I’ve just been invited, as a music blogger, to attend a San Francisco Symphony concert this Wednesday evening.
So the answer is … Yes! I am excited!
Here’s the program:
Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture
R. Strauss Don Juan
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3
I’ve performed R&J Overture about a million times. Or, well, a lot anyway. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to actually hear it! I’ve not listened to it without an English horn reed in my mouth for eons. (Hmmm. “Million” and “eons” … maybe I’m exaggerating a wee bit?) Don Juan is truly exciting to me. I played the work a few years back with Symphony Silicon Valley … and I played principal on that set too. That’s one wonderful oboe solo in that work. And then there’s Rachmaninoff. Lovely stuff, that.
In addition, I’d be seeing the new associate conductor, James Gaffigan!
The SF website says, “A program for the romantic at heart.”
Well, yes. Romantic music. But is the story of Don Juan truly romantic? Um. He wasn’t really a nice guy … was he?
I wonder; if someone tried to seduce a knowledgeable person with Strauss’s Don Juan should the “seductee” (is that even close to a word?) be insulted? Hmmm. 😉
But anyway, back to the SFS and their wonderful invitation. I’m just too jazzed for words! (And yet I seem to be able to type away, don’t I?) Be ready for a SF Symphony blog entry, along with … drum roll please … pictures! (No, not while they are playing. But still, we will have pictures. Really.)
Okay. Enough exclamation points. I’ve been told I use them too often. Go figure!!
You played principal on Don Juan? I envy you! Wow, that must have been one heck of a tonguer!
I don’t think I’d be able to take anyone with the name of James Gaffigan seriously, after watching the Jim Gaffigan “Hot Pockets” clip EONS of times on youtube. Maybe if I saw the concert I would. In any case, enjoy your concert! You deserve it!
Oh geez, I just googled him and realized I used to hang out with him a lot at NEC! He was a Junior Bassoonist when I was a Freshman oboist. We used to hang out at his place and listen to CDs. I still have his Stephen Taylor Bach Double Concerto CD!
Hey Cooper! How fun that you know the guy. With this invitation I get to go to a thing during intermission where I might even meet him. Then after the concert he will talk to the audience about the concert.
And yeah, I played Don Juan. I suspect I wasn’t very good. Sigh. I just have this inkling … I’ve not gone to the office to listen to the recording. I’m too wimpy! It felt good at the time, but somehow time has a way of making me fear things … go figure!
James Gaffigan conducted a concert by the Houston Symphony last month. He also studied at Rice U here in town at some point. He is a very dynamic young man, and I think you will thoroughly enjoy seeing him in performance.
By the way, for Cooper, I am one of those people who read your blog, but for some reason WordPress doesn’t want to allow me to login over there.