National Opera Week, Nov. 13-22

07. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Announcements

(How confusing is it that “National Opera Week” is longer than a week? Hmmm.)

Opera San José is proud to announce its participation in Opera America’s National Opera Week, November 13-22, 2009. An “unprecedented critical mass of opera activity in the United States,” National Opera Week will celebrate the vitality of opera in America as a contemporary cultural expression.

To commemorate the occasion, Mayor Chuck Reed will be making a special proclamation at the opening night performance of Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Cinderella) on November 14th.

As a part of this week-long celebration, residents from Opera San José will be performing a free concert for commuters at Diridon Station, between 5-6pm on November 18th, 2009.

While you’re enjoying the music, enter to win two tickets to La Cenerentola! This beautiful opera tells the classic tale of Angelina, a kind and beautiful girl who captures the heart of a prince, despite the schemes of her horrid stepsisters. A
family-friendly comedy, this opera will charm you with hilarious antics, dazzling music, gorgeous costumes and spectacular sets.

Student tickets to Opera San José productions are only $11 for ages 25 and under. Bring the family to our matinee on Sunday, November 15th, and stay after the performance to meet Cinderella and her Prince!

Opera San José performs at the California Theatre in downtown San José, on the corner of S. First Street and E. San Carlos – less than a block from San Antonio station and dozens of delicious restaurants. VTA and Caltrain monthly pass holders: save 20% on tickets to La Cenerentola! Visit www.operasj.org for more information.

Willow Ensemble

07. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Concert Announcements

Timothy Emerson is my brother, and a very fine bassoonist. If you are in the New York area check out the Willow Ensemble!

Friends:

Following a brief hiatus due to the necessary repairs to our regular performance space, the Willow Ensemble is back! Come join us for an evening of great chamber music in the newly-renovated gorgeous Grace Church Chantry.

On the program:
Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin (for woodwind quintet)
Mozart: Piano Quintet in E-Flat Major
Ravel: String Quartet in F Major

Time & Place:
8PM on Thursday, November 12 and Friday, November 13

Grace Church Chantry at 10th & Broadway

Tickets:
$15 in advance and $20 at the door

If you would like to reserve seats at the $15 price, email temerson [at] Inmagic [dot] com with your name, number of tickets and preferred date.

Thanks!
Timothy Emerson
Artistic Director, Willow Ensemble

Done

07. November 2009 · 1 comment · Categories: Ramble

Since I complained about the not so very nice lick in the UCSC recital concert, it’s only fair that I now tattle on myself and fill you in on how it went.

Not so very well.

Everything else felt pretty darn good. Aside from reed death; why is it that reeds decide that the should kick the bucket on recital days, I wonder?

But that lick? Truth be told, I should have blogged about it. I think I set myself up for disaster. And that’s what I had. I actually don’t even know what I played, but it wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t what was written. Fortunately I came out of it okay, and managed to get back on track. But I’m more than a bit angry with myself.

But hey, if Joshua Bell can forget two measures (this is at the very end of the hour video), tell the audience, and (I hope) forgive himself, I guess I have to give myself that allowance as well.

Maybe.

Just not today.

“Addio cervello.”

06. November 2009 · 5 comments · Categories: Opera, Ramble, Videos

Or, in English, “Goodbye brain.”

This is a line from Cenerentola. I just thought I’d share. Because I’m a sharing sort of person.

There’s also another funny part in the opera that cracks me up every time, but won’t hit any of the audience in the same way. Because it’s not what the singers are really saying. It’s just that it sounds like, “nobody home, nobody home, nobody home, nobody home” … and yes, things like that make me laugh. (This is in Act three, rehearsal #19 in my Kalmus part. Or, for those of you blessed with better parts, the duetto, 55 measures from the end of that number.)

I’m easily amused, as you should already know.

… and now off to play the oboe a bit. I (shamefully?) haven’t touched it yet today after all. I had a Very Important Task to Accomplish (VITA™); I had to buy new shoes for the recital. Because new shoes will, of course, make my reeds play better, my fingers behave, and my brain … well … maybe it won’t say “addio” after all. We’ll see!

(For those who are really curious, the “Nobody home” begins at 7:37. And yeah, doesn’t really sound like that once I can actually hear clearly. Go figure.)

(This production was done in two acts rather than three, or so it appears from the labeling of the video.)

Yeah, but can they make an oboe reed?

06. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Unbelievable, Videos

;-)

and then there’s this …

Both were seen first at Polyphonic.

Read Online

06. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Read Online

nope. the music is too old. shouldnt be played

This is in response to a recital announcement on Facebook:

Featuring students of Martin Schuring, the ASU oboe studio is proud to present their 2009 studio recital.

Performing works by:

Beethoven
Britten
Guilhaud
Jacob
Ponchielli
Schumann
Telemann

If the person is serious … well … how silly is he? (I’m hoping he’s just joking, of course.) My (equally silly) response to him (assuming he’s a musician), is that I wouldn’t attend anything he is playing right now. “student is too young. shouldn’t be playing.” ;-)

It’s Tonight

06. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Ramble

Yep … the recital is tonight … and so now it’s “hurry up and wait”. Obviously I pick up the oboe a bit; I’ll check out the reeds, play the more difficult licks, and just get myself comfortable on what I have ahead of me. I won’t play a tremendous amount … I just don’t want to overdo things, and I always worry that I’ll do something horrendous to my reeds! Silly, I’m sure.

