Phew! Tonight was the first concert of our last weekend of the season.\u00a0 And I was surprisingly fuzz-headed all evening.\u00a0 Bummer.\u00a0 It was one of those nights where I just couldn’t get the proper level of focus that I feel I should have being on the front desk.\u00a0 I wasn’t a very good support to Jo\u00ebl tonight – especially in the Britten – there’s a long set of rests (about 60 measures) which are tricky to count and keep track of, and the cue in our part is hard to hear and comes up very fast.\u00a0 I was not ready to come in, and that didn’t help Jo\u00ebl or the rest of the section out at all!\u00a0 Overall, however, the Britten went quite well, with a couple small mishaps here and there, but with superb playing by soloist Elina V\u00e4h\u00e4l\u00e4 (in her first performance of this piece, it turns out) who looked like Grace Kelly in her aubergine gown.\u00a0 It was a shame that the sublime end of the concerto was ruined by an ill-timed cough by someone in the front section of the orchestra level.<\/p>\n
The Mahler went pretty well – it took a little bit of time for the orchestra to really gel, but the broad structures were in place, and the triumphant ending had the audience on their feet and screaming and yelling.\u00a0 A fitting end to a wonderful season!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Phew! Tonight was the first concert of our last weekend of the season.\u00a0 And I was surprisingly fuzz-headed all evening.\u00a0 Bummer.\u00a0 It was one of those nights where I just couldn’t get the proper level of focus that I feel I should have being on the front desk.\u00a0 I wasn’t a very good support to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[148,135,2],"tags":[3668],"class_list":["post-4697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-soloists-recitals","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-oregon-symphony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1dL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13262,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/03\/14\/arnica-quartet-plays-britten-tonight\/","url_meta":{"origin":4697,"position":0},"title":"arnica quartet plays britten tonight","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/youtu.be\/NWSfnVWMyQY If you're still looking for something to do, and happen to love both the string quartet and the music of Benjamin Britten, I've got the perfect concert for you! As part of March Music Moderne IV, we're playing the three string quartets of Britten in a belated homage to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "concert preview"","block_context":{"text":"concert preview","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/concert-preview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"britten program arnica","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/13153692264_84fd1def32_b-500x647.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6489,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/05\/26\/moore-does-britten-weill\/","url_meta":{"origin":4697,"position":1},"title":"moore does britten & weill","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 What a genius Dudley Moore was, and what a shame that we lost him much too soon. A friend pointed me to this classic video of Moore doing two parodies of Britten and Weill, http:\/\/youtu.be\/5YqgiOj54Ko and then I discovered a brilliant version of Schubert's Erlk\u00f6nig, too... http:\/\/youtu.be\/idBZPteNJxs and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "fun"","block_context":{"text":"fun","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/fun\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/dudley01.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3264,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/10\/15\/heat-up-cool-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":4697,"position":2},"title":"heat up, cool down","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the time of year where a curious shift happens: the classical music season heats up, while the weather outside cools down. \u00a0This post in just going to be a hodge-podge of random thoughts, truly full of daily observations, rather than what is usually posted here (not sure what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "recordings"","block_context":{"text":"recordings","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/recordings-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/ir?t=dailyobservat-20&l=ur2&o=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6931,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/09\/28\/almost-to-friday\/","url_meta":{"origin":4697,"position":3},"title":"almost to friday…","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"You still have the opportunity to pick up a ticket or two to the Arnica Quartet's Parallels: Music of Daniel Ott & Benjamin Britten concert on Friday evening (8 p.m.) at the Community Music Center's Recital Hall. Daniel Ott \u2013\u00a0Refracted Fragments for\u00a0viola and piano (2008) Benjamin Britten \u2013\u00a0Phantasy\u00a0for oboe and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/Arnica_Quartet_Rehearsal_2011_3_24_-_17_of_23-e1312935689796.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4700,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/05\/24\/second-night-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":4697,"position":4},"title":"second night thoughts","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, I feel like I redeemed myself after my fuzziness on Saturday night, and in general, many things went better for the entire orchestra on Sunday evening than the Saturday opening night's concert.\u00a0 As much as I love the Mahler First Symphony, the work that is capturing my heart this\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":7052,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/11\/05\/another-great-concert\/","url_meta":{"origin":4697,"position":5},"title":"another great concert","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Saturday and Monday nights will see another great set of concerts in this already stellar season. The big surprise for this week? The Britten Piano Concerto. Never heard of it? Well, neither had I, before this season's repertoire was announced. We had our rehearsals with pianist Stephen Osborne over the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/britten_benjamin_s.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4697","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=4697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}