oboeinsight

Jason Heath has a link to a story by a music librarian. (Warning: language in the second link.)

I can most certainly relate!

I was a music librarian for San Jose Symphony (RIP). I even punished myself by taking the job for a second bout some hears after the first mistake gig. I do have stories. Many, many stories. And not just about conductors. BUT … just one story for today, and it is a conductor story:

We were doing a pops style concert, which usually means a LOT of music. We had already had our rehearsals and we were now at the venue (a shopping mall, believe it or not) for the performance. The (guest … so no guessing!) conductor asked me for the scores. I was rather shocked. “You have the scores,” I said. He flatly denied this. He was pretty darn angry. I was freaked—I usually order double scores, but for something like this? Not always. What to do, what to do?! Well … a bit of time later the conductor comes back to me and says that he just happens to have all the necessary scores in the trunk of his car.

What a miracle, eh?

He never appologized. And yet he didn’t ever demand “his” scores back. Go figure. Guess those amazing miracle scores must have been the ones I had “forgotten”.

Ya think?

I’m currently watching the PBS broadcast of The Nightingale (Le Rossignol). I played the orchestral work a few years back, but I’d never heard the actual opera. I’m all for videos of operas and other works, and I’m extremely glad I’m getting to hear the work.

BUT … music is sound. So when they decide to add sounds to the music, I find it tremendously annoying. Dishes falling over. Computer keyboard clicking. Other sounds. (We hear those sounds because of the animation in this movie … so they do have a point. But still ….)

Now I suppose you could say I’m listening to an opera and so stage sounds will be added and that’s just the way it is, but some of these sounds … well … they just didn’t work the same way for me (and I DO find those stage sounds distracting when I listen to a CD of an opera). Maybe I’m just overly sensitive to clicks and clacks?

Still, I’m happy to be able to hear the work (I had attempted to order a recording a while back and it never arrived and I was then informed that it wasn’t available any longer). And I really am enjoying the majority of it. I think I read a few blogger critiques and they were primarily negative. I do, for the most part, like it, and I’m recording it to DVD.

Oooh … my heart is going a little faster … must be nearing the big oboe solo. 😉

Update
UGH. There is rhythmic clapping through the entire oboe solo. What a shame. It’s at a good and playable tempo though, so that’s nice. That was a fun (but scary) solo to play! Memories.

Man I love this music!
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This blog entry talks about Daniel Levitin and his book … the one I was reading , and plan on reading more of as soon as I can wrap my brain around anything—real life has interfered at the moment.

Reading the blog did make me want to get back to the book. I’m a bit embarrassed that I’m so slow a reader (although at the moment I think I have a legitimate excuse).

I wonder how differently a classicaly trained musician hears and reacts compared to someone with a different background. I wonder, too, if Dr. Levitin was assuming all of us look at the conductor all the time (!) because of one study he was doing. I actually can’t see the conductor clearly these days … read my glasses entry … so I wonder if I react differently now than I used to.

Actually I don’t wonder—I know! I don’t get nearly as stressed now that I miss out on the grimaces and hostile looks given out by some conductors. It’s a good thing.

In any case, I’m hoping to get back to reading, and back to “normal” … as normal as things will be when major changes in one’s life take place.

Oh … and from what I read, Dr. Levitin doesn’t care for accordian. Ah well. Maybe he hasn’t heard Quartetto Gelato?!
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