{"id":6015,"date":"2011-03-21T15:10:42","date_gmt":"2011-03-21T19:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=6015"},"modified":"2013-02-07T20:40:12","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T04:40:12","slug":"spring-break-as-if","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/03\/21\/spring-break-as-if\/","title":{"rendered":"spring break? as if!"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the Classical Beaver<\/a> makes it seem like we in the Oregon Symphony are doing keg stands, beer bongs, wet t-shirt competitions, and slathering sunscreen all over each other’s bodies during spring break, it’s often quite different for some of us. Yes, there are some lucky musicians who have scraped together the funds to head for a sunny clime for a much-deserved getaway. But for others there are obligations at home to take care of, and for others of us, like me, there are chances to perform out of town that otherwise would not be possible.<\/p>\n

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Recital poster<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ve been in Philadelphia since last Wednesday, doing rehearsals to play on a my friend Timothy Schwarz’s faculty recital at Lehigh University (in Bethlehem, Pa.). We worked on Bohuslav Martinu’s Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola<\/em> (1947), which are wonderful examples of virtuoso writing for two stringed instruments. At times, with the double-stops (playing on two strings at on time on one instrument)\u00a0going on in both instruments, it almost seems like a string quartet is playing on stage! They are wonderful, character-filled pieces, and the show off both the violin and viola to great effect.<\/p>\n

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Baker Hall, Voellner Arts Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The recital was held in the 1500 seat Baker Hall of Lehigh University’s new and fantastic Voellner Arts Center complex. The Voellner Center is truly state of the art, has great acoustics, and would comfortably hold a major symphony orchestra on its capacious stage. In short, it was a magnificent place to play a recital!<\/p>\n

The other guest artists on Timothy Schwarz’s recital were David Kim, concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra; Thomas Kraines, former member of the Peabody Trio and faculty member at Princeton University; Dominic Fiori, double bassist; and Paul Salerni, pianist, who is on the composition faculty of Lehigh University. It was a great group of players, and was great to hear them play with Tim in the course of his recital.<\/p>\n

I was lucky in that the Martinu was the opening piece on the recital – I would play first, and then get to relax and hear my other colleagues perform. Waiting around sucks, and I was glad not to have to go through the waiting!<\/p>\n

There was some pressure, however, as the first stand of violins from the Philadelphia Orchestra would be listening! David Kim played the Prokofiev Sonata for Two Violins<\/em> with Tim right after the Martinu, so I knew he’d be lurking in the wings as we performed. And Tom Kraines’ wife is the Associate concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and she was in the audience. Yikes!<\/p>\n

The performance, in short, was very fun, and seemed to go very well. That was a huge relief for the both of us, as we’d last done this piece together perhaps 20 years ago, while in school together at Peabody Conservatory. We just had a couple days to put it together, and with the house concert in Philadelphia the night before to work out the kinks, we were able to do a convincing performance.<\/p>\n

If you’re interesting in hearing a recording of the Martinu, there is an excellent recording by Phillip Setzer and Larry Dutton of the Emerson String Quartet available. \u00a0[Amazon.com link]\u00a0Martinu: Three Madrigals<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

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David Kim and Timothy Schwarz play Prokofiev.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the Martinu, (the concert being a sequence of duos for various instruments and Tim’s violin) followed the Prokofiev Sonata for Two Violins<\/em>. If you don’t know this piece, I highly recommend that you check it out. It is one of the most virtuosic pieces out there for violin duo, and it is also a very well composed piece, with all of the characteristic touches that we love in Prokofiev’s music. There’s a great recording by the two violinists of the Pavel Haas Quartet that I would highly recommend. [Amazon.com link]\u00a0Prokofiev: Sonata for Two Violins<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

