oboeinsight

… just received via email a few minutes ago:

Dear Patty
I am a big fan of your blog! I co-blog with Bill Eddins for Drew McManus on www.insidethearts.com . I wanted to let you know I had Alecia Lawyer an Oboist and founder of the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra guest blog for me today: Introducing Alecia Lawyer
She is going to be a monthly contributor!
Best wishes
Ron Spigelman

Blog – www.adaptistration.com/sticksanddrones
Music Director – Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MO)
Music Director – Metropolitan Classical Ballet
Conducting/Special Topics – Drury University

You can bet I’ll be checking this out right now. You might want to, too. 🙂

(And thank you, Ron, for your kind words. You’ve made my day!)

I don’t write about politics here; it’s just not my style. But of course there are youtube videos for policitians. The majority of the decent ones I’ve seen are for Obama. But here are a few from various candidates. I’m supplying this information because the first one has got to be the oddest one ever, but I don’t want to merely put up an Obama one … I like to be fair about this! (And keep you guessing on where I stand, maybe.)

English hornist for Obama
Yes We Can (Obama)

John McCain: Gotta Love Him!

America Needs a Leader (Clinton)
Women on Top (Clinton)

power to the people vs give peace a chance (Mike Gravel)
Helter Skelter (Mike Gravel)

Oops … gotta run … I’ll look for more later. Anyone want to send me suggestions? I’m trying to be “even” here and have the same number for the candidates I post, but I must say it’s easier to find videos for Obama. Clinton is okay. McCain? Really difficult. I threw in the Gravel just because they are so … um … interesting! I’m fine with putting up other candidates too, if anyone wants to supply URLs. (But I get to be the final judge. It’s my blog and I’ll judge if I want to.)

Heh. Just kidding.

I’d never heard of Simon Emes before, but here he is. And here he is again, playing Blues for DD, written for Diana Doherty. (I have her recording of it, which I ordered from Australia … I love her playing.)

Enjoy!

Update

… listen to the second half of Pasculli.

I’m not a real Pasculli fan. Maybe it’s just because I’m afraid I couldn’t get through a piece of his, but mostly it’s that it seems mostly like fluff. That being said, I think Mr. Emes does a fabulous job, and nearly makes me change my mind.

There’s a few more videos of Pasculli being played at YouTube:

Paolo Grazia playingPasculli’s “Simpatici ricordi della Traviata”

Alex Klein rehearsing “Homage a Bellini” (English horn)

Bílal Guncan playing something (no title given, or else I’m just not seeing it … but I hope he never crams the reed into his chin when he bounces the oboe up and down before playing!)

American conductor Gerard Schwarz has enjoyed a lengthy tenure as music director of the Seattle Symphony, although from a front-page New York Times expose earlier this year of player discontent in Starbucks City, perhaps the verb “enjoy” is a questionable choice. At the Seattle Symphony’s Copley Hall concert Friday evening (April 11), however, the orchestra was the picture of discipline and unfailing response to their maestro. If there was trouble aboard ship, none of us passengers could detect it from the crew.

I’ve never heard from any Seattle Symphony member personally, so I don’t know if they are unhappy at this point or not. But they could be entirely upset and if they are doing what we usually do, no one would know.

We are actors as well as musicians sometimes. And we really like to keep an audience happy. And sometimes clueless. They can be as honest as they want—and, believe me, they are brutal at times—but our goal is to keep personal and personnel issues private. It’s the way it should be, for the most part.

There are times I wish this wasn’t the case (when I’ve really had it with a situation and can’t take it any more … and I’m not talking about a current situation so don’t go fretting over that!) but usually I’m fine with it.

I loved this little line in the review:

Oboist Ben Hausmann provided several dreamy solos…

Too cool! We get called plaintive a lot. But dreamy? I’ll take dreamy!

… and they did two Strauss works, too. Don Juan and Der Rosenkavalier Suite, compared to our “Til & Rosen”. Interesting!