… and then there’s this …
Everyone who reads this blog knows I’m not a huge fan of the tails the guys have to wear. Who the heck dresses that way any more? Seems silly. We women get to be more creative, and can choose from so many different looks.
But hey … maybe we should ALL dress differently. How ’bout this:
… they even took away her food!
Argentine opera singer Gabriela Pochinki said Monday that she was talking to the organizers of the Las Vegas premiere of Michael Jackson’s film “This Is It” when she was arrested at a swank Manhattan restaurant for yelling into her cell phone.
“I’m so sorry if my telephone conversation bothered anyone,” Pochinki said Monday of her Oct. 18 arrest at Nice Matin, speaking in Spanish to The Associated Press.
The soprano, who has performed in lead roles on stages around the world and recorded several albums, has been invited by Jackson’s family to perform at Tuesday’s Las Vegas premiere of the movie that chronicles the King of Pop as he prepared for a comeback tour that never happened.
According to Pochinki’s attorney, Barry Black, restaurant workers complained about the loud phone call to her mother, who was having dinner with the 40-year-old singer.
“She was completely immersed in the conversation,” Black said. “At no time did she notice what was happening until a police officer appeared and told her to come along and they took away her food.”
Too darn funny … and it includes this, too:
The singer described the incident as a “bad moment” that she tried to “transform into something more positive.” She compared it to the operatic tragedies that she has performed in—albeit, her experience had a happier ending.
Pochinki said that during the two hours that she was detained, on the verge of tears, she recalled “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss. In that opera, one of the characters finds comfort in prison by singing. So she asked permission to warm up her voice.
“I started to sing (“Somewhere” from “West Side Story”) and midway through singing they all started feeling it. … They also noticed that I was an opera singer and they applauded, they relaxed a bit. And my mom, who was outside, she heard me and relaxed, because she knew that everything was fine,” said the singer, who has won numerous awards, including for best singer in the world at the Lyric Festival in Italy.
No matter what, she has gotten some good publicity out of this!
Obviously it takes a great deal more time to make a reed, but you can kind of get the idea by watching this video. You might not want the sound on, but if you like band music perhaps you will. You choose. I think the reed maker clips her reeds earlier than I do, but it’s difficult to tell, since the video does alter time a bit … maybe she’s thinned the tip more than I’m thinking. I don’t use a knife to shape; I’d rather dull a razor blade than a knife. I tie and knot slightly differently but at least this gives those of you who have never made a reed a look at one person’s method. At the end she even plays a few notes for you.
Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, who was to have his San Francisco Symphony-commissioned song cycle, “Five Shakespeare Sonnets,” premiere at Davies Hall in April, has postponed, due to scheduling conflicts.
I never understand things like this. I keep a very careful calendar. If I double booked I’d probably get fired — or never hired back if it’s not a place where I have tenure — if I bagged a job. But I’ve heard of this happening before to people who are “stars”. Do they have agents who make this error? Is something else really the cause for the cancellation or delay? Does “schedule conflict” just look better?
I read it here.
Great fun to hear … AND watch …
Stay tuned for more fun later!
I’m just home from woodwind quintet rehearsal. We played all but one movement of our program, and I must say I’m rather exhausted. Of course we ran some parts a good number of times, so it won’t be quite as grueling when we do everything without repeating things. But what fun it is to play these works that are new to me! It’s tons of work, to be sure, but I love making music with friends. :-)
Now I have some time off from rehearsals, but I have a whole lot of work to do on reeds. I really have to get things together so I don’t go entirely crazy the week of the recital. Besides, I have Cenerentola beginning November 4. I’ll need a batch ‘o reeds for that as well.
Mozart: Communio from the Requiem Mass in D minor
Mozart: Agnus Dei from the Requiem Mass in D minor
Director Robert Lepage is doing Stravinsky’s Song of the Nightingale. With singers. And puppets. And a pit full of water. Really. And it’s a hit, too.
This is part 1 (of many) of Lepage talking about the production:
The orchestra is on the stage; obviously they couldn’t play in the pit!
The Oboist as Soloist, and the Life and Work of a Tulsa-Based Classical Musician. Click on the link, listen to the broadcast. Lisa Glaser will be playing the Marcello Oboe Concerto tonight in Tulsa.
Definitely true: “We get more shots at the hoop.” :-)
Bassoon, oboe, clarinet or flute? which instrument to get in a symphony orchestra?
Hi there, I’m working to get in a music school this year, but I’m twenty now and I’ve never played an instrument. I have done a little research on these instruments, but I want to learn that which one has more chance to get me in a local symphony orchestra after a 4 years of practice in school? I heard bassoon may have a little more chance due to its rarity but I don’t know how easy to master it. I appreciate all comments, thanx.
Okay folks … answer this one!
… let’s say … um … you played well enough that even you were quite satisfied and even happy. Let’s say your colleagues were complimentary, as was the maestro, and the review was quite complimentary as well (although it was, in your opinion, a bit inappropriate). Let’s say you were even getting sort of confident that you played really, really well.
Then let’s say someone you know comes up to you, looking terribly seriously and even a little miffed, and she says, “I missed you Sunday.” You respond, “Huh?” (thinking she meant the Sunday performance of a different concert that you didn’t play). She again says, “I missed you. For the Ravel.”
Um. You pause.
“But I was there. That was me!”
Yes. Really. It could happen to you.
Or maybe it can only happen to me.
“But that didn’t look like you!” The person then went on to try and console me. “Well, you sounded fine. But not like you usually do. I’m just used to your big sound,” and she continued, and continued … and I kind of wanted to go crawl in a hole.
Let’s say that happened to you. Would you laugh, cry, or just scratch your head?
I didn’t cry. I did laugh. And I’m still scratching my head. Some people had come up and said it was the best they’d heard from me. I felt as good as I can about my playing, too. And I’m a harsh judge when it comes to my own playing.
Ah life. Never a dull moment!
Well, maybe it does suck, but it made me laugh!
I’ve previously noted the oddness of hearing “Smoke on the Water” played on the oboe. Today’s oboe song, “Funkytown,” was just as bizarre.
