silence April 30, 2007
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post-concert thoughts April 29, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a commentTonight we did our first of two concerts of this classical subscription set. The works were Stravinsky’s Concerto in D for string orchestra, Lutoslawski’s Concerto for Orchestra, and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 with pianist Stephen Hough. As you might guess, the theme of the concert is that all of the works are concertos, of a sort, each in their own way. (more…)
studio stacks April 28, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, 2commentsI ran across a music blog that I hadn’t seen before today. It’s called CSO Bass Blog, and it’s written by Chicago Symphony bassist Michael Hovanian. He has an interesting entry concerning the messy state of his practice studio (and he’s not alone in that, let me tell you!), and I’m quoting the part that really caught my eye: (more…)
mstislav rostropovich, 1927 - 2007 April 27, 2007
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[click photo to enlarge]
Photo [Reuters/NYTimes]: Rostropovich pictured playing at Checkpoint Charlie after the fall of the Berlin Wall in December 1989.
Rostropovich appeared with the Oregon Symphony only once during my tenure. He did a one night special with the orchestra, playing the venerable Dvorak Concerto.
It was a remarkable experience for all of us in the orchestra at the time. I recall him demanding such an extremely soft pp (pianissimo) dynamic from the orchestra in an accompanying passage. He essentially took the reins away from Jimmy [Depreist] and ran the rehearsal, and to great effect. We were truly in the hands of one of the titans of music of our century (and several others).
One of the lasting impressions was not in regards to the music-making, but in the fact that he held up the concert for 15 minutes while the microphones that we normally use for archival recordings were removed. He refused to perform unless they were taken down. Our sound engineer at the time had to go up to the Dress Circle level and reel in the microphones and remove them from their cables.
My wife (a very fine cellist) was greatly saddened by the news today, as Slava was one of her heroes. She wondered who there was to take up his mantle, and didn’t see an heir apparent in the wings.
Retired Chicago Symphony (and former National Symphony) executive Henry Fogel shares his remembrance here.
Google News collection of obit links
turnover April 26, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a commentAfter being faced with the very real prospect (albeit briefly) of leaving the orchestra for another position, my thoughts have turned to the many people who I have watched leave, either through retirement, resignation or moving on to another job. It’s a sign of just how much the orchestra has changed, in purely personnel terms, since I arrived in 1995. (more…)
cute kitty moment… April 25, 2007
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[click to enlarge]
You must pardon the indulgence, but our two cats were so cute today… (more…)
ny phil makes changes at the top of its roster April 25, 2007
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The New York Times reports that the New York Philharmonic has decided to add the position of Principal Conductor to its roster. Most likely this is an attempt to get a place-holder figure on the podium on a regular basis while they continue their search for a successor to music director Lorin Maazel. You can smell the desperation on the part of these Big Five ensembles as they look for the magic bullet to solve all of their constituencies’ needs and wants. (more…)
a.f.m.f - climax and dénouement April 25, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, 12comments[As you may recall, at the end of my last post I was a 'potential' finalist - not dead, but also not alive, in an audition purgatory. The story continues:]
About 4:00 p.m. I receive a call from the personnel manager: I am officially advanced to the finals! I must report to the hall around 9:00 a.m., as I am to play at around 10:00 a.m. It sounds suspiciously like I might have been drawn as the first player in the round… (more…)
auditioning for middle-farts, part troix April 24, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, 5commentsThe next morning I wake at 7:00 a.m., as I need to get warmed up and look at a few spots before driving up to Seattle for the 10:00 a.m. call (meaning I need to arrive there at around 9:15). This time I get an even swankier soloist dressing room, complete with its own toilet, sink and shower, plus two windows, but minus the tuner and metromome (I guess soloists don’t need either of those devices). (more…)
auditioning for middle-farts, part deux April 23, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, 5commentsOn the morning of Friday the 19th I’ve driven up to a home of two good friends in the Dash Point area. I take an hour to get I-5 out of my bloodstream, then go over the whole range of music that I need to be ready to play that afternoon. My audition time slot is a range of between 5:00 - 6:45 p.m. I need to arrive at around 4:15 to get a warm-up room and be ready to get the list of excerpts that will be required for the preliminary round. (more…)
