Comments for daily observations

Comment on viola reindeer and violin baby boom by ayako

ayako — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:53:10 +0000

thanks for posting our pictures!

Comment on loud shirt quartet revealed by Cameron Kopf

Cameron Kopf — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:21:51 +0000

WOW! You did what I requested (to post that pic), and I thank you!

Very colorful indeed, a nice change of pace from our usual performance garb.

Comment on a couple good music articles on the web by bob priest

bob priest — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:14:07 +0000

capital offense? nah, an hour or two of listening to Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music” through a few Marshall stacks on “11″ oughta clean the arrogance out of their pen’s ears.

as for non-smiling orchestral musicians, well, there certainly are a “few” of those. maybe a few more viola jokes would help? :)))

Comment on a couple good music articles on the web by Charles Noble

Charles Noble — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:27:46 +0000

Rubenstein is one thing, but I think that Holly is referring to the vast majority of orchestral musicians.

Comment on a couple good music articles on the web by Charles Noble

Charles Noble — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:25:46 +0000

A capital offense, perhaps?

Comment on a couple good music articles on the web by bob priest

bob priest — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:36:07 +0000

a brief comment on each of the excellent articles above:

1/ i saw Artur Rubenstein twice in concert and he NEVER smiled. i forgive him. then again, there are those that smile too much. well, “Lang-Langerace” DOES have great teeth.

2/ i hope John and Justin’s superb exchange gets wide circulation among music critics AND editors. personally, i believe that a glib and/or dismissive one-liner “review” from a music critic regarding a new piece is an actionable offense.

Comment on what makes conductors good? by Charles Noble

Charles Noble — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:57:57 +0000

Well, I hadn’t even remembered playing/rehearsing it at Sunriver, but I think it must have been easier with a smaller orchestra since it was written for the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Thanks for stopping by!

Comment on loud shirt quartet revealed by bob priest

bob priest — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:12:44 +0000

there oughta be a law against such loud color decibels!

Comment on what makes conductors good? by Darrel Wright

Darrel Wright — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:57:37 +0000

How does rehearsinga Kernis piece with OS compare to the rehearsals of Kernis with the Sunriver Festival Orchestra two summers ago?

Comment on what makes conductors good? by Valerie

Valerie — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 17:09:22 +0000

Thanks for such an interesting piece. The whole relationship between conductor and orchestra is really quite mysterious and fascinating.

Comment on world’s top orchestras? by Charles Noble

Charles Noble — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 08:21:29 +0000

It is amusing - and believe me, I thought about the irony of what I was about to do as I was posting it! For me it comes down to which orchestra I’d like to hear do which repertoire. For example, I love Boston for Ravel, Vienna for Brahms, Berlin for Beethoven, Chicago for Strauss or Bartok, Philadelphia for Rachmaninoff, LA for almost anything 20th or 21st century, etc.

Comment on world’s top orchestras? by Nikos

Nikos — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:37:39 +0000

It is amusing how all blogs dery the list and at the same breath publish it for all to ponder!
Berliner Phil is number one by the way (by far). The Met Orchestra should be in the top 5. Substitute the London Symphony with the Philadelphians. Move the New York Phil up a few places. Then it looks more accurate!

Comment on ned rorem at 85 and other odds and ends by Dan Ott

Dan Ott — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 21:18:26 +0000

P.S. I should correct myself, in that the Phoenix Concerts are directed by Gilda Lyons alone. Daron Hagen was there to present a lovely Festschrift to Ned with writings by some of his colleagues and former students. My use of the term “homegrown affair” was meant to imply only that the concert had a wonderful convivial and family-type vibe, thanks to all of Ned’s students and admirers who were on hand to wish him well on his 85th. The concert, by the way, was fabulous. Phoenix Concerts are really thriving; commissioning lots, too!

Comment on loud shirts, great music by bob priest

bob priest — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:55:33 +0000

hahahaha, the louder the shirt, the softer you can play!

Comment on loud shirts, great music by Charles Noble

Charles Noble — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:16:25 +0000

I’m waiting for a friend to send it along - as soon as I get it I’ll post it for sure!

Comment on world’s top orchestras? by Drew McManus

Drew McManus — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:02:10 +0000

By top, perhaps they mean the tallest if you stacked all the full time players up sitting on each others shoulders.

Love the new theme, you always seem to find something tasteful and elegant, kudos.

Comment on loud shirts, great music by Cameron Kopf

Cameron Kopf — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:45:38 +0000

A picture of your ensemble at this concert would have been nice.

Comment on the present and future of pre-concert talks by Bob

Bob — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:49:07 +0000

I did several of the Concert Conversations before the symphony instituted the current set up with KBPS at the start of last season, and I continue to give all of the pre-performance talks for the Portland Opera. I’ve found that modern audiences are quite interested in finding out more about what it was like to attend a concert in, say, late 18th-century Vienna, or what someone would have expected to hear if they purchased a ticket for the premiere of “Rigoletto” at La Fenice in 1851. I think it’s helpful to point out that we experience music in vastly different ways than audiences did even 100 years ago, and that most of the things we take for granted—rapt silence in the auditorium, for example, or a repertoire made up almost entirely of works from the past—are fairly of fairly recent vintage. If nothing else, it may just bring us all a little bit closer to our musical forebears.
Is this approach for everyone? Probably not. There are certainly those for whom this kind of thing smacks too much of a music history class. But if it’s done with enthusiasm and conviction, it’s not hard to bring it off, and from what I’ve been able to tell, audiences genuinely like it.

Comment on world’s top orchestras? by David Socolofsky

David Socolofsky — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:19:04 +0000

No Philadelphia Orchestra?!? Even the BCS rankings are more credible.

Comment on a remembrance of quartets past by Robin Jennings

Robin Jennings — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:06:32 +0000

Thanks, Charles. I love to see Marty remembered.