do you know what oboe is ? that’s what Kenny G plays on..! it looks like flute and the sounds just like trump. Great musical instrument b’coz of its beautiful sounds.
My Gosh !!..let’s see all about oboe !
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, oh dear ….
(Thanks, David!)
Well, not only is there a review, but there are pictures too. And … well … this old blogger is pictured! (And the picture doesn’t bug me, either. So that’s good!)
Probably some of you knew, but I sure didn’t.
Mahler Symphony No. 4 Schoenberg-Stein Chamber Orchestra Edition, Movement 1 (not complete). I think it would be a kick to play. (Not a flawless rendition, but the only one I saw on YouTube.):
Here’s the full orchestra version. (Yes, I like this better, but the other is still fun to hear!):
I’ve talked to my oboe students about the different styles of reeds, as well as embouchures, and how you can hear oboists from around the world and hear a bit — or a lot — of difference. I think this video can give you an idea of one kind of sound (and you’ll see and hear oboe, oboe d’amore and English horn … or shall I say “hautbois, hautbois d’amour et cor anglais”?):
If you don’t want to watch and listen to the whole thing, PLEASE go to 7:49! :-)
I have played opera for years now. I have witnessed all sorts of pit mishaps: a fish flying into the pit, a billiard ball has been hit into the pit, feathers and dust fall in frequently, and once a singer slid into the pit, hitting a trombone which was then unplayable. So I watch this and wonder what the stage director (if there was one, was thinking with the shoe tossing. (And what the percussionist thought when one hit his instruments.)
But gee, maybe it would be fun to be in an opera and strip down to my underwear and wear a pot on my head.
Or not.
(Opera San José is extremely careful with staging these days. They really do try to avoid any “pitfalls”.)
… the sound recording quality is pretty awful, but I had to put this up here because it’s just too cute. :-)
It’s no crazy notion to think classical music is mostly dead as a relevant art form.
I read it here.
I’m really weary of the word relevant. And I’m tired of hearing that classical music is dead. Now I’m reading that jazz may be dying too.
Okay, whatever.
And of course what I think is probably not terribly relevant in any case, as I’m nearly dead too, according to some people who think that over 50 is beyond alive.
Okay. I’ve not had a latté this morning. I’m grumpy. What a surprise, eh?
Truth be told, I suspect I’ll be long gone and classical music’ll still be played. And I’m a pessimist too! So there.
had a good night chilling with the roommates… played the oboe for the first time… definitely not my next career
Okay, I’ve slept the night now so I can be less emotional about bad reviews. So now I’ll post the links and you can read what I read. In addition, there is one more favorable review up now, so that does help a bit.
Do I have things to write about the opera that are not quite the positive thing I would like to write? Yeah. Will I? No. I just can’t go there. A reviewer could possibly get more work by trashing performances. I’d just lose work. go figure.
There are few things as satisfying as the first new scrapes on a new reed blank. Hearing the roughness of the knife against the reed, watching them scrape off as easily as butter, cleaning the knife off on the dark khaki of my pants. Even though I have to be careful lest I destroy the entire thing, I know that the blank is a slave to my every scrape.
This blogger definitely gets a link. Anyone who can be this thrilled with reed making could quite easily become my hero.
I have to thank Kelsey for this. (So thanks, Kelsey!) It’s wonderful!
I have read two blogs about Così. Ouch ouch ouch. One person left after 30 minutes of the dress rehearsal he attended (sounded as if he hated the staging), and the other said the orchestra was rotten.
I’m supposed to be able to deal with things like this, of course. So I’ll just attempt to be strong and shrug it off.
Yeah. Right.
I don’t write about what I think about staging or singers here when I’m involved in a production. I think it’s unwise to do so. I did enjoy these singers, and a few even yakked a bit with those of us who arrived in the pit early. I appreciate that, as some singers don’t give us the time of day. I played well today, if I dare say that. But when I read reviews that saw we were rotten (no, the word “rotten” wasn’t actually used) I go right back to my AwfulPattyPlace™ and wonder if I’m deceiving myself about how I play. Funny how that works.
(Do reviewers know how these thing work on our heads? Do they ever get harshly reviewed? I wonder.)
And yeah, these were blogs, not reviewers, but I’m guessing that we’ll get a few legit reviews and I’m not anticipating positive things. (I heard people in the audience today complaining about the staging.)
After the performance — when I was still in my happy place and feeling confident — we went out to dinner at B Star. It was really great food, and now I’m stuffed. I think this week I’d better eat light to make up for it.
