Here are just a couple of articles some might want to read. Or not. You choose.
Donald Runnicles, “I’m exactly where I want to be”
Zubin Mehta, “We bring together the joy, we generate the euphoria.”
Update … one more
Douglas Sanford leaves his post (Not quite as big a name as the other two.)
Update: Yes, I really did type “FrutePrayer” first. Sigh. That’s how tired I am. It is now corrected.
FlutePrayerwrites about a cell phone talker. Sitting in the front row of her outdoor concert. Check it out! Then she includes the video I’ve posted below.
Indeed, that’s what we’d ALL like to do when someone talks on a cell phone at a concert.
And yes, I’ve even seen this happen at indoor concerts. I don’t understand why anyone would leave a cell phone on at a concert. My assumption is that people attending a concert have come to listen to the concert, not carry on a conversation with someone not there. Maybe I’m just an idiot, though.
The Opera Tattler has done her tattling on Don Giovanni, so check it out.
Because I’m playing the production, because I’m a sub, because I don’t tattle on myself in certain cases (and this is one of ’em), because I don’t tattle on colleagues, I will refrain from saying anything here about whether I agree with TOT or not. Readers already know, of course, that I was frustrated with pitch issues. That much I’ll readily admit.
It was fun — although brief and I was exhausted so conversation on my side was probably a yawn or at least bizarre — to meet Charlise Tiee, who is the Opera Tattler! Thanks for taking the time to come down and introduce yourself, Charlise!
It was absolutely roasting in the “pit” (not really a pit, as we are just in front of the first, unused row of seats and not lower. This means, of course, that we are frequently told we need to hush up a bit!) last night. When it gets tremendously hot the veins in my hands nearly pop out … and they were huge. It’s the telltale sign that I’m boiling. That doesn’t help pitch, of course. Winds go sharp, strings, so I’ve been told, go flat. And we can’t really hear the strings, wouldn’t you know? It’s as if we have two different orchestras in that hall. I love the intimacy of it, but not the separation of winds and strings. Too bad they never go down to San Jose’s Montgomery Theatre, since all classical music in San Jose disappears come summer. (Years ago, when I played Barber of Seville with Merola, we performed at Montalvo. That was quite lovely, although outdoor concerts have their issues.) Montgomery has nearly a “real”, albeit small, pit. And, besides, it would be a seven minute drive! I’m selfish that way. 😉
In any case, one more opera to go, and maybe the hall will be a little cooler. One can hope. And at least it’s a matinee, so I won’t be getting home close to 1:00 in the morning.
I’m just home from Don Giovanni. It is 12:57 AM. It is way past my bedtime.
One performance over. One to go. It’s such a short run … very different from what I’m used to. But I’m thankful; the drive is just a whole lot to deal with and I’m not sure how much more I could handle. It’s hard to imagine how I dealt with playing Best of Broadway shows a few years back. And I had kids at home then, too.
Now off to bed with me! Before I turn into a pumpkin.
Oops. Too late.