Oh! I can’t forget, too, that I have to talk! Ack! Musicians aren’t necessarily talkers, and we’ll see how this goes. Each of us talks about one of the works, and I am introducing the Ferenc Farkas Antique Hungarian Dances.

Complete program:

Danza de Mediodia Arturo Marquez (b. 1950)
Woodwind Quintet

Régi Magyar Táncok (Antique Hungarian Dances) Ferenc Farkas (1905-2000)
Woodwind Quintet
I. Intrada
II. Lassù (Slow Dance)
III. Lapockàs (Shoulder Blade Dance)
IV. Chorea
V. Ugròs (Leaping Dance)

Windhover Hilary Tann (b. 1947)
Solo Flute: Greer Ellison, flute

Valses (from 16 Valsas para Fagote) Francisco Mignone (1897-1986)
Solo Bassoon: Erin Irvine, bassoon
I. A Boa Pascoa para Voce, Devos! (Happy Easter to You, Devos!)
II. Pattapiada (Pattapiada – Homage to the flutist Pattápio Silva)
III. Aquelo Modinha que o Villa nao Escreveu (The Modinha that Villa Didn’t Write)

Roaring Fork Eric Ewazen (b. 1954)
Woodwind Quintet
I. Whitewater Rapids (Maroon Creek)
II. Columbines (Snowmass Lake)
III. At The Summit (Buckskin Pass)

The more we played the works, the happier I became with the pieces we chose. I think it’s an appealing program, and I think the audience will like it.

TQOD

06. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: TQOD

Just realised that someone I know has a face shaped like an Oboe. Odd.

Classical Music @ The White House

05. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Videos

This is an hour long video, just so ya know.

Music & Dance

05. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Composers, Dance, Videos

So often dance seems to rely on music. Duh. But it’s interesting to see this one video that uses no music at all …

… and I think a lot of women can relate to the “huge day” thing. I also have “ugly days” and “pretty days” and it is fully in my head, I’m sure, but if we feel a certain way I do believe we also come across that way to others. Thus, I’m working on the “perfect oboe reed day”. :-)

But, as I said, most dance does use music. I just landed on the video below because I was checking out a new friend’s blog and website. (Hi Darin … hope you don’t mind me being as presumptuous as I am by calling you “friend”!) We “met” on twitter and the met live at the Ravel Symphony Silicon Valley concert. Here is his music with the above choreographer’s work:

Cool, huh? :-)

Please Don’t Believe What You Read

05. November 2009 · 5 comments · Categories: Concert Announcements, Ramble

If you get to the UCSC recital tomorrow night (as if any readers here will be there … hmmm …) and see the “no parking” signs in the parking lot for the recital hall, please don’t turn around and drive back home. We have been assured that there will be parking for attendees of the recital. Really.

But how frustrating to get to the parking lot Tuesday morning (when I teach) to find bright yellow signs saying “NO PARKING” with warning of getting towed if you park there.

I know what I’d do if I saw those signs; I’d leave. Period.

I talked to someone in the music office to see if we can get signs directing people to the part of the parking lot that isn’t closed, but so far no one knows if that can happen. I can’t tell you how frustrating this is!

In addition, the posters that have been up for weeks say our recital is on November 30. Argh! The poster, which I will once again include in this entry (although in smaller form; for a more readable poster just go here), was redone this past Tuesday, so I’m hoping the date error won’t be a big issue, but time will tell.

FNL No Strings postercolorOUT

We had our final rehearsal last night, two hours after a three hour opera rehearsal. That was a rather “killer mouth” day.

TQOD

05. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: TQOD

You know, there are many reasons to keep an oboe player and science nerd in the house.

Leonard Slatkin Recuperating

04. November 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Conductors, News

Detroit Symphony Orchestra music director Leonard Slatkin is resting in a hospital in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, after undergoing an angioplasty and stent procedure on Sunday to unblock a clogged artery following a heart attack.

Speaking via e-mail today from his hospital bed, Slatkin, 65, said he had experienced chest pains during the week before a concert with the Rotterdam Philharmonic but dismissed them as indigestion.

“At the Sunday concert, I started having trouble with chest pain and I was sweating more than usual,” said Slatkin. “Again, I thought it would go away but it stuck around. I sort of collapsed in the dressing room and a medical team from the hall was sent in. Five minutes later I was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital.”

Whoa. Pretty amazing.

But it’s so true that we are trained to continue no matter what. I’ve rarely seen a musician leave the stage during a performance. And when I have, it’s been a string player (**Please read dk’s comment; she makes a good point about strings). Really. I’ve never seen a conductor, wind player or percussionist exit the stage during a performance. (Well, except when the musician has an off stage part!) I think we have two things going on: we really do believe “The show must go on,” and we are all one on a part (or podium) and feel as if we simply can’t leave.

RTWT

So … are readers out there making sure they have their annual doctor visits? (I was a good girl; I just had mine.) :-)

UCSC Faculty Recital

04. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Concert Announcements

FNL No Strings postercolorOUT

TQOD

04. November 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: TQOD

ive been practicing my oboe so much that my tongue has a spot where it has been worn down from the reed : o

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