What Allan is playing

[toledobass]

The opera was somewhat uninteresting so I didn't really follow up much about it.  It suffered from that slapped together feel, at least musically on our end.



Cato,

Nice to hear from you.  You sort of beat me to my next post.  Our final classics week involving the repertoire you ask about begins this Wed. 


Here is the schedule:


Wednesday, May 7

3:00-5:30 rehearsal:  Rachmaninoff

7:30-10:00 rehearsal: Rachmaninoff 


Thursday, May 8

3:00-5:00 rehearsal: Tchaikovsky

7:30-10:00 rehearsal: Tchaikovsky / Rachmaninoff


Friday and Saturday concerts @ 8pm


Stefan will be conducting and our guest soloist in the Tchaikovsky PC2 is William Wolfrom.  He gave a memorable performance of the Strauss Burlesque a few years ago so it will be nice to have another chance to hear his playing.  Stefan does particularly well with Russian repertoire.  That, coupled with the excitement of this being the final subscription concert, should lead to some vital and exciting performances.



The whole situation in Columbus is a mess.  I haven't followed it very closely, but even if they survive this year I still fear they have a long way to go in order to become a stable organization again. 

Allan

[Sergeant Rock]

Allan, the Toledo discs arrived today. Thanks!


Sarge

[toledobass]

Allan, the Toledo discs arrived today. Thanks!


Sarge

Great Sarge!!!! That was quick.  Lemme know what you think.  If you find the performances good and need more incentive to hang in Ohio a bit longer in the fall, the 5th will be played on Nov 2nd.

Allan

[M forever]

Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances - a great piece, and a very fun piece to play with some nice bass action - although it's probably not so much fun if you have to try to play that with the French bow      0:)

I just heard that 2 weeks ago with the NY Philharmonic conducted by Charles Dutoit, it was great. And the basses led by Eugene Levinson produced a lot of steam despite the muted acoustics of Avery Fisher Hall. I noticed that when I saw them last in Berlin (maybe 15 years ago), there were only 1 or 2 German bow players except for him, now almost the entire section is German bow. And he leads the section very well, very animated and with a lot of verve but elegant. I was told he played and taught 4 finger technique, but it didn't look to me like he or any of the other section members played that way.

[toledobass]

Hey M, 

I don't really know too much about Levinson's technical approach, but in the scale books and few pieces I have which he edited,  I've found him to use the 3rd finger in a lot of places.  He also uses the thumb quite liberally and all ranges of the bass, like thumb position on the E string.  He teaches his students to play the 4th movement of Mozart 35 on that area of the bass!!!

Allan

[toledobass]

The Symphonic Dances turn out to be deceptively tricky to put together,  mostly just the 3rd movement, but still makes me feel silly when I look at my part and think no problem, then get to rehearsal and find otherwise.  Stefan also made, what I thought, an interesting point: the Symphonic Dances being proof that Rachmoninoff was a great orchestrator despite the many who feel otherwise.


Allan

[karlhenning]

Stefan also made, what I thought, an interesting point: the Symphonic Dances being proof that Rachmoninoff was a great orchestrator despite the many who feel otherwise.

(* pounds the table *)

[M forever]

There should be no doubt that Rachamninoff was a great orchestrator - he created his very own, very unique sound world. His color palette can be very rich and hard to balance and make transparent, but that doesn't make him a bad orchestrator. It just makes his music a little more difficult to realize well - which I guess applies to more or less any "great" composer in one way or another. The Symphonic Dances in particular do indeed sound fabulous and make great use of the colors of the orchestra. I also find the musical invention very rich and free, Rachmaninoff developed all this from a few basic musical ideas and there is plenty of interesting and original detail.

[johnQpublic]

(* pounds the table *)

[Cato]

There should be no doubt that Rachamninoff was a great orchestrator - he created his very own, very unique sound world. His color palette can be very rich and hard to balance and make transparent, but that doesn't make him a bad orchestrator. It just makes his music a little more difficult to realize well - which I guess applies to more or less any "great" composer in one way or another.

This is similar to George Szell's estimation of Schumann's symphonies.

So, Allan, tell us about the concerts!

[toledobass]

Well the reheasals seemed a little nit picky.  Very tedious work measure by measure without much playing of a phrase or two let alone a section.  That seems to be an approach Stefan is using more and more with us.  I don't doubt the good performances he's putting together, but everything feels micro mangaed and sometimes I would just like to know how the piece is going to feel with everything he's throwing at us.  Even in dress rehearsal he's working through and giving more musical comments without alowing us to get through the piece or movement first.  So that process combined with a serious case of orchestra senioritis saw some pretty miserable faces amongst the group this week.

The concerts went well though, with Saturday being more inspired and more musical overall.  Friday was a little too adrenaline driven. A frantic feel to the overall pulse took it's toll on the overall sweep of things and just sounded a little brutal at times, at least to my ear....Symphonic Slam Dances.   Wolfram kicked ass both nights.  That man has some serious skill.  Saturday was a lot more relaxed and the music was able to unfold much more naturally.  People were able to listen to one another more intently and the cohesion of the group and music came across much better IMO.  The 2nd movement of the Tchaik was particularly nice to play and listen to and the Symphonic Dances were just a lot of fun to play on Sat.  It had some of those moments where everyone seems to be engaged and involved and tapped into one another and everything is effortless. 

Here's the Blade Review

Allan

[toledobass]

All right!!!!!!

One more rehearsal this morning and two kids concert tomorrow morning and I'm finished with the regular season!!!!! 

Allan

[karlhenning]

Coraggio!

[toledobass]

Sweet Jeezus, I made it through another season!!!!! 

This morning's concerts were a great time actually.  I enjoyed playing a piece by Russell Peck called The Thrill of the Orchestra. It's a piece designed for learning about the orchestra much like Britten's Young Persons Guide. It's the second piece of his that I've encountered and I really enjoy his language, especially his orchestration. 

I would be drinking heavily if it weren't for an upcoming audition in a little more than a week.


Allan

[Cato]

I would be drinking heavily if it weren't for an upcoming audition in a little more than a week.


Allan

Are you thinking of jumping ship to another orchestra?   

[toledobass]

It's all about the Benjamins, Cato.  (Musically, it'd be better to though )



Allan

[Bogey]

I would be drinking heavily if it weren't for an upcoming audition in a little more than a week.


Allan

When does your plane arrive in Berlin Allan?

[toledobass]

When does your plane arrive in Berlin Allan?

Beating M to the punch,  I play the wrong bow to be in that orchestra, Bogey (nevermind that I'm not that class of player either).

Allan

[karlhenning]

And your luck, Allan, your bow is probably strung with the wrong hair . . . . 

[Bogey]

Beating M to the punch,  I play the wrong bow to be in that orchestra, Bogey (nevermind that I'm not that class of player either).

Allan

In all seriousness, best of luck.