Beethoven: Variations on Don Giovanni (excerpt)
OFF des musiciens de l’Orchestre de Paris
Oboes: Alexandre Gattet, Benoît Leclerc
English Horn: Rémi Grouiller
This is lovely!
Judith Shatin: Love Song
Aaron Hill, Oboe; Laura Smith, English horn (They happen to be married which makes this even more special, don’t you think?!)
Just because I sometimes like to hear a ton of double reeds playing … call me crazy. I won’t care.
Concerto op.3 nº 9 de A.Vivaldi – Ensemble Palhetas Duplas
The University of Redlands School of Music will host the 42nd Annual Conference of the International Double Reed Society (IDRS) on June 25-29, 2013. Featuring more than 130 events, six Gala concerts, the Gillet-Fox Solo Competition for Oboe, as well as the Young Artist Competition for Bassoon, the IDRS Conference is the most prestigious event of its kind. Organized by University of Redlands faculty Dr. Carolyn Beck, Artist Teacher of Bassoon and Francisco Castillo, Artist Teacher of Oboe, the conference is expected to attract more than 1,000 oboe and bassoon players from all over the globe.
Read more here.
I’ve never attended this before and I am happy to say I’ll be going this year for a couple of days! I’ll be there Wednesday and Thursday, and possibly a bit on Friday if I think I need to see and/or hear more.
… have too many double reeds!
Music for the Royal Fireworks
Merry Widow
(Many thanks to Delmar Williams for bringing this to my attention via Facebook.)
Just something about this movement that really does make me smile. (The whole work is just a whole lot of fun!)
Beethoven Trio, third movement
Pelle Gravers Nielsen, 1st Oboe; Sven Buller, 2nd Oboe; Rixon Thomas, English Horn
Okay folks … name the instruments!
(The group is Capella de la Torre)
And now I can ‘fess up: I really did enjoy playing the bass oboe! Honestly, it was fun, even while it was somewhat awkward and uncomfortable. If I were to do it more frequently I think I’d want to do something other than sit on two seat cushions to be high enough for the beast.
But here is a bit of an insight into my sad little mind. What do you think I said to Dan after? Do you think I’d say something like “I nailed it!”? Or even, “I played well!”? Um … well … okay … here’s what I said …
“I didn’t embarrass myself!”
Yep. That’s my little brain at work. Ah well. Dan wasn’t surprised. He knows me too well!
Of course what I had was so small it wasn’t worth talking about, but I take even the smalles of solos seriously. I’d bet many in the audience weren’t even aware of the little bits I had, but I get nervous no matter what. Go figure!
We already have our first review (Mercury News).
Oh … I will also now ‘fess up about the Holst:
I’ve never been a fan. It’s just not my cuppa. Or so I thought. But I truly enjoyed it this past week. I’m glad I was able to play, and that I opted for the bass oboe part. I’ll probably go through withdrawal now. But not for long. Now it’s on to San Jose Dance Company and San Jose Chamber Orchestra doing Tango Barroco!
Oh, and I learned something new about Holst. He turned the Jupiter part of The Planets into a hymn. News to me. British composers seem to love to write hymns, whether or not they are believers. Does that happen here, too? Or are there even any good hymn writers in the states? Do tell! (Most of what I hear that’s new are goofy little “worship songs” that drive me bonkers.)
Last night, before the rehearsal began, Bob Shomler very kindly took photos of the “beast”, along with my own two babies. So here they are … a variety of photos to view. Thanks so much, Bob!
One thing that always makes me smile is watching the feet … notice how they aren’t all moving together? (I’ve even seen that in professional groups, believe it or not.)
