and you thought violins were expensive… November 30, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a commentTourte Cello Bow Sells for Nearly $200,000 at AuctionBy Matthew Westphal
November 29, 2006A “well-known European cellist” has paid $196,000 for an early 19th-century bow made by François Xavier Tourte, considered the
father of the modern-day bow for string instruments.
The purchase was made last month via Tarisio, an online auction house specializing in musical instruments; the price, according to a report from Gramophone Online, is the highest ever paid at auction for a single bow.
Known as the “ex-Romberg,” the bow was made between 1800 and 1810; its entire ownership history is documented, which adds considerably to its value. According to Gramophone Online, Bernard Romberg, a cellist, composer and friend of Beethoven, probably purchased the bow directly from Tourte; later owners include Alfredo Piatti, Robert von Mendelssohn (a cousin of the composer Felix), Max Adler (a cellist who married into the family that owned Sears Roebuck & Co.), and Edmund Kurtz, who died in 2004.
The bow’s newest owner has chosen to remain anonymous for now, but Jason Price of Tarisio told Gramophone that he or she “will make sure it is heard frequently on concert stages around the world.”
new beethoven movie November 28, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, 1 comment so farI’m not sure what to think about this one - it does have Ed Harris, but it also has several cringe-worthy moments in the trailer alone. Can a professional musician really watch a movie about classical music?
Quicktime required for this trailer:
http://www.apple.com/trailers/mgm/copyingbeethoven/trailer/
ok, SHE might have killed classical music… November 27, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentFound at Blockbuster Video today - how could I not get it??
Read a little bit about the movie here.
jeremy denk killed classical music November 23, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentA great post from a great blog - here’s a taste:
It’s dangerous to roam the Classical Internet. Surfing and clicking from the discomfort of my ancient Hoosier sofa, it seems that every time I turn around, I run across yet another article entitled: Who (or What) Killed Classical Music? Or, more optimistically present tense: What is Killing Classical Music? Seriously: I can’t take it anymore. I really don’t know how to say something like this, but I need closure.
I killed Classical Music. That’s right; just me. No accomplices. Hahahaha! And here’s how …
mmm… chocolate… November 21, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentNancy Ives, the orchestra’s principal cellist, is a HUGE chocolate fan, and we from time to time will present each other with new and exotic varieties that we happen upon. Yesterday, in honor of Thanksgiving, Nancy gave me some aptly named chocolate:
Here’s a link to their website - enjoy!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving - if I’m not there in-person to say it myself!
Daniel Bernard Roumain, violinist November 19, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a comment
The Vermont Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Troy Peters, has been consistently innovative over this tenure - and here is a prime example. Violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain plays his Voodoo Violin Concerto No. 1 in a performance from September of this year. Enjoy!
violists as fodder… November 18, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentOnly from the mind of a bass trombonist…
http://www.thepetersonproject.com/Viola.htm
I’m just waiting for this one to hit YouTube… Enjoy!
time flies… November 18, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a commentI was looking through my file of clippings and programs tonight, and happened upon a program for the Super World Orchestra 2000. This was a gig that I got through our then principal cellist Margo Tatgenhorst. Basically, this company in Japan called S.T. Japan (which specializes in organizing tours for visiting foreign orchestras) put out a call for musicians from major orchestras around the world to play two weeks of concerts - one in Osaka, and one in Tokyo. I didn’t really know what I was getting into with this trip - I only knew Margo, and didn’t know her tremendously well at that - and I’d never been to Asia before. I also didn’t know who else was going to be in the orchestra. That was a very pleasant surprise! Bill Preucil was the concertmaster, and the other principals were all solo (principal) players from the Vienna Philharmonic - heady company, indeed!
Here are the two programs that we did (obviously, time constraints weren’t a consideration):
Program A:
Rimsky-Korsakov - Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34
Ravel - Piano Concerto in G major (Yoshihiro Kondo, pianist)
Brossé - Millennium Overture
Shostakovich - Tahiti Trot, Op. 16
Shostakovich - Second Walz from Suite No. 2 for Jazz Orchestra (arr. Brossé)
Bernstein - Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
Ravel - Bolero - choreographed by Roland Petit (Tetsuya Kumakawa, ballet dancer)
Dirk Brossé, conductor
Program B:
Rossini - Overture to Semiramide
Bellini - Casta diva from Norma
Gounod - Ave Maria
Puccini - Vissi d’arte from Tosca
Monti - Csárdás
Massenet - Meditation from Thaïs
Sarasate - Zigeunerweisen
Puccini - O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi
Morricone - Lost Boys Calling from The Legend of 1900
Bizet - Habanera from Carmen
Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4
Jahja Ling, conductor
Filippa Giordano, soprano
Iwao Furusawa, violin
OK - so that’s the skinny - the pianist was the latest sensation in Japan, I’m guessing. The ballet dancer was described to me as the “Barishnikov of Japan” - and the audiences went WILD over this dancing - literally women screaming and rending their garments. Amazing! The soprano was HORRIBLE - one of the Vienna Phil players (who all play in the Vienna State Opera as well as the VPO) bought the latest mini digital voice recorder just to be able to reproduce her screeching for his pals back home.
It was an exhausting two weeks, with about three days of long rehearsals in Osaka followed by two performances, then a trip on the bullet train to Tokyo where we did three performances in the Tokyo International Forum - quite possibly the largest building I’ll ever set foot inside in my life.
The best part of this whole experience was getting to see Japan - a place that I loved visiting and hope to see again someday. The strangest part was getting paid. We were directed to a room in our hotel on the mid-point of the tour. A couple shady looking characters stood around while a vaguely dangerous looking man in a fedora and three piece suite smoked a cigarette on a sofa in the living room of the suite. He had a suitcase of money - a SUITCASE OF MONEY - from which he paid each of us - in Yen, in cash. My first destination the day before we left was a bank which could change the money for US dollars - I went through the five closest branches before I found one that hadn’t been cleaned out of dollars by the US members of the orchestra. Fun day. I felt like a drug dealer coming back into the country with thousands of dollars in cash in crisp $100 bills.
Here are some pages from the program booklet:
local violist does good November 16, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : Uncategorized, add a commentA clip notable mostly for the fact that the subject is a local high school violist Griffin Gaffney (a member of the Portland Youth Philharmonic). The general subject is “musically gifted kids” and it’s a nice, warm story about a young person who is into the arts but not undergoing a spiritual or emotional crisis. It’s not sensational, and it’s not dramatic - it’s just a view of how many kids got started in the music world. We need more stories like this one on our mainstream television networks.
great criticism November 15, 2006
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, 1 comment so farAlex Ross has an article in the week’s New Yorker concerning recent Beethoven and Shostakovich symphony cycles, and it’s a model for what I think music criticism should be: informative, contextual and insightful. Find the review here.
