{"id":5655,"date":"2010-12-20T12:49:52","date_gmt":"2010-12-20T20:49:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=5655"},"modified":"2013-02-07T20:34:36","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T04:34:36","slug":"holiday-time-of-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/12\/20\/holiday-time-of-year\/","title":{"rendered":"holiday time of year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Jean-Marie Zeitouni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yep, this weekend (well, the past couple weeks, in fact) has been the typical holiday rush of rehearsals and concerts for us at the Oregon Symphony.\u00a0 This past week we were rehearsing Handel’s Messiah<\/em> for performances on Saturday and Sunday.\u00a0 This was only the second Oregon Symphony performance of a largely complete version of the Messiah in decades\u2020.\u00a0 We last performed it under Bernard Labadie<\/a>, music director of Qu\u00e9bec’s Les Violins du Roy<\/a>, which was one of the highlights of my career in the orchestra at that point.\u00a0 This time around, we were joined by conductor Jean-Marie Zeitouni<\/a>, first guest conductor of the same august ensemble.\u00a0 It was nearly just as rewarding for me as the first go ’round.\u00a0 I love playing baroque music, especially with the vibrato eliminated and using the bow as the means of expression rather than focusing simply on the left hand.\u00a0 The vocal soloists we were treated to were, as usual, top flight, and a joy to make music with.\u00a0 And the Portland Symphonic Choir<\/a> (in its chamber configuration) sounded terrific, especially considering the flying tempos in some of the very complicated choruses.\u00a0 Working with Jean-Marie was also a joy – he’s grown tremendously since his first appearance with us on a run out concert years ago, and I hope that we get to work with him again soon.\u00a0 His commitment to a very familiar score, with some unique interpretive points of view, made it a fresh piece again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Saint Nicolas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saturday, sandwiched between the dress rehearsal and first concert of the Messiah<\/em>, about 12 of us from the OSO rushed over to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral<\/a> to join their choir for a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas<\/em><\/a>, a cantata about the real life saint which became embellished elaborately in legend in the years after his death.\u00a0 After our Messiah<\/em> dress rehearsal ended at 12: 30, it was a 2:00 p.m. Britten rehearsal followed by a 5:00 p.m. performance, then a quick bite to eat and then back to the Schnitz for a 7:30 p.m. Messiah<\/em>.\u00a0 Phew! Lots of great music, but about eight hours of playing in total.\u00a0 Then on Sunday, a matinee of Messiah<\/em>, followed by another 7:30 p.m. Saint Nicolas<\/em>.\u00a0 Fade to black…<\/p>\n

Luckily, I had some relief time off for the Comfort & Joy<\/a> services this week, so while most of the rest of the orchestra is back at work this morning, I’m happily at home with a cup of coffee and my slippers.\u00a0 My year’s work is done until we return from the holiday break in January.<\/p>\n

Of course, by the end of the day Sunday, I was a bit punchy…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Me, after a long day! Photo: Jo\u00ebl Belgique<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By the way, Portland’s Pink Martini (featuring OSO trombonist Robert Taylor) will be on tonight’s Jay Leno Show – don’t miss it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2020 Just got this note from OSO cellist David Scolofsky:<\/p>\n

Here is a list of Oregon Symphony performances of the Messiah during those years. ALL PERFORMANCES ARE COMPLETE PERFORMANCES, with the exception of those conducted by Sidlin in conjunction with PYP in 1996 and 1997:<\/em><\/p>\n

December 22, 1974 (Smith)
\nDecember 17 – 18, 1978 (Avshalomov)
\nDecember 20 – 22, 1980 (guest conductor)
\nDecember 12 – 14, 1981 (DePriest)
\nDecember 11 – 12, 1982 (Christopher Wilkins)
\nDecember 15 – 16, 1985 (DePriest)
\nDecember 21, 1996 (Sidlin)
\nDecember 20, 1997 (Sidlin)<\/em><\/p>\n