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Tim Schwarz and Thomas Kraines play Kod\u00e1ly.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After intermission came the great Duo for Violin and Cello, Op. 7 by Zolt\u00e1n Kod\u00e1ly. Written in 1917, this work is one of the great all-time works for string duo, and it covers virtually every aspect of the Hungarian musical vocabulary of the time. Like Bart\u00f3k, Kod\u00e1ly was very interested in the folk music of his home region, and made extensive use of both quoted folk music as well as original musical material written in the style of the folk music. There’s only one recording to own of this piece: the epic recording by two legends, Janos Starker and Josef Gingold. [Amazon.com link]\u00a0Kodaly Duo for Violin & Cello<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n

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Dominick Fiori, Tim Schwarz, and Paul Salerni play Bottesini.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last piece was the slightly (ok, very) silly Gran Duo Concertante<\/em> by Giovanni Bottesini, in the arrangement by Camillo Sivori for violin and double bass with piano accompaniment. It is a piece that provides many jaw-dropping moments for both the violin and the double bassist, who must perform virtual physical acrobatics to make her way through the piece. It was a light ending to a huge recital program. And everyone sounded great, especially Tim!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Tim and David Kim after the recital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the Classical Beaver makes it seem like we in the Oregon Symphony are doing keg stands, beer bongs, wet t-shirt competitions, and slathering sunscreen all over each other’s bodies during spring break, it’s often quite different for some of us. Yes, there are some lucky musicians who have scraped together the funds to head […]<\/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":[148,136,135,1057],"tags":[3672,2424,2597,2604,3686,2601,2602,2600,2603,53,2598,2596,3660,3659],"class_list":["post-6015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-chamber-music","category-soloists-recitals","category-teaching-music","tag-cello","tag-charles-noble","tag-david-kim","tag-dominick-fiori","tag-double-bass","tag-faculty-recital","tag-lehigh-university","tag-paul-salerni","tag-philadelphia","tag-piano","tag-thomas-kraines","tag-timothy-schwarz","tag-viola","tag-violin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1z1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":203,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/02\/10\/spring-recital-planned\/","url_meta":{"origin":6015,"position":0},"title":"spring recital planned","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 10, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"My first major, formal recital in Portland (it only took 11 years!!) will take place on Saturday, April 7th at 7:30 p.m. at the Community Music Center (3350 SE Francis St, Portland, 97202). I'm delighted to be able to invite some of my incredibly talented colleagues to join with me\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":257,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/04\/01\/april-fool\/","url_meta":{"origin":6015,"position":1},"title":"april fool","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Happy April Fool's Day! As a violist, I take special pride in what is, along with bassoonists, our special day. It's been a busy week. I've been in rehearsals for the two different concerts that we're doing with the OSO this week: the subscription classical series which involves Leonard Bernstein's\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":250,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/03\/22\/spring-is-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":6015,"position":2},"title":"spring is here!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"crabapple b\/w, originally uploaded by nobleviola. The crabapple and cherry trees in the neighborhood are exploding with blooms (as are local noses with seasonal allergies) and it's nice to see the sun and temps in the upper 60's.","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":543,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/11\/20\/recital-rumblings\/","url_meta":{"origin":6015,"position":3},"title":"recital rumblings","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I almost rethought my title to today's post, because if you remove the \"i\" from \"recital\", you'll get a decidedly different impression of what I'm writing about... I'm getting ready to start the long, arduous road towards giving another recital this year, and this time around I think that it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16440,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2019\/11\/13\/gaining-momentum\/","url_meta":{"origin":6015,"position":4},"title":"gaining momentum","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I just passed my 72nd day of my physical therapy regimen, and my stamina on the instrument is increasing. I'm playing the first half of this week's Mahler concert, and hope to be back full time the following week. It finally feels like I can safely look forward to what\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":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_0066-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_0066-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_0066-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_0066-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_0066-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/IMG_0066-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/06\/22\/back-from-the-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":6015,"position":5},"title":"back from the dead!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 22, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"planter 1, originally uploaded by nobleviola. This lovely planter was a gift from our dear friend Anna Schaum who retired from the orchestra at the end of the 2005-2006 season to pursue a private counselling practice. There were a variety of plants growing in it when she gave it to\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\/6015","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=6015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}