{"id":3888,"date":"2010-01-25T06:00:37","date_gmt":"2010-01-25T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=3888"},"modified":"2013-02-07T20:07:01","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T04:07:01","slug":"soloists-walking-the-tightrope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/01\/25\/soloists-walking-the-tightrope\/","title":{"rendered":"soloists walking the tightrope"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week we’ve been fortunate to have the wonderful violinist Chee-Yun<\/a> in town (replacing the ailing Arabella Steinbacher) to play the Dvorak Violin Concerto<\/em>.\u00a0 She’s playing so well – a great combination of clean playing and grab-you-by-the-throat intensity that’s often lacking in the newer generations of violinists (you often get either clean playing, or passionate playing, but seldom both at the same time).<\/p>\n

As the member of a string section, I’m fairly constantly in awe of soloists – either those who play out in front of the orchestra, or who play from within.\u00a0 There is such an added level of concentration that is demanded when you’ve got the spotlight entirely on you, and often the most exposed passages are also the most treacherous ones.\u00a0 If you screw up as a principal wind player (or even a non-principal), it’s usually pretty obvious, whereas in a string section you’ve got a bit more cover (unless you totally blow a rest or some other catastrophic failure).\u00a0 So when I see an assistant principal player like OSO flutist Alicia DiDonato-Paulsen<\/a> step up and play some really fine solos (especially in the Rossini\/Respighi ballet score), I very much have to tip my hat to them – they’re coming out of their comfort zone just to the right of their principal, and having to step up their concentration and game a notch or two.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>This stuff is very much on my mind right now, as I find myself struggling through my usual January\/February doldrums which usually culminate in a major crisis of my worth as a player (and by extension, as a person).\u00a0 This week’s concert was made up of three pieces that I’d never played before, two of which I’d never even heard before, and that always causes me to put more pressure on myself to try to learn my parts even more thoroughly that I usually do, and to be hyper-critical of myself when I fall short of my objectives.\u00a0 So as someone who is working mightily to try to keep my A-game these days, it’s humbling and inspiring to see both a soloist from outside the orchestra, and those from inside the orchestra playing so wonderfully.\u00a0 It’s too easy to start taking these stellar performers for granted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week we’ve been fortunate to have the wonderful violinist Chee-Yun in town (replacing the ailing Arabella Steinbacher) to play the Dvorak Violin Concerto.\u00a0 She’s playing so well – a great combination of clean playing and grab-you-by-the-throat intensity that’s often lacking in the newer generations of violinists (you often get either clean playing, or passionate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[135,2],"tags":[63,3668],"class_list":["post-3888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-soloists-recitals","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-flute","tag-oregon-symphony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-10I","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3365,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/11\/16\/oso-mozart-soloists-interviewed\/","url_meta":{"origin":3888,"position":0},"title":"oso mozart soloists interviewed","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"James Bash has a great interview with the four woodwind soloists who will be performing the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Winds this weekend - it's a must-read if you want to know more about the fascinating background to this piece, and to find out what a great group of musicians\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1471,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/25\/jennifer-koh-goes-to-11\/","url_meta":{"origin":3888,"position":1},"title":"jennifer koh goes to ’11’","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Jennifer Koh - Photo \u00c2\u00a9 Janette Beckman It's been amazing, watching violinist Jennifer Koh play the Brahms Violin Concerto with us this weekend.\u00c2\u00a0 During the rehearsals, she was controlled, a bit reticent, and was clearly getting used to conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni's approach to the score and the orchestra. Then came\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/jennifer-koh-c-janette-beckman-400x339.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":889,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/03\/28\/classical-conflict\/","url_meta":{"origin":3888,"position":2},"title":"classical conflict","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I just perused a recent article about the Florida Orchestra and some highly-publicized comments from subscribers about the contemporary programming that is being done by music director Stefan Sanderling. I understand that some patrons don't care for hearing anything written after 1870 or so. Fine. But why do they complain\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5597,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/11\/27\/cirque-de-la-symphonie-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":3888,"position":3},"title":"cirque de la symphonie","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 27, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been down for the count with whatever bug is going around these days, so I missed this morning's rehearsal and won't be at tonight's performance, but this photo (taken by OSO pianist Carol Rich) proves that you'll be missing some amazing stuff (including an aerial violinist playing Vivaldi\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/78234_1724693158698_1279460762_1854492_1981064_o-266x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4291,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/03\/30\/brahms-double-concerto\/","url_meta":{"origin":3888,"position":4},"title":"brahms double concerto","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Coming up after the orchestra's extended spring hiatus is a concert conducted by Pinchas Zukerman. In addition to conducting a work by Malcom Forsyth and Beethoven's First Symphony, he'll be playing the Brahms Double Concerto for violin and cello with his wife, cellist Amanda Forsyth (and leading the orchestra from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "cello"","block_context":{"text":"cello","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/instruments\/cello\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12681,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/05\/31\/cortona-trio-plays-schubert\/","url_meta":{"origin":3888,"position":5},"title":"cortona trio plays schubert","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Just got a chance to sample this live video of the Cortona Trio (Amy Schwartz Moretti, Julie Albers, and Elizabeth Pridgen) playing the great Schubert B-flat piano trio. Some exquisite playing here. http:\/\/youtu.be\/M5s08JFALHo","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/M5s08JFALHo\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3888\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}