Glissando Headjoint Demo from Robert Dick on Vimeo.
Someone on Twitter (hi @nikkinotes) tweeted: “This is what happens when a trombone and a flute make a baby”. Hah!)
Aw c’mon, flutists, you can take a joke, right?
That hair is great, don’tcha think?
Robert Stallman has a wonderful CD out, that my dear, dear friend Isabelle Chapuis (Isabelle, why can’t I locate your website now?!) loaned me. (Guess I need to get my own copy of the CD now, eh? I didn’t copy it on to my computer … and I urge readers to be legal about their music as well. Pretty please?!) The CD is incredible! I know I tease my flute playing friends. It’s primarily the women, of course, because they are always dressed more nicely than yours truly. I accuse them of choosing flute because it’s a pretty, shiny thing, too. But it’s all in jest. Truthfully, flute is an incredible instrument when played well. (And how they manage the breathing is beyond me. I much prefer the “running into carbon dioxide” to the running out of oxygen, thank you very much!)
Included on the CD is cellist Karl Bennion. He wouldn’t remember me at all, I’m sure, but he was in Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra (PACO), under the direction of William Whitson, back when they had two oboists and two horn players on the roster. (Now I believe they only have strings, and they bring in extras for the wind section.) PACO is what started me on this career ‘o mine. Prior to playing with them I loved playing but hadn’t thought about a career in music. Karl, as well as his sister Krista, have gone much further than I. But so many PACO people have gone on to music careers. Interesting, don’t you think, how a youth group can shape one’s future?!
Anyway, check out Robert Stallman’s CD, The Nightingale in Love, and more. His sound is amazing, and the playing can’t be beat. Truly. Unless, of course, you want an oboe. 😉 (I’m teasing … really!)
I’ve heard a friend of mine — Hi Isabelle! — say this, and now I hear it from Rampal himself. (She did study under him, so maybe she got it from him?)
… how ’bout some Telemann? I absolutely love playing Telemann; I think he sits well with our contemporary oboe fingerings. Enjoy!
Probably something Robertson Davies would not call “sweeter”. (See MQOD below this entry) Ya think?
Chris Howard, Clarinet
Liz Jackson, Flute
Carla Parodi, Oboe
Stevi Rehncy, Bassoon
… this time on EH …
What amazes me is that he conducts nearly up until he plays. I’d be so worried about the sound and not being in control and all. And I’d probably crash my hand into the reed. But that’s just me ….
Too bad it cuts off in the middle of a phrase …
I see he’s using a neck strap. I do have one on when I’m standing, but I rarely put it to use (meaning it’s fairly slack most of the time) as it’s hard on my neck. I don’t use anything when I’m sitting. I just have this bizarre huge muscle between my right thumb and index finger and I don’t find the instrument too cumbersome. I always joke that when that when I stop playing that muscle will get all out of shape and sag to the floor. Well, maybe not to the floor …?
I note that neither soloist is smiling during this joyful music. We sometimes get criticized for not looking like we are having a good time. But even when we are playing joyful music we are busy concentrating and it’s work. Add recording session to that and you aren’t going to have a ton of smiles.
