oboeinsight

…between singers and instrumentalists, brought to you by singin’rin:

Tonight was a very difficult night to pull off. My “sister” our Fiordiligi has lost her voice and decided to lipsink to her cover who was singing from a pretty far balcony in the house.

Of course if I lose my voice I can still play. But we’d never sit and pretend to play while someone off stage played our part. That would just be too darn weird! But singers sometimes do this. And I find it amazing, and a bit befuddling.

I tell you, singers and instrumentalists just have different “issues”. While we all are doing music, the singer’s life seems so foreign to me. And more personal, really. We can always throw our instrument away and get a new one if we have to. Singers don’t have that kind of option.

They also don’t make oboe reeds.

Hmmm. Maybe they’d like to learn?
—–

I follow Anne-Carolyn Bird’s blog, reading it every time I see a new post. The singer’s life is, at least to me, such a unique thing; we instrumentalists tend, unless we are soloists, to be less traveled and more “stay puttish” I think. Singers? They have to go where the work is. And they have nicer clothes than, say, an oboe player. Shoes, too.

Recently, though, she’s been “settled” (if one can be settled as a musician) in NYC and I’ve loved hearing about her Met experiences along with all the other NYC things we west coasters don’t experience.

Last night she had a recital that she had been blogging about for quite some time. And now I’ve just read this:

If you missed this concert, you missed something far more personal and touching than your everyday lieder concert. Particularly in the Barber and Harbison selections, Bird proved herself a singer capable of not merely delivering the notes?although she certainly did?but also of getting under the skin of a piece, touching its inner passions and revealing them to a listener. It’s going to be a thrill to revisit Hillula when she gets that deeply inside of it, and vice versa. Dueck was a sensitive, versatile accompanist, as well as a full partner in the drama Bird had constructed for her program.

Bird and Dueck plan to record this program for Greenstein’s New Amsterdam record label, and they also want to take it on the road. Keep an eye on The Concert for future developments.

You can read the whole thing over at Night After Night by going here.

I’m bummed that I couldn’t be there. I’m bummed that I can only read about it (but grateful that I can read about it). And I’m just a little bummed that she’s so darn gorgeous, too. Just because I’m insecure that way. (I’ll bet she doesn’t have any trouble finding the right clothes, and shoes that fit. Sigh.)

But really … doesn’t it seem that they ought to bring that recital out west?

And just as an aside: the soprano voice and oboe sound lovely together. 🙂
—–

I did not need to be reminded that I hate shopping. I did not need to be reminded that I am neither at the young, hip I-can-wear-anything age (and yes, I was one of those who could get away with wearing nearly anything once upon a time) or an older Koret-or-Alfred-Dunner-wearing woman. (Oooh … I hope no one out there is insulted by that last bit. If you wear the stuff and get away with it, more power to you!) In fact I don’t know what I am at this point! What DO fifty year old women wear anyway? If I’m not in black or my teaching outfits* I’m in jeans and either a sweater or a t-shirt. Hmmm.

Can I get away with wearing black and a nice off white top? I know it’s boring, but heck … I’m boring!

I also didn’t need to know that my shoes are too short for my feet.

But I just wasted far too much time finding nothing I liked. At all. So there you go.

The only nice thing was getting home to the Best Sandwich Ever that Dan forgot to take with him to work. (I only had to remove the tomatoes and peppers.)

Thanks, Dan! Could you maybe shop for me too?

*Regarding teaching: I’ve noticed male colleagues wear jeans. I’ve not seen any women do the same. I think it’s that we feel as if we aren’t taken seriously if we don’t dress nicer. I wonder. Maybe this is just my issue?
—–

… as I race out the door (I hope!) … I sure put off shopping as much as possible …

I just located, via Terry Teachout, a new blog called MMmusing that I might find aMusing. Perhaps. Even though the man doesn’t like House or Haydn. (Poor guy. I’ll be praying for him.) Anyway, since I’ll be gone and my mulitude of readers will want to do something, check out Michael Monroe’s blog. Heck I even gave him two links in this one paragraph.

I’m nice that way.
—–

Moon, 17, is known for his academic prowess and talent as an oboe player, but he’s also proud of his sense of style.

Um. This simply cannot be! An oboe player … a male oboe player … with a sense of style? Clearly the guy isn’t working hard enough on reeds yet. 😉

Okay, okay, maybe we oboe players can have a sense of style. “It could happen.” (Name that quote.) I am, in fact, about to shop for something to wear for the UCSC Chamber Music Concert I’ll be playing in next Wednesday evening. The two students, with whom I’m playing the Beethoven Trio for 2 Oboes and English horn, opted out of the “all black escape plan” I love so much, and we are wearing black with a solid color of some sort. I can handle that. I think. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can ….

Speaking of clothing it looks like the Dallas Symphony is encouraging Trekkies to be … well … Trekkies. But this writer isn’t thrilled with the idea.

I’m guessing I’ll see a lot of elaborate costumes next week at Play!, the video game concert connected to FanimeCon 2007. I wonder if I will be allowed to take pictures. Stay tuned … I’ll post some here if I’m allowed to.

Okay … off I go … to shop for … color. (Shudder.)
—–