I got home from opera just a few minutes ago. Another fine Rigoletto I think … the audience was the most enthusiastic ever, too. Nice!
I have an 8:00 AM dentist appointment. WHAT was I thinking?!
Sigh.
(FYI: Since you might not see the time stamp, this was originally posted at 11:28 PM.)
February 23, 2008
Just follow the classical music. That’s how police say they found a marijuana growing operation in Avon Wednesday.
The marijuana was growing in the laundry room of Unit D in the 700 block of Nottingham Road in Avon. Police say the homeowner encouraged the growth of his plants with classical music.
Another review is out. This time from KQED. I hadn’t a clue they did reviews. But here it is, written by Rebecca Krouner.
No mention of the orchestra, aside from saying we set the tone for the dark story in the overture. Or chorus (sorry Mike!). But an okay review.
“Playing the Strauss in Hong Kong was a historical event,” he said. The lack of expected appearances “feels exactly what it is, which is being rejected by your own people.” Wang suspected that the Chinese presenters of the Philharmonic did not see him as a soloist attractive to local audiences, compared to Westerners.
-Liang Wang
I would have thought that the New York Philharmonic would be in charge of what gets played when in China, but is this article implying otherwise? It appears so. And yet later we read this:
Qian Shijin, the artistic director of the Shanghai Grand Theater, where the concerts took place this week, said the New York Philharmonic presented several program options, but that he did not recall any of them including Wang. “The two programs have been decided by the New York Philharmonic,” he said in an interview. “So we have to accept that.” The only changes he asked for were the inclusion of overtures at the beginning to accommodate latecomers, a problem with Chinese audiences, he said.
I wonder where the truth lies.
“Truth lies” … hmmm … I don’t know ….
Last night was the rehearsal for the new music concert. I am involved in three works, two of which are by someone I knew back when I was in college. I took a couple of classes from Allen Strange (doing rather poorly, if I recall). Dan took a lot more and spent a great deal of time with him. We also did a couple of mini-vacations together (their second daughter is the same as our daughter). I got to UCSC for the rehearsal last night to find out that he had passed away that very day. Shocking. (Although I know he not been in great health.)
I had pretty much lost touch with the family after they moved to Bainbridge Island, but I did get to see and hear Pat play violin once more when she came back to SJSU to play a concert. I’m glad Dan was able to visit them last summer when he took a trip up north.
We are now paying tribute to Allen Strange at our concert. I’m sorry he won’t get to hear the delightful and charming pieces (The Duel and Wynken, Blynken and Nod) that he wrote. And I really do mean charming and delightful. They are scored for narrator and violin, cello, oboe, clarinet, sax (all three winds are playing a bit of percussion) and synth.
If you want to hear these pieces, I’ll post information on the concert later. I’ll also post any information on a celebration for Allen which is supposed to happen here sometime.
One of my strongest memories of Allen were the Indian feast parties he and Pat put on. The gang would be there, including Lorrie Hunt. Two losses I won’t forget. How sad to know they are both gone.