Because these Oregon Symphony performances were outside the classical subscription series each year, they were not in the usual symphony program and thus had a program of their own. It is likely, therefore, that I may not have every free-standing Messiah program and, as a result, the list above is not complete.<\/em><\/p>\n

I might also mention that the Messiah was performed often during the 1970’s by the Portland Symphonic Choir, with its own orchestra, and did not involve the Oregon Symphony.<\/em><\/p>\n

David<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yep, this weekend (well, the past couple weeks, in fact) has been the typical holiday rush of rehearsals and concerts for us at the Oregon Symphony.\u00a0 This past week we were rehearsing Handel’s Messiah for performances on Saturday and Sunday.\u00a0 This was only the second Oregon Symphony performance of a largely complete version of the […]<\/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_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":[135,2],"tags":[2477,2474,2475,3668,2478,2476],"class_list":["post-5655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-soloists-recitals","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-britten","tag-jean-marie-zeitouni","tag-messiah","tag-oregon-symphony","tag-saint-nicolas","tag-trinity-episcopal-cathedral"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1td","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":601,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/12\/20\/odds-and-ends\/","url_meta":{"origin":5655,"position":0},"title":"odds and ends","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Snippets from this week's music blog rounds: Local composer Bob Priest sounds off on the Seattle Symphony debacle of the moment. Seattle is no longer hip. A new way to enjoy Handel's Messiah. Jacksonville Symphony musicians concede millions, but still locked out. More coverage of Perlman as music director.","rel":"","context":"In "bloggers"","block_context":{"text":"bloggers","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/bloggers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":174,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/01\/18\/musicians-on-the-bus\/","url_meta":{"origin":5655,"position":1},"title":"musicians ON the bus","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Photo credit: Cameron R. Neilson - theseenphoto.com. This is a bus in Jackson, Wyoming. The musicians on the bus should be familiar to Portland area concertgoers: they are the string players from FearNoMusic and the Oregon Symphony. From left to right they are: Erin Furbee, In\u00c3\u00a9s Voglar, Adam Esbenson, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1621,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/12\/21\/oregon-symphony-holiday-kids-concert-postponed\/","url_meta":{"origin":5655,"position":2},"title":"oregon symphony holiday kids concert postponed","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I just got word that today's (Sunday, December 21) OSO Holiday Kids Concert has been postponed due to inclement weather and treacherous travel conditions in the Portland metro area. Hang on to your tickets - the concert will be rescheduled and existing tickets will be honored.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3020,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/08\/26\/pre-season-highlights\/","url_meta":{"origin":5655,"position":3},"title":"pre-season highlights","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As the beginning of the 2009-2010 Oregon Symphony season comes quickly upon us, it has become time to look at what some of my personal highlights might be.\u00a0 I say might, because sometimes the concerts that I most look forward to fall flat, and those which I think might be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sept08CarlosKalmar","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/Sept08CarlosKalmar.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3319,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/11\/04\/oregon-symphony-looking-good\/","url_meta":{"origin":5655,"position":4},"title":"oregon symphony – looking good","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Here it is, in a worldwide-exclusive, you-saw-it-here-first preview: the new full portrait of the 2009-2010 Oregon Symphony: Photo: Oregon Symphony\/Leah Nash [click photo to enlarge] Leah Nash, the photographer commissioned by the symphony to produce the portrait, won the PDN\/Billboard award in 2009 for best Live Music photo, of Antony\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "photography"","block_context":{"text":"photography","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/photography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"full_orch","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/full_orch-400x263.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7825,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/09\/05\/best-symphony-preview-blurb-ever\/","url_meta":{"origin":5655,"position":5},"title":"best symphony preview blurb – ever","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In this week's Portland Mercury, from our own Classical Beaver, aka Angry Symphony Guy: OREGON SYMPHONY, COLIN CURRIE (Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway) The Oregon Symphony's first classical concert of the 2012\/13 season rightfully deserves an exhaustive six-page spread, but the fucking idgits who run this craptastic \"newspaper\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5655","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=5655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5655\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}