orchestral theory of relativity April 27, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, the orchestra world, viola, 1 comment so farWhenever we do a major, difficult work, even if it’s core repertoire, I’m surprised by my own individual performance and how it changes night to night. I don’t know why I’m surprised - it seems to follow the same pattern every time - it’s like catching a cold every year: the buildup is always the same, and you never realize you’re coming down with the bug until it’s upon you.
Saturday
Saturday night is nervous night. I’m never sure if the rough patches that I’ve been struggling with will come off, and if I’ll be a good, supportive stand partner to our excellent principal, Joël Belgique. Every sense is on edge, and there is often a bit of pulling of punches, so to speak, and second-guessing. Usually I do ok on the first night - it doesn’t feel great, but usually the job gets done and I can go home without a bag over my head. Generally speaking, the whole orchestra is in the same boat for the opening night.
Sunday
Sundays I always think that it’s going to be much easier, and I can just play, and everything will be gravy. Yeah, right! I’ve gone over the rough spots again, warmed up thoroughly (always a bigger project on Sundays since we haven’t had a morning rehearsal that day) and am feeling good. Then the concert comes, I’m loose and ready to go, the bow goes to the string, and I cannot play my instrument. Literally - anything above a mezzo-forte turns into horrible crunching, I’m mis-reading whole lines of triple-stops, and life just sucks really, really bad. I should learn to bring my paper sack with me on Sunday nights - if I don’t feel like putting it over my head, I can at least fill it with what’s left of my dignity and self-respect and skulk on home. It’s too bad, since it’s often the night that the orchestra sounds its best.
Monday
Monday nights are often the best for me, but often not so for the entire orchestra. People are getting tired, most often we’ve started rehearsing some other program that same morning, and some of the focus is gone. A bit of squirreliness and mannered playing can begin to creep its way in, too. It’s strange, because I find that for me, it’s often my best night since it combines the focus of Saturday night with the looseness of Sunday night.
It’s frustrating on so many levels, because I cannot seemingly practice enough hours to make the focus problem go away (though I could get more sleep and exercise - hm…) and that when I sound my best the orchestra sounds at its worst, and vice versa. At least I’m not a solo wind player, I would last about 10 minutes in that hell hole of Prozac and stomach acid!
functional beauty January 27, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : instruments, music, viola, add a comment
It’s not often that one takes the time, as a professional musician, to just sit and take a look at one’s instrument. I don’t mean actually looking at the instrument - that happens all the time. Inspecting for damage, polishing the varnish, making sure the bridge is straight, etc. What I mean is looking at it as an object of aesthetic beauty. I think that in these terms, we string players are pretty fortunate. (more…)
fun with photoshop January 15, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : contemporary, music, photography, 1 comment so far
Here’s some fun I had with one of the shots from the photo shoot for fEARnoMusic - OSO principal violist Joël Belgique will be participating in a work which will involve him playing a boom box - should be interesting!
Click on photo to view larger image.
fEARnoMusic winter concert photo January 15, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : contemporary, music, photography, add a comment
Just got this done for them today - we shot Adam (cello), Joël (boom box), and Joel (cymbals of death) in Joël’s living room against a blank wall with a sheet on the floor. Then I went home, picked the best poses and laboriously cut them away from the existing background using Photoshop, replacing it with the spotlit background you see, plus shadows for depth. All in a day’s work!
[click image to view larger version]
if I’m tired it must be january January 14, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, the orchestra world, 1 comment so farClassical Program 6
Gregory Vajda, conducting
Bartók - Miraculous Mandarin, complete version, first OSO performance
Intermission
Debussy - Prelude to Afternoon of a Faun
Chopin - Piano Concerto No. 2, Ingrid Fliter, pianist
Dukas - Sorcerer’s Apprentice
T.S. Eliot thought that April was the cruelest month, but for me it’s January, with February a close runner-up. It’s because December is full of marginally fulfilling holiday stuff, followed by frantic running around for the holidays themselves, then a bit of blissful oblivion, followed by a panic that the season starts up again in five days, with really difficult programs, and I haven’t touched my viola since that last Nutcracker. Then it’s a sprint to the end of March, when the spring break arrives. (more…)
carrie dennis plays paganini and schumann January 11, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, add a commentCarrie Dennis, the phenomenal violist who has (by the anything but grizzled age of 30!) already been Assistant principal violist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Principal violist of the Berlin Philharmonic, and was just named as Principal violist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic has a couple videos up on youtube. See and hear her for yourself - viola ain’t second fiddle no more! (more…)
once more into the breach… January 10, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, 1 comment so farI’ve been thinking a lot about practicing lately. Maybe that’s because I’ve actually been practicing lately. Or not. But I’ve been thinking about the process of practicing, and it’s really quite militaristic! (more…)
new principal viola for LA January 9, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, the orchestra world, add a commentCarrie Dennis, currently one of the principal violists of the Berlin Philharmonic (you might have seen her on the front desk for Monday’s broadcast of the BPO’s Mahler 9 with Simon Rattle), has been hired as the new principal viola of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. (more…)
practice, schmactice January 6, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, the orchestra world, add a comment
The month of January holds some big programs for us here at the Oregon Symphony. This week we begin with rehearsals for next weekend’s classical series 6 concerts under Resident conductor Gregory Vajda, which includes Bartók’s complete score to his ballet-pantomime The Miraculous Mandarin, and Paul Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Next week Carlos Kalmar returns to conduct classical 7, which includes one of the most difficult modern scores I’ve had the “pleasure” to look at by Scottish composer James MacMillan - The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, along with the complete incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Felix Mendelssohn. Finally, at the end of the month comes classical 8 (with Gregory Vajda back on the podium) with Schumann’s Fourth Symphony (not too difficult) and the formidably difficult Chamber Symphony by John Adams.
Phew! (more…)
violist kim kashkashian on npr December 30, 2007
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, soloists & recitals, add a commentArguably one of the great violists of the 20th/21st century, Kim Kashkashian has made many critically-acclaimed recordings (almost all on ECM New Series) of both the standard repertoire and new works, many written especially for her. Born in Detroit, she was a graduate of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Md., but ended up spending much of her early career in Europe, teaching at several music schools in Germany (Freiburg and Berlin) for years. Luckily for American violists and music lovers, she recently returned to the US to take a position at the New England Conservatory in Boston, Mass.
I was fortunate to take part in a week-long master course with Ms. Kashkashian in 1993 at the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh, England. It was a great experience, and one of the most profound and concentrate periods of musical learning that I’ve experienced - the results of which I’m still processing to this day.
There’s a great interview/performance program that aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday today - click here to take a listen. It’s centered around her recent ECM recording release: Asturiana. It’s an excellent recording that I do own, and I’d recommend it highly.
Thanks to B. Moran for the tip.
