C’mon … watch the darn thing, Dan. Don’t just read the feed! 😉
Every year we watch White Christmas. It was a movie I bought when the children were young, and it became the one they had to see.
This year we went to the California Theatre to see it on the big screen. Now I know this movie very well, so there aren’t any surprised. But there something about the big screen. It hit me emotionally (yeah, call me silly), while seeing it on TV doesn’t do that.
Maybe it’s sort of like going to a live opera or symphony concert rather than hearing it over the radio, seeing it on the tube, or whatever. Or maybe not. What do I know? I’m only an oboe player!
And which “Sisters” is better, eh?
I love when newish groups sing oldish stuff. Not sure why. I know it’s not like Chanticleer or King’s Singers. Maybe it’s because I could nearly sound this way. (I don’t have a great voice.)
Anyway. Enjoy if you wish.
Steeleye Span singing “Gaudete”
The Monkeys sing “Riu Chiu”
I’m having internet issues today. Sometimes I can get to my site, sometimes not. Sometimes I can go elsewhere, sometimes not.
Anyone else having these woes, or is it just some sort of punishment for yours truly?
(I think it’s nice to have some of the advent posts include singing in a more natural setting. I found this one touching.)
This video reminds me of something I dream occasion: I’m holding the English horn and trying to play, but I can’t reach keys, or it’s just so darn awkward I can’t manage to play it. Watching this video, in fact, causes great discomfort, which makes me wonder if this is the work I dream I can’t play or something. Weird.
Truth is, I have no issues with holding the English horn. Most people I know use a peg or a strap, but my hands are large enough and rather strong, so I rarely tire or ache.
I’ve never performed Quiet City. It was on the schedule at Santa Clara University a couple of years ago, but the trumpet player had to cancel due to a full plate. I wasn’t sorry. It’s not a work I quite wrap my heart around for some reason. Perhaps if I performed it that would change. Playing it on one’s own doesn’t quite work … at least not for me.
I just located the video above (I’ve been lazy in my YouTube searching I guess). I won’t be critiquing it here. As folks know, I don’t do that sort of thing. I’ll let you all do that. 🙂
Apparently a conductor was bad enough that a trombonist of the New York Philharmonic began a blog. Or at least the blog began right after he had worked with that conductor, for his pension benefit oncert with the Phil, and his first entry is quite blunt and harsh. Yikes!
What a way to start a blog, though. I see that he has 102 comments on that blog entry. I rarely get one! (But then I’m not in the NYP either.)
The New York Times has an article about it as well. Now that will get a blogger visitors!
I see that a conductor has also blogged about this story, if only a small amount. I would think conductors would have to be quite cautious about this sort of thing. Might it lose him a job or two, I wonder?
Maybe I’m just overly cautious.
I won’t be blogging here about conductors I dislike. I won’t blog about musicians I dislike either. It’s not my style. At least not while they’re alive. There are a few who have died and I haven’t blogged about them either. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll just never blog about that sort of thing. Only time will tell.
Do I have stories? You bet. Have I had bad experiences? More than you will ever know. Really.
Readers here know I love to whine about my own predicaments (reeds, primarily), and I’ve certainly ‘fessed up to my own mistakes and inadequacies.
I guess I’m so self-centered I just want to keep this thing more about me. Go figure.
