What Allan is playing

Started by toledobass, September 24, 2007, 09:43:41 AM

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toledobass

Began rehearsals with the Akron Symphony for this weekends performance of:

Copland - Billy the Kid Suite
Barber - Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Sung - Rockwell Reflections+
Copland - Appalachian Spring

At first glance it looks like a cake week,  but it's turning out to be a little more difficult than I thought.  Not so much in the individual playing,  but it's not been so easy to get everyone on the same page rhytmically as well as everyone fitting together balance wise.

Allan

Bogey

Outstanding thread Allan.  Keep the reports coming.  The Barber piece sounds fascinating.  Wil have to look into that one.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

toledobass

Quote from: Bogey on November 13, 2007, 08:20:48 PM
Outstanding thread Allan.  Keep the reports coming.  The Barber piece sounds fascinating.  Wil have to look into that one.

Shit Bogey.....you don't know it?  It's freaking beautiful.  You should also try and get the Barber songs double CD with Studer and Hampson accompanied by John browning as well as,  I believe, the Emerson 4tet.  You'll love it.

Allan

karlhenning

Exquisite program, Allan!  Shatter a bow!  8)

Bogey

Quote from: toledobass on November 13, 2007, 09:07:44 PM
.....you don't know it?  It's freaking beautiful.  You should also try and get the Barber songs double CD with Studer and Hampson accompanied by John browning as well as,  I believe, the Emerson 4tet.  You'll love it.

Allan

That's why I'm here Allan, that's why I'm here. :)
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

toledobass

The Sung is a premier.  Here is some more info about the whole program:

ASO American Relections

We will rehearse the Sung tonight so I'll try to provide comments on my first impressions later.



Allan

karlhenning

You anticipated my query, thank you  0:)

toledobass

I don't know.  The Sung is pleasing enough to listen to but I feel it's way too predictable and cliched.  I hope it fits well with the accompanying projections. (which I don't think I'm gonna be able to see)

Allan

karlhenning

It will be interesting to see if it recovers . . . but predictable and cliched is not the impression a composer hopes that his piece makes on an initial rehearsal.

Cato

Quote from: karlhenning on November 15, 2007, 07:35:37 AM
It will be interesting to see if it recovers . . . but predictable and cliched is not the impression a composer hopes that his piece makes on an initial rehearsal.

And so, as I asked in a topic carrying this same question: Why would a conductor play this with his orchestra?
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

toledobass

Cato,

If you check out the link provided above you'll see the reasoning and how it all fits in.  I'm exhausted and won't explin it well.



2nd take on the music:
I saw the images with the music tonight and have to say it works.  It's strange to me though that I don't think the music works alone, and I don't think the Rockwell images chosen for the piece actually benefit greatly from the addition of the music.  I started questioning the act of superimposing one art form over another when the initial art form never had the second in mind in it's creation.  Of course ballet then came to mind to screw up my little theory I was trying to get going....then of course, I missed my entrance....


Allan   

Cato

Quote from: toledobass on November 15, 2007, 07:36:51 PM
Cato,

If you check out the link provided above you'll see the reasoning and how it all fits in.  I'm exhausted and won't explin it well.



2nd take on the music:
I saw the images with the music tonight and have to say it works.  It's strange to me though that I don't think the music works alone, and I don't think the Rockwell images chosen for the piece actually benefit greatly from the addition of the music.  I started questioning the act of superimposing one art form over another when the initial art form never had the second in mind in it's creation.  Of course ballet then came to mind to screw up my little theory I was trying to get going....then of course, I missed my entrance....


Allan   

Okay, that's why!  You will have to tell us what the reaction is: does the coughing stop or does it increase during Rockwell Reflections ?    :D

"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

toledobass

Looking forward to this coming week.  I'll be working with a group called CityMusic Cleveland.  It's a chamber orchestra and it's been a long, long time since I played in a more intimate group setting so I'm looking forward to that very much.  Also,  I find the whole idea of the group to be pretty cool.  Free concerts all around the area and an interesting program to boot.  Here's some more program info:

CityMusic Cleveland December program


Allan





Bogey

#33
And this footnote jumped out at me Allan, almost as much as the Haydn piece being performed:

*Free childcare available -- phone the venue to make a reservation for your child.
All concerts & exhibits are FREE FOR ALL & everyone is welcome.
Programs, artists & venues subject to change.

Wow.  For a parent of two (9 and 5) this would work wonderfully.  Our littlest one could take in 30 minutes or so and then she could go play, while our oldest would hang for the duration.  Almost worth hopping in the car and driving out to Ohio.
There will never be another era like the Golden Age of Hollywood.  We didn't know how to blow up buildings then so we had no choice but to tell great stories with great characters.-Ben Mankiewicz

karlhenning

Very cool musically and otherwise, Allan!

toledobass

Last nights rehearsal was great fun.  I think these will be some excellent concerts and it will be nice to be able to play many of them rather than the usuall one or two that I'm used to doing.  The group sounds good together and I think the communication level will rise dramatically in the next rehearsal.  There were glimpses of great ensemble playing that I'm sure will come out more and more.  The stylistic changes from the varied program were handled nicely.  Haydn to Debussy is quite a shift in gears, but not a problem last night.


Allan

karlhenning


toledobass

Quote from: karlhenning on December 10, 2007, 05:55:29 AM
Haydn to Debussy in 4.79

Kinda fitting.  You shoulda heard the Haydn last night.  Total rock and roll.  The conductor was nearly air guitar wind milling some of the chords the orchestra plays together.

So much fun.

Allan

toledobass

Two CityMusic Cleveland concerts finished.  4 more to go.  Tonights venue was the acoustic opposite of oppening night but proper adjustments were made in a preconcert soundcheck.

Here's a review of sorts:
Plain Dealer Review


Allan


karlhenning

Excellent, Allan! The 'prayer from Tchaikovsky's "Mozartiana"' must be the Ave verum corpus, right?

Bravo!