When I first started this blog, my hope was that it would help bring in some new audiences to the orchestras I conduct, and while it does get read by some very devoted members of the general public (the true, hard-core fanatics!), I think it\u2019s probably morphed into something a little intense for Joe Public. While that may count as a small disappointment, I\u2019ve been really delighted (and occasionally intimidated) to find out just how many of my colleagues in the various orchestras I work with read these pages (hello Surrey Mozart Players, who I\u2019ll be seeing tomorrow).<\/p>\n
One thing I\u2019ve learned from them is that players do tend to look and see what I\u2019ve written about our concert together after the fact, and some are not shy about reminding me if I\u2019ve not written something.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Ken- you didn\u2019t write anything about our concert, so how am I supposed to know how you thought it went?\u201d someone might say\u2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cErr, ah\u2026.. well, you were there, and we went out afterwards and talked about the show for about four hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, but that\u2019s just what you said to me, not what you really mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the blog is a repository of what I really mean, as opposed to my conversations?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201dNo. The blog is mostly entertaining BS, \u00a0but it\u2019s what people think you really mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho? Which people?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ones who read it…\u201d\u201dYou mean like you?\u201d\u201dNo- the people who read it to find out what you thought of the concert. I was there, I don\u2019t have to read it. I just thought you might have written something\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well take heart. The only reasons I don\u2019t write about past concerts is because<\/p>\n
1-\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m too effing tired to think for several days afterwards, by which time I\u2019ve completely forgotten the event.<\/p>\n
2-\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I feel self-conscious and silly trying to describe my own performances<\/p>\n
3-\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m saving it for the book (heh, heh, heh\u2026..). This is probably the case if it went spectacularly badly!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still- I have to admit\u2026. If I go to a concert, I\u2019m much more likely to look for the review of it, so I can see why people who\u2019ve played in one would want to read the post mortem of it here.<\/p>\n
In fact, the last concert I went to led me to do more or less the same thing. Alban Gerhardt was in town last week playing with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Alban and I have never met or worked together, but we seem to keep tap dancing onto each others life paths. He was a student at CCM just before me, so we have many friends, chamber music colleagues and teachers in common (most importantly the Tokyo and La Salle quartets) and now he\u2019s quite a regular in Cardiff. Anyway, I knew Alban had a blog, so- as you do- I checked it out to see what he thought of the concert. Sure enough, there\u2019s an interesting and thoughtful write up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n I loved his Dvorak, and everyone I talked to in the orchestra seemed to as well. The consensus was that he\u2019d really made something very moving happen with the piece- several players confessed to watering up a bit on the last page- which is much more what it\u2019s about than just the cello playing. The cello playing was pretty damn good, though- especially his chromatic octave scale in the first movement. In the moment before he started them, his endpin not only slipped, but the cello actually caught quite a bit of air, so Alban had to start them in mid-flight, and they were the best I\u2019ve ever heard them live… \u00a0Alban’s blog points out the difficulty of keeping this most beloved of cello pieces fresh- Rostropovich’s strategy was to charge $80,000 for a Dvorak and $5,000 for any other concerto. You can guess which one he still got asked to play the most….<\/p>\n Anyway- I had intended to say hi afterwards (and to say hi from several Cincinnati friends who wanted me to pass on wishes), but apparently playing first violin on the \u00a0Bartok Concerto for Orchestra qualifies as tiring when you\u2019re over 7 months pregnant, so my date and I made a swift exit.<\/p>\n I wonder how many friends at BBC NOW who saw me at the show will be checking in here to see if I had anything to say…..<\/p>\n