I think the sound is a very interesting phenomenon … why the people like and are so influenced with music. They don’t know how strong the music influences us, good and bad … you can kill people with sound. And if you can kill, then you can — maybe there is also the sound which is something opposite of killing. And the distance between these two points is very big and you are free — you can choose. In art everything is possible, but everything what is made is not necessary.
If you’re convinced you can belt it out with the best of ’em, crank up your volume and submit an a cappella audition video for the “Star-Spangled Sing-Off” sponsored by San Francisco Opera and Classical 102.1 KDFC.
Three finalists of the online contest, selected by KDFC listeners voting during the week of Aug. 24, will be posted on the station Web site Aug. 31. David Gockley and Nicola Luisotti, general director and music director of S.F. Opera respectively, and KDFC program director Bill Leuth will then pick the winner, to be announced the morning of Sept. 8 by radio host Hoyt Smith.
In the car, the pair listened to a classical radio station where they heard an oboe solo. Sharp’s father noticed and remarked how oboes were kind of rare.
He said, “You know, if you played oboe, you’d probably work.”
“So I’m 11,” she said. “Of course, I want to work. I chose the oboe, and he was right. I was the only oboe in the class.”
After about a year of being the only oboe in the class, though, Sharp noticed how much fun the saxophone section was having compared to how much work she was putting in.
I read it here. The singer/songwriter also says, “The oboe rocks in its own way.” So I’m hanging on to that, despite the fact that I don’t have as much fun as a saxophonist!
We have only one more rehearsal for Così fan tutte. Yesterday we moved into the (small) theater, and we had a whopping four hour rehearsal. (This is, by the way, no biggie for the “grown ups” in San Francisco Opera, I’m sure, as they do long operas all the time. Here in San Jose we rarely go over three hours. What wimps, eh?!) It took me the entire first half to adjust to how I have to listen; the second oboe has to sit behind me (hi Troy!), since we can’t have four winds in a row. So we sit this way: row 1) oboe, flute 1, flute 2 row 2) oboe 2, bassoon 1, bassoon 2, row 3) clarinet 1, clarinet 2, with horns 1 and 2 to the right and slightly behind the clarinets … yeah, really! Last year they had fixed things so that we could do four in a row by taking the “wall” that is put up between us and the audience (to make it look like a pit, I’m sure) away, giving us more room. This year not so. I yearn for the 2 ob/2 fl and 2 bsn / 2 cl seating. Ah well. I think the second half was much better, as all of us were adjusting to this new seating plan. Mozart so frequently wrote for pairs of instruments, but the oboes probably have the least soli work, so I think this is the best plan, even while I miss the support of oboe 2.
It’s great fun to get to actually see and hear the singers! What with the pit situation in Opera San José I miss that greatly (even while I love the hall), so I’m truly enjoying this. Funny thing is I leave a bit sore, because all that turning to watch them means I get a stiff neck! So gee, I still have something to complain about. Whew! What a relief.
Reed-wise it’s the same old same old … what I thought would work doesn’t, and I’m relying on older reeds. They allow me to play under the singers more easily without having to worry about pitch. I know this is often the case, but I tend to attempt first to use the newer beasts, hoping one or two will decide to acquiesce to my every whim. Fat chance!
I looked on YouTube for any of the singers, but I’m not finding much. Here are a couple of the women, though:
Ellie Jarrett (she sings Dorabella in Così):
Caitlyn Mathes (singing Despina in Così … she’s the singer on your right):
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Oboe sheet music for beginners to experts. Solos, ensembles, play alongs, and methods at Sheet Music Plus.
Hear Me At Work
Here are just a few recordings from the past. It's rare I have anything I'm allowed to share, due to union rules.
