my oboe teacher made me a special reed for playing Tchaikovsky #gottaloveher
There is a creepy bloodlust to the doom-mongering of classical music, as though an autopsy were being conducted on a still-breathing body. What if each commentator decided, instead, to Google “young composer” or “new chamber ensemble” and write a compelling profile of a discovery? Why not interview members of the local orchestra and find out how real people make careers in a purportedly comatose industry? Why not talk to those graying audience members—contempt toward the elderly is a common theme in death-of-classical-music articles—and find out how their history of listening has improved their lives? Statistics provide firm answers, but not necessarily to the right questions. If the stakes are as high as the life and death of an art form, why not explore the question of why it might be the case by looking at the actual, lived experiences of those involved?
Yes. I’m so very weary of reading about the demise of classical music. If it’s dead, then why write about it. If it’s not, please stop trying to put it in the coffin. Sigh.
Oh … except that are a few folks out there who are making their living on the demise or death of classical music.
Hmm. If we stopped buying into that their careers might die instead. Now there’s an idea! 😉
No, I don’t much like Beethoven’s orchestrations, but that oboe line at the baritone’s first solo in his 9th? Kind of awesome.
“Everyone says, ‘Just have fun and enjoy it.’ I say: ‘I’ll have a blast at 6:30. I go on at 6:18 or something.”
Now I’m no Renée Fleming, but even in my little career I know that thought! If my solo is going to happen around 2:56 I can’t wait until 3:00! Not that I don’t enjoy what I do … but those nerves!
Playing English horn is especially like this because, similar to her comment about the Star Spangled Banner compared to a full opera, there is no time to redeem yourself if you botch things up.
I read the quote here, where Fleming is talking about singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.
Wait a minute … football season is so OVER. You know?
A rock band that can include an Oboe player is cool. Roxy Music – Out of the Blue (Live 1976): http://youtu.be/oVkOVWBaRwA via @youtube
Milwaukee and Wauwatosa police are investigating what could be the most valuable heist in Milwaukee’s history — the armed robbery of a violin that is nearly three centuries old.
Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn says just before 10:30 p.m. on Monday, January 27th, two armed suspects, a man and a woman, approached concertmaster violinist Frank Almond of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra who had just performed at Wisconsin Lutheran College on Bluemound Rd.
Flynn says as Almond walked outside in a parking lot after the concert, the suspects approached Almond. They used a taser on Almond, causing him to drop the violin and fall to the ground. The suspects then stole the 1715 Stradivarius violin, also known as a “Lipinski” Stradivarius, valued at approximately $6 million.
The suspects then fled in a waiting minivan. It’s described as a late 1980s or early ’90s maroon Chrysler or Dodge minivan.
Chief Flynn says this was targeted crime. He says the violin is valuable, but only to a very small population. “This is not something that can be easily sold for even a fraction of its monetary value,” said Flynn. “This is art theft.”
Go here to read more and see a video.
Perry stunned audiences with her impressive four costume changes at the Grammy Awards 2014, but classical fans were pleased to note her rather more unusual gown featuring the score from Verdi’s La Traviata.
See it here.
I just learned that Ursula Holliger, harpist and wife of Heinz Holliger, died on January 21.
Pete Seeger died yesterday. He lived a very long life, to be sure, but it’s still sad to read this news.
Just a few videos …
… and from 2012
If you want to see the making of Forever Young watch this:
All this coughing is doing wonders for my abdominal muscles. My oboe playing should be better than ever. Shame I can’t breathe.
