oboeinsight

Okay … this is silly of me, I know, but here goes:

Look your age in your bio photo please. I am so weary of seeing photos of young or even middle aged musicians and then seeing a senior citizen walk out on stage. That only makes people do a double take and wonder what the heck happened!

Carry your instrument like … well … like you carry an instrument. Those cute photos with the upside down oboe aren’t working for me. Honest.

And you’re welcome. HAH! (Not that anyone says thank you any more.)

Grumpy, senior citizen rant over ’n out.

The last time I had a performance was April 27, when I played Zorro with Opera San José. Then it was off to Europe for our Spring trip. (And a wonderful trip it was!) This week, come Friday, I’ll be back on stage for our first of two rehearsals for a performance of the Yellow River Cantata. I’m sitting second oboe, and I don’t have a great deal to play, but obviously I still must prepare it. From what I’ve been told I’ll be sitting next to Adrienne Burg, so I’m looking forward to actually working with the new principal of Opera San José!

I’m also preparing for the upcoming Opera San José production of Così fan tutte. It’s an opera I really love, and I’m looking forward to playing it, although I can only do the final two shows due to a wedding we are flying to Vermont to attend. Again, I’m sitting next to Adrienne, the winner of the Opera San José principal oboe audition … and this will be the first time I will play second oboe on this work. Looking in my copy of the work (I frequently purchased my own parts for opera) I played it in 1983, 1990, 1995, 2001, 2009, and 2017. So this is my seventh run! Yes, I do know the piece rather well — the challenge will be making sure I don’t get thrown because I’m used to playing the other part!

Così gets done in so many ways, taking place in very different time periods depending upon the director’s choice. Frequently people are offended by the suggestion that the young women are just so very fickle. Ah, Mozart … did you really believe it, I wonder? I have to laugh at the disguises that their boyfriends don — I mean honestly!? The young women can’t see beyond the goofy disguises? But I’ve also seen fabulous productions that really work and one that immediately comes to mind is when the men are dressed in conservative business attire at first but return as hippies. They honestly looked completely different! I’ll be curious to see how our production is done.

I’ve wondered, too, if anyone has done a production where the women just pretend to be fooled, but figured things out from the start. Can it be done that way? Hm. I wonder!

Anyway, work is beginning again, so back into the studio I go. It’s time to practice!

Here is my favorite moment in Cosi from an older video, so pardon the quality and just listen, featuring Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, and Walter Berry. (And, believe it or not, there is no oboe and I still like it! Hah!)

I had a week of English horn playing with Symphony San Jose, doing Strauss Death & Transfiguration. Prior to that I had a month of Bluebeard’s Castle where I doubled. On both I opted not to use the W.R.I.S.T. although it can be quite useful. It can be a hand saver, for sure, but for some reason I feel like it stifles my low notes a bit. In some instances I just won’t use it on the low notes, but I opted this time to deal with the heavy English horn. I do have strong hands, although not as strong as they used to be.

But my nails? Well, I’m now convinced that the weight of the horn does do a number on at least my right thumbnail — it is slightly indented in the middle. I didn’t used to connect it to the English horn playing, but I hadn’t played in quite a while and the nail looked much more normal.

Anyone else notice this or am I just crazy?

(And yes, I suppose others could notice this and I could still be crazy. Go figure.)

Oh … and in other news: once again I felt like something was up with my English horn. Sure enough, Brooks Fisher, our principal oboist, checked things out and one screw needed a wee bit of an adjustment. When I had adjusted things earlier I just managed to not tighten this one quite enough. What would I do without these people who rescue me?! Thanks, Brooks!

We are now finished with Bluebeard’s Castle. I really enjoyed playing it, and I’m so glad OSJ thought to put it on the season.

A few shows ago I thought, “This English horn reed is really losing it. I guess I’d better find something new to use for the rest of the run.” And yes, I use one reed for a fairly long time on English horn: they last longer than oboe reeds. Or perhaps I just force them to last. Hmm. The G above the staff was getting rather flat, which sometimes was a sign that there is a small crack somewhere. And then the third line B went wonky as well. But of course I held on to hope and thought, “Well, maybe just two more shows …??”

But Friday night I finally had to switch reeds during the opera. No big deal, but even that reed was not making me happy.

Saturday, before a student arrived, I decided to go through my English horn reeds and see what I liked for the final show. I noticed, too, that the bocal I was using was losing its cork so I set that aside and pulled out the other one (I really like them equally, so no problem there).

Not one reed was satisfying. Not ONE.

And then (DUH!) I thought, “Maybe it’s the horn.”

WOW. My A key wasn’t closing all the way. I’m surprised I could get ANYTHING out of the horn with certain notes. And I was greatly relieved that I DID make it through the opera the night before. How the screw turned so very drastically will remain a mystery (although I will now be more careful when putting the horn together). I also checked the reed I favored and no, there was no crack. And yes, once the English horn was adjusted all was well again.

WHEW!!!

Sunday after church I pulled the English horn out again, just to be sure it was really okay, and it worked very well.

Then it was opera time. I got to the pit, pulled out the instruments, put in the “other” bocal, and played.

But no sound came out. Nada. Nothing. Zilch.

Talk about panic time. I freaked.

Thankfully Jesse quickly pulled out an English horn reed of his, looked at me, and said, “May I?”

I handed him the English horn. He tried to play. No sound. He checked the top joint to see if it was leaking. Nope. Sealing very well. Meanwhile I texted another musician desperately hoping she would answer and could bring her English horn to the hall. No reply. (Later she explained that she was with a client and didn’t see the message when I sent it. But thanks, Diane, for getting back to me. You’ve rescued me before and I’m forever grateful!) Jesse looked and looked. Pads were closing. Everything looked just fine. He tried playing again. No sound. He looked through the horn and saw nothing. Finally he asked for my swab and he ran that through.

Something fell out of the top. Well how ’bout that?!

I’m sure you all are laughing and know exactly what happened. Me? I was in panic mode and couldn’t think clearly or maybe I would have thought about this earlier. But obviously the cork that had fallen off bocal #1 was in the reed well. Initially it wasn’t visible when we looked through the horn (probably stuck on the side), but if you stuck a bocal in it it folded down and covered the hole. You’d have thought I’d have noticed that air could barely go through the instrument, but I guess panic makes one’s brain go bonkers.

Anyway, everything was back to being just great. Jesse was a hero. And once my first notes came out during the opera I was a much happier girl.

MANY MANY MANY thanks to Jesse for rescuing me. And let that be a lesson to everyone: if your bocal has lost some cork be sure none of it is in that reed well!

I’ve been in this business for a LONG time. And yes, I’ve learned a lot. I’m not writing about all I’ve learned. Just three short little ditties. One is from a long time ago. One a while back. One more recent.

Eons ago (like probably 35 years or so), I was upset about something that was happening in a symphony I was in. I honestly can’t even remember what it was about now, but I was on the phone with an orchestra committee member. I was upset that someone else was getting something and I wasn’t. He said something to me that has stuck all this time. It was, in essence, that just because something doesn’t benefit me doesn’t mean I should get upset about it. Whatever it was (and I mean it when I say I can’t remember what it was!) wasn’t going to deduct anything from my pay. It just benefitted someone else. I found him very helpful, and that advice stuck with me.

The funny thing is, this same person later talked to me about something else. I was saying how I wanted to stick around for a certain length of time with a particular group because it would be a specific number of years. He looked at me and said, “You know management really doesn’t care, don’t you?” And I realized he was right. They aren’t concerned about us as individuals. They are concerned about the group itself. And my little situation isn’t even something on their radar. That was good for me to learn.

More recently I realized that if something would benefit me, but cause others to be envious, I won’t get any support for it from some colleagues. It sort of relates to the “eons ago” post, but the people who are now in charge tend to think, “Well, I’m not getting it, why should you?!”

So be it. I’m learning to say “whatever” and let it go.

But of course I’m writing this so obviously I needed to vent just a little bit. Hah!

I just learned that a male oboist I have respected has said that women simply can’t play oboe as well as men.

Respect gone.

I also learned that another player wants to get rid of older players and limit tenure.

I’m just rather sad at this point.

Knowing when to say goodbye to our music careers isn’t easy, right? Some stay too long. Some don’t. But ageism … I’ve seen it and hear about it so much, and it’s an issue in this business, for sure. Younger players can be pretty harsh. Some privately, some outright blatant about it. I find it quite distressing.

I know some younger musicians who would like to see “us” (yes, I’m old) go. I know some management folks who would like that as well. They want a new look. They want a younger look. I get it: we aren’t as pretty as all those younger musicians.

But what do we have? Well, many of us came from an era when we worked on expression. Musicality seems to be something so many of the younger ones have yet to develop, as they’ve been working on being perfect for so long they have neglected what it means to make music. I’ve sat next to players whose technique is simply astounding and I marvel at that. But they play so robotically I am never moved. Merely impressed. I don’t feel anything. I wonder if they do.

We also know how to behave. I’ve seen behavior that makes me want to scream. Looking back at someone who’s made a mistake. Even the shaking of a head has been observed. Talking out of turn: if you are subbing in an orchestra and sitting in a non-principal position I would highly recommend you speak to the principal player before piping up with your comment or question. Doing so will save you getting removed from the sub list! Even regular members could do with a bit of caution in what they say or at least how they say it! Please oh please don’t slide into your chair 10 seconds before the tuning note … especially if you are sitting in the middle of the orchestra! Dress like you care, not like you have gardening work to do right after the concert.

(**I want to be clear: I’m not referring to our new principal oboe in Symphony San Jose! Brooks is a fabulous player. He’s also a very good colleague and I’ve been impressed by his musicianship, as well as his attitude toward us older players. He’s respectful and very kind. I fear some might think I’m speaking of him since he’s new to our orchestra and is younger. I’m grateful to sit next to him!)

Shall I go on? Heh. No. I’m sounding like a grumpy old lady! Oh … um … wait …. ?

So … rambling rambling rambling … and yes, I’m tired of dealing with the “garbage of work” at the moment. It happens in every job, I know, so I suppose some of this could be applied to any workplace.

Over ‘n out.