[name here] starts to think classical songs are actually pretty nice to hear and that oboe really produces such a beautiful sound thanks to Nodame Cantabille :p
To be stood up there in front of a symphony orchestra, you know, it’s like that really does massage the ego somewhat.
-Sting
(Putting this up again. Because.)
Call for Orchestral Players -
operamission is presenting Così fan tutte August 17-22.
A reading orchestra is being assembled for four sessions to jam through Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte with a spectacular cast of singers at New York’s Gershwin Hotel on 27th St & 5th Avenue.
Qualified players of the following instruments are invited to sign up:
flute
oboe
clarinet
bassoon
horn
trumpet
timpani
violin
viola
violoncello
contrabass
Players may participate in any number of sessions. We will cover 30-40 minutes of music in each session.Four hosts – a conductor (Jennifer Peterson), a stage director (Ned Canty), a dramaturg (Cori Ellison) and an Italian language master (Marco Nisticò) will lead the audience through the musical and dramaturgical assembly of the work.
Parts will be available in advance. Final seating & chair assignments are at the discretion of the conductor.
Four three-hour sessions
Act I, Part 1 – Tuesday, August 17, 7-10pm (7:30 downbeat)
Act I, Part 2 – Wednesday, August 18, 7-10pm (7:30 downbeat)
Act II, Part 1 – Friday, August 20, 7-10pm (7:30 downbeat)
Act II, Part 1 – Sunday, August 22, 4-7pm (4:30 downbeat)
To sign up, contact Jennifer Peterson at operamission in one of the following three ways:
email – operamission@gmail.com
twitter – twitter.com/operamission
website – leave a comment here at www.operamission.orgFacebook event ‘Così fan tutte: Some Assembly Required’ displays full details, but a facebook RSVP is unofficial if not confirmed via one of the above three media.
Thanks!
Wanna play?
Seriously … it’s Così! C’mon … you know you wanna! 8-)
(Psst. Someone you know will be doing the 17th & 18th.)
An oboe is like a bazooka. You better know how to handle one.
When I was teaching last Saturday one student seemed to have reed issues. I rarely play on students’ reeds these days, but I wanted to see if it was the reed or him. So I said, “Are you healthy?” to which he replied, “Yes.” After checking the reed (it was fine), the young student started coughing. A lot. “Do you have a cold?” I asked. “No.”
Yeah. Right.
Last night I came down with a sore throat. Today I’m definitely not enjoying this runny nose.
Okay. This time I really mean it: I am not going to play on students’ reeds. I will determine “issues” by the crow, as I friend does. I can’t afford to get sick. And I do not like those throat ‘o mine. Sigh.
Tomorrow it’s a very long day of two opera rehearsals, both of which include overtime. I certainly hoep I’m feeling better by then!
The National Anthem. Played on oboe. Really.
Oh … but it was in 1996. So maybe she’s done it a lot. And maybe this isn’t a “first” at all. Still ….
Maybe I should be calling my San Francisco Giants up. Ya think?
Check out the picture of an English horn player. It’s a “coloring page” you can download. But who would want to have that picture? Yikes!
When Berlioz and Franck used the English Horn in their symphonies, the critics said it was vulgar because Haydn and Beethoven did not use an English Horn in their symphonies.
(I had never heard this before. Can anyone verify it for me?)
that trilobite didnt know the difference between an oboe and an elbow
I could listen to good oboe concertos all day. Why aren’t oboes more popular?
the oboe does not sound like a dying duck.
I just ran across this video (it’s about an hour long … this isn’t YouTube!). I hadn’t heard of it before. What fun to see familiar names and now see faces that go with them.
I’m not sure when this was made, but I believe it was put up just a few days ago.
(You’ll see my boss, Andrew Bales, from Symphony Silicon Valley, a little over 49 minutes in.)
All of this is news to me; I had no idea how the ballet wound up here. I just had heard that at some point Cleveland Ballet came to San Jose, and I understood they called themselves “San Jose Cleveland Ballet” when they were here, and “Cleveland Ballet” when they were there. That was about all I knew. And I knew I had work in December for as long as they were (are!) here.
I’m still waiting to hear what this coming season will bring for .
… always a mother!
I just read this online:
My son,aged 32 is a professional oboist in a major orchestra. Last Tuesday he had 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed. The feeling in his tongue and lips has returned but there is residual numbness in his lower jaw, where some but not all of the feeling has returned. How likely is it that this damage is permanent and if it should be so, how likely is this to affect his chances of continuing to play as a professional musician?
It made me smile. Because I just might do the same thing (although I probably wouldn’t have gotten quite so specific). We mothers cannot avoid this sort of thing. Or at least I can’t. I suppose I shouldn’t speak for all mothers, eh?
Those of you who began reading this blog from the start know that I had a bit of an issue with a numb tongue due to a dental visit (it happened on November 19, 1996, to be precise) … and that numb tongue lasted for four months! It was a wee bit frightening for a wind musician.
8:50: I am currently listening to “Pretty Ballerina” by The Left Banke because Bondy, our columnist, became obsessed with the use of the oboe in rock songs. He did some intense research to find some songs where the oboe is featured and then borrowed my transcribing headphones to listen. What kicked this off? Well, “I Got You Babe” is the song featured on the Mets’ KissCam and Filip was yammering about how the oboe is played in that song. “I bet it’s the only song with one,” he said. Then he looked it up. Quite a good song, too. “It’s an elegant, minor-chord song,” Bondy says. The Left Banke also sang “Walk Away, Renee,” if you recall. Anyway, the 2-1…..
I read it here, where a reporter was “live blogging”.
‘that’s an odd Oboe she said. ‘it’s because it’s a Cor Anglais’ I replied. Oh, how we laughed. Watching a recording of Mahler from Proms.
