Categories
the orchestra world

officially HOT!

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It’s only 2:55 in the afternoon and we’ve reached the century mark – the latest forecast predicts 102ºF by 5:00 p.m. Thank goodness for the two window air conditioners we bought a few years ago – I remember sweating through the hot weeks of July and August in our dank hole of an apartment, and can’t imagine living without them now!

On a side note, I’m doing some reading to pass the time of the dog day afternoons while the schedule is blessedly free of gigs and upcoming concerts. Now on the nightstand (and coffee table) is Arnold Steinhardt’s excellent book Violin Dreams, which is sort of a sequel to his earlier Indivisible by Four.

The new book delves more deeply into his early studies and formative experiences, while also looking at stories touched on in the decades-old (but still thoroughly indispensable and entertaining) book The Art of Quartet Playing (which was a series of interviews with the Guarneri Quartet conducted by David Blum). It centers around his study and performances over the past 50 years of Bach’s great Chaconne from the Partita No. 2 for solo violin. A wonderful bonus surprise lies at the back of the book, where there is a CD of performances from 1966 and 2006 of the entire Partita by the author.