Courtesy of Sam Bergman with the Minnesota Orchestra (on tour in Cologne, Germany):
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February 2009
I got back a couple hours ago from working on the great op. 13 quartet of the young Felix Mendelssohn, and it never fails to amaze me how great a composer he is without often falling into the Germanic need for angst and suffering in his art. One of my favorite parts of the quartet
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Friday we had our second set of rehearsals for our next Classical series concert with beloved violinist Itzhak Perlman at the helm. He’s really a genial guy, he acts like “one of the guys” with the orchestra and generally lets us do whatever we want to (within reason). He had a couple good comments during
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Violist Sam Bergman has a great illustration of how different it is to hear an orchestra from the audience’s point of view than from a seat in the orchestra. Sam’s a violist with the Minnesota Orchestra, which is on a European tour right now. Their first stop was the Barbican Centre in London, where the
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I received this email from the Oregon Cultural Advocacy Coalition (bold face added by myself): If you read the newspaper and listen to broadcast media, you know that Oregon is facing one of the most significant budget shortfalls in its history. The State issued its revenue forecast on Friday. Revenue projections are now an additional
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I’ve got so much to do this week that it’s likely that the posts will be spotty during this time, so stay tuned… Also, this being the bicentenary of Mendelssohn’s birth, I’m going to do a bit of show and tell about two of his teen-year masterpieces: the String Quartet in A minor, op. 13
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Nothing like being sick as a dog for a few days to make you long for even the most mundane activities. Â Yes, the intestinal virus that’s been going around has finally gotten me in its vile clutches, and though I feel a bit better today than the past few days, I’ve still got a little
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Would you like a conducting lesson with OSO music director Carlos Kalmar? A violin lesson with PBO’s music director Monica Hugget? How about a piano lesson with Pink Martini’s Thomas Lauderdale? Well, you’re in luck, because these fabulous experiences and many other great products and services are available at the Portland Youth Philharmonic’s online auction
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This happens just about every February. The gloom lifts, the days start to lengthen, the sun comes out, and the temperature rises. The daffodils which popped up their greenery a couple weeks ago suddenly have their colorful clown collars on, and my brain goes straight out the window! Add to this the fact that we’re
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An Italian violin teacher (Fabbio Paggioro, aged 36) was stabbed in the back with a kitchen knife by a 15 year-old student after the teacher said ”See how you manage to do well when you put the effort in?” Yikes! Read the whole story here.
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Wow, time is flying by! I was just getting my music together for upcoming non-OSO performances, and realized that a quartet concert with the Rovetti Quartet in Astoria’s Liberty Theater is taking place very soon – March 1st. As they say in the old country – holy crap! Liberty Theater – Photo: Morgan Sapp It’ll
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The title of this post is also the title of the first chapter of David Denby’s new book Snark: It’s mean, It’s personal, and It’s Ruining Our Conversation. Here are a couple excerpts from the first chapter: This is an essay about a strain of nasty, knowing abuse spreading like pinkeye through the national conversation
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…ride, that is! It was the eight annual Worst Day of the Year Ride in Portland this morning, and when I woke up, it seemed like it might actually live up to its billing. The rain was coming down, it was dark, dreary and disgusting. But by the time I was heading out to ride
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The Wall Street Journal features the Oregon Symphony (complete with photo of music director Carlos Kalmar, no less) in an article about how arts groups are slashing ticket prices in order to keep audiences filling seats. The Elaine Calder brainstorm ticket stub cross-promotion was also featured: To sidestep a potential pricing trap, the major arts
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Sony Classical has released eight classic Guarneri Quartet albums (as mp3 downloads on both iTunes and Amazon.com) to honor the quartet’s farewell season, which concludes in June 2009. Some of these have not been available (except on used LP) for years, and are a welcome addition to any chamber music aficionado’s collection. Brahms: String Quartets
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