Rehearsals

07. March 2006 · Comments Off on Rehearsals · Categories: imported, Ramble

We had our two Romeo & Juliet rehearsals today … in an OUTHOUSE!

Okay. Not really. But it smelled bad enough to be an outhouse. Something is dreadfully wrong at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts; when it rains the creek right next to the hall rises, and I’ve been told the water table rises and we get this horrendous smell. The basement used to flood, and we’d have to walk on rubber mats to get to the pit. We don’t seem to have that problem (yet), but the stench was so bad today I thought I was going to have to leave for a while. I did wonder about the safety of the hall—if we are smelling sewage, might we be inhaling all sorts of wonderful things too? I wonder.

Trouble is, I don’t want to shut down the hall. I do love playing, I love this music, and of course I need the job! So complaining doesn’t really do any good. The hall is a city owned and operated place, so I think the solution would be to have our mayor and perhaps our city council folk come and sit next to us and see what we have to deal with.

Ya think?

Anyway, despite the misery the music is extraordinary. I love this work!

Tomorrow we add the dancers. Yeah … I guess they are sort of important to a ballet. 😉
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Mahler at UCD

07. March 2006 · 2 comments · Categories: imported, Links

If you go here you can listen and watch the UC Davis orchestra play Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. So far it’s a very nice performance, and I didn’t realize that UCD had such a large orchestra. There’s some nice oboe playing, and the camera seems to like her so we see her a good amount. So far the camera folk don’t seem to be able to focus on the English horn player, but maybe later ..?

I read about this at Classically Hip.

I miss Mahler. It is doubtful that Symphony Silicon Valley could manage to do Mahler in the new hall. It’s just too small to fit a large orchestra on stage. So sad.

Romeo & Juliet

07. March 2006 · Comments Off on Romeo & Juliet · Categories: imported, Ramble

And so we begin! I have two rehearsals today for Prokofiev’s R&J, and I’m looking forward to it; the music is so incredible, and I’ve seen bits and pieces of the Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley production (I sat in the perfect pit spot to see things one year) and it’s very powerful. I’ll be on English horn. It’s been a bit of time since I’ve done anything on the EH, and this will be a good time to see what I’m not happy with about the horn. Next week it takes a trip to Mark Chudnow’s to have some work done. I have to confess it hasn’t been in for repair since … well … I can’t even remember when! I’ll have to warn him, though, that I need it back quicker than I needed my oboes; I have some EH work to do in Sara’s Recital. There are lots of low Bs in the recital so the horn is going in at nearly the right time. The only time that would have been better was last week; Romeo & Juliet has an infamous soft low C that gets held for a rather long time when Juliet is taking (has taken? I can’t see what’s going on at that point!) her sleep potion.

In Other News…
I know that high school students are waiting for acceptances to colleges. If any of you out there have applied to “my” schools, do drop by. On IM my SN is patioboe, and you can always send an email). I’d be happy to talk to you about the schools, and I’d love to hear about your interests and what your plans might be. And if you are considering University of California, Santa Cruz or Santa Clara University for the future it would be fun to hear from you as well.

So let’s yak! 🙂
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MQOD

07. March 2006 · Comments Off on MQOD · Categories: imported, Quotes

No, it’s the musicians and I must say they are an accomplished bunch, but odd, as musicians tend to be. Is it the vibration from their instruments, do you suppose, working on the brain? All that fraught buzzing?

-Robertson Davies (The Cunning Man)
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