I\u2019m sorry that this blog has been so quiet of late. It turns out there is such a thing as \u201ctoo busy,\u201d something that I always thought of as more of a state of mind than a state of reality\u2026.<\/p>\n
It is a quirk of this time of year that not only do I have a lot of concerts going on, but that, for a variety of reasons, rehearsals for different programs overlap with each other, which means one\u2019s study time becomes incredibly tight. Since my last full post, I\u2019ve had rehearsals for five different programs, with all the travel those sessions entail. Yesterday, I arrived in Pendleton, where for the next five days I have the luxury of focusing all my energy on one orchestra concert and one chamber music program with NO TRAVEL!!!! Happy days! (However, the travel did catch up with me to the extent that I have a mild but irritating cold)<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s Oregon East Symphony program is<\/p>\n
Dvorak- Husitkska Overture<\/p>\n
Bloch- Suite for Cello and Orchestra (originally for viola)<\/p>\n
Parry Karp, cello<\/p>\n
Tchaikowsky- Symphony no. 4\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next day, we\u2019re playing a chamber concert-<\/p>\n
Beethoven- String Quartet no. 1 in F Major, op 18 no. 1<\/p>\n
Tchaikowsky- Andante Cantabile for Cello and String Quartet<\/p>\n
Schubert- Quintet in C major<\/p>\n
Suzanne Casey and Adam LaMotte, violinsDavid Yang, viola<\/p>\n
Kenneth Woods and Parry Karp, cellos<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Dvorak is a piece I\u2019ve wanted to do for many years, ever since Rafael Kubelik tore my head off my shoulders with it at the Chicago Symphony. I still think that\u2019s the best I\u2019ve ever heard the orchestra, except possibly for Big Bad Bernie H\u2019s Mahler 6 this month at the Proms. \u00a0I\u2019ve never encountered another live performance of it, and nobody in this country seems to know it. I think this is because nobody can pronounce the title (including me). Fortunately, we have a Czech fiddle player in the band who I\u2019m going to ask to give a masterclass on pronunciation of \u201cHusitska\u201d in rehearsal this week. After hearing the Kubelik\/CSO performance, I searched high and low for a score, but it was out of print in the US. I finally found it in a shop in Prague where Janacek used to shop. It\u2019s been sitting on my shelf now for about 14 years waiting for a performance. Now it\u2019s easily found as a reprint- my assistant\u2019s Kalmus score will last for decades, while my communist-era paper is already crumbling, but mine looks cooler. The piece is rare, but thrilling- more exciting (and better written) than Carnival or any of his other overtures. It might be the greatest overture ever written, in the history of music. I’m told Beethoven turned to Schumann in heaven and said “thank god Dvorak gave it an unpronounceable name so people will still think Manfred and Leonore 3 are the greatest overtures ever written…”<\/p>\n
Speaking of rarities, on Saturday the 27th<\/sup>, the Surrey Mozart Players where joined by Alexandra Wood for the Schumann fiddle concerto. What a joy to finally do this piece after so many months and years of planning. Alexandra played beautifully- she \u201cgets\u201d Schumann, which is something many young soloists don\u2019t do. It\u2019s a pity so many teenagers are let loose on the first movement of the Piano Concerto when they have not the technique, culture or life experience to do the piece justice! Also on the program was Mozart 39, which went very well indeed- that\u2019s a piece I\u2019ve avoided for many years because I think it\u2019s really hard to pull off. Less than 12 hours after finishing that performance in Guildford, I was rehearsing Mozart 40 in Lancashire, alongside the Gal Violin Concerto, before heading to London to fly here. The Gal is stunning music, but the parts are a little messy, which slows progress in rehearsal just a bit.<\/p>\n Speaking of publishers, just a quick rant- my Bloch Suite score, for which I paid a small fortune to the good folks at Schirmers<\/a>, is already disintegrating. Not, in this case, because the guys in New York can only access communist-era Czech paper, but because