Opening Night

18. April 2009 · Comments Off on Opening Night · Categories: Opera, Ramble

I wonder why I get nervous for nearly everything these days. Even Carmen. Aside from one brief low note moment I really don’t have anything to fret over, and even that is pretty darn insignificant. But yes my stomach is telling me I’m nervous. How silly is that?! I suppose it’s just knowing it’s opening night. Somehow that adds a bit of pressure.

Truthfully, though, I can’t figure out why the nerves are kicking in.

In other news … Dan took my picture today. MY picture. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not photogenic. But I had to get one for a concert I’m doing in a bit over a month in Santa Cruz. (I’ll fill you in later on the concert. Maybe.) Now I just wait to see the finished product. Maybe he can make me look ten years younger. Ya think? One can do nearly anything with Photoshop (or whatever he uses), right?

El Toreador

18. April 2009 · Comments Off on El Toreador · Categories: Opera, Videos

Not quite what Bizet had in mind, I’m guessing, but you can hear some of his music in this very old cartoon.

Ah, Intonation!

18. April 2009 · 8 comments · Categories: Ramble

Intonation can be a tricky thing. Really tricky. And we tend to be rather defensive about it when someone tells us we are having pitch problems. Or at least I do. I think it’s because it implies I can’t hear things correctly. It’s scary to think I might not be hearing correctly.

And sometimes I don’t, I guess, because I do get corrected by some people I trust to be better than I about these things. Sigh.

What is really interesting, though, is to ask people who are all in the same group about intonation issues. It’s sort of like polling an orchestra on a conductor; the responses really run the gamut and you wonder if everyone was seeing the same person on the podium.

I do try to work with my students on intonation. Oboes have a tendency to be sharp. I know I do. Because we tend to be sharp we sometimes over compensate and play flat. Go figure. It’s a tough situation.

But it’s just intonation. Right?