oboeinsight

As I sit here being lazy (as usual), checking email and various sites, my MacBook made a high pitched “ping” sound. Does anyone have a clue what that is about? I wasn’t doing anything with the computer at that point. The batter is at 72% so I’m fine there. I had the sound off so it wasn’t from a site.

So does anyone know what the heck that might be? I suppose folks at Apple would, but I don’t believe they frequent this blog. (Can you imagine?!)

The nice thing is that my ears heard it; I haven’t lost all the high frequencies, eh? Actually, I’m still hearing the 50 and under tone here, which is higher than the Apple ping. And the site also has a test that tells me my hearing is “as good as it gets” … confusing, since I can’t hear like an 18 year old and to me that would be as good as it gets. Sigh.

I do wonder who put together that site. Whoever it is can’t spell “really”. But I suppose hearing is more important than spelling. Maybe.

I recently had to sit through a performance of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (it was the conductor’s farewell concert). At first it was simply boring, but as I listened more carefully, it grew increasingly painful, until it became excruciatingly so. I literally began tearing my hair out and trying to cut my skin with my nails (there were large red marks when the performance was finally over). The pianist, I was certain, kept flubbing the notes and getting the timing off. But few around me seemed to agree. “Well, he certainly plays it differently from Gould,” was the most they could say.

The audience, like that of private libraries and the FOX News Channel, was decidedly old. I don’t recall seeing anyone who looked younger than thirty. And, aside from thoughts of this whole orchestras-playing-classical-music thing dying out, it made me wonder: what’s so great about classical music?

And then I went here:

Classical music is at once one of the best known and least understood forms of music, and many music fans who feel they would never like classical music are surprised at just how enjoyable it can be.

Of course, classical music can take a great many forms, and not every music fan will appreciate every kind of classical music. To some people, classical music is best enjoyed in a crowded concert hall, with a glass of wine and good company. To others, the best classical music is enjoyed alone, perhaps in a darkened room with a great stereo system. Still others will enjoy making their own classical music in the company of family and friends, perhaps playing their own piano or enjoying a night out.

The Wave has a very nice article on the singer. I always loved hearing her in Opera San Jose, and I will be playing both concerts mentioned in the article — both San Jose Chamber Orchestra’s upcoming Opera! concert and Opera San Jose’s gala concert.

It’s a common belief that an artist residency at Opera San Jose (OSJ) is a transformative experience. But mezzo-soprano Layna Chianakas, an OSJ resident from 1995-97, took the idea to an extreme. Three months after arriving from Illinois, the talented singer went on a blind date, fell in love and never left town. Since then, life both off and on the stage has been a storybook success: Chianakas not only has a husband, a seven-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter, but enjoys an intriguing “soccer mom/diva” lifestyle.

So hoorah for Ms. Chainakas, and I’ll look forward to hearing her again.

People shouldn’t sneer about classical music: there are only two types of music, good music and bad music.

-Goldie

I read it here.