… it was too wet to walk.
So what did I do? I went to a concert. Well, on my computer, that is! It was a windy concert, though.
… and always time for intervals! (Thanks, Pam!)
Sent my oboe off:-( yesterday it was a really sad moment but now I have 4 grand in my pocket:-) not literally
Beginning on December 1 I’m going to take a bit of a blogging break, aside from posting YouTube videos and anything that comes up that simply MUST be posted. I know I’m going to be busy, and I also know I just need to step away from oboeinsight for a little while. It’s possible that I’ll still pop in now and then, but if the blog starts to look pretty silent just know I’m alive and well but needing a bit of space.
Please enjoy the music, though, and have a most wonderful holiday! See you in 2013.
A Dothan man faces a felony assault charge after Dothan police charged him with using a violin and metal pipe to assault another man.
According to a Dothan police statement, police arrested 44-year-old Robert Tate and charged him with second-degree assault. The statement said police charged Tate with striking an acquaintance with those items during an assault.
I read it here.
… and this is the first time I’ve played Tchaikovsky’s sixth symphony!”
Those were the words I spoke to George Cleve during a rehearsal break yesterday.
Crazy, no? But for the majority of my career I was the English hornist of the San Jose Symphony, and only morphed into a second oboist when the SJS folded and Symphony Silicon Valley was started. I continue to be blessed and amazed and incredibly moved by the music that I’ve heard all my career but have only recently been able to play.
Tchaikovksy’s sixth is, for me, about life and death and joy and sorrow and oh so much more. (I normally don’t like to say a work is “about” anything at all — it makes me uncomfortable to do so — but I’m going there with this. Please forgive!) It’s painful. It’s beautiful. And for some reason it makes me miss my parents terribly. When I spoke those words above to the Maestro I nearly cried. When I think of the work and playing it I nearly cry too. I’m so honored to finally get to play it.
It’s also my first time playing Brahms’ first piano concerto. I look forward to hearing Peter Serkin tonight. I’m sure it’ll be incredible.
Some works get less impressive as I age. Some that I thought were amazing when I was twenty … well … I think, “How in the world did that move me like it did?” (Some books are the same way: I read something years ago that had me sobbing on the floor when I finished, so I read it again more recently to try and remember why I was so moved and it left me rather cold. Funny how that goes.) But these two works? For me they’ve grown better with age. Go figure.
I am most blessed to have this little career ‘o mine. Truly.
Right, so I now have to play the oboe all day and my throat is killing me!!!
At a Fort Canning carpark, a cab driver takes a break and practises on his oboe. Lovely.
Q One more question, before you go. I’ve read about your nervousness as a performer. Do you still have bouts of nerves?
A Yes, it’s true. I’m afraid so. But I live with it, and I almost respect it in a certain way. I don’t dread it as much as I used to. I can live with it. It’s part of the energy of what’s going on.
That was just the very last part of the interview, so go read the rest. I always find it a relief to hear that even the top folks have the nerve thing going on.
Mr. Serkin came and played with San Jose Symphony right after I became orchestra librarian there, so I must have been around twenty years old. I am excited to have him return here. Of course neither of us has changed at all, I’m sure.
ben is whistling along with this oboe symphony
This week I move from pit to stage, from principal to second oboe and from opera to symphony. This is always an interesting change. Reeds I loved for the principal oboe opera chair will, most likely, not be what I choose for second oboe symphony. The stage is different than the pit. Reed response can feel different. Timbre can differ as well. It’s amazing what a few feet (okay, maybe more than a few!) can do. Sometimes I get on stage and think, “How did I ever think this was a decent reed?” Truth is, it probably would be just fine if I could climb back into the pit. We also have to think differently about how we approach our playing. With opera, the singers are the main thing, obviously, and while there are solos that allow me to play out a bit more, much of the time I’m thinking about balance with them. Of course I also think about balance with my instrumentalist colleagues, but it’s the singers who get center stage. Now that we instrumentalists are on stage we get the limelight, but being second oboist means I have to be more sensitive to what the principal is doing. (I once played with a principal oboist who told me, “If you can hear yourself you are too loud!” That freaked me out horribly, and it was a most unpleasant experience. I do have to hear myself, after all. Side note: That oboist’s career was very short-lived and I often wonder where he is now. I believe he went into the wine and cheese business, but I don’t know for certain.)
I have two days before I hit the stage. It’s now time to line up what I think will be good stage reeds. Time will tell if I guess right: reeds that work in my little studio often prefer to stay in the studio and rebel against any stage work. Go figure.
Did some oboe and clarinet practice, now my lips are dead :P
Okay … I stole that subject header from Dan. (Thanks, Dan!) It was too much fun to let it just go ….
But yes, Fledermaus is over. I will admit it’s not my favorite opera, but it’s fun to play, and there really isn’t much to stress over. The very few solos I have aren’t difficult, and I can “schmaltz” them up a bit. And then there’s that drunk solo! (Aside from the “Drunken” remark the pencil marks aren’t mine.)
It’s fun to play around with it, and it’s pretty much up to me when it comes to how far I take it. I hope I managed to make it work. This is one thing I’d love to hear sometime, just to know what it sounds like out in the hall. Alas, I never hear recordings (union rules and all that*), so unless Opera San José puts a short clip on YouTube I haven’t a clue how I sound. (I could go to the OSJ offices and listen, I think, but finding the time to do that would take … well … time!)
*Update: I was just going to remove my comment, but decided it would be best to clarify for at least one reader and probably more! My “union rules and all that” was NOT in any way meaning I disagree. On the contrary! These are quite necessary (knowing that at least one recording I was on was sold for profit in Europe some years ago, we do need to protect recordings … and I could go on about that but I’m racing out the door at the moment). So please understand that comment wasn’t to say I think that rule should be abolished. Not at all! (I hope this calms some readers out there. I’m so sorry to have offended you.)
Next up is Symphony Silicon Valley, with Peter Serkin and George Cleve. We are doing Brahms and Tchaikovsky. You might have heard of those guys.
Purcell: Hear My Prayer
Vox Luminis
Praise My Soul The King Of Heaven
Rafael Scarfullery, guitar
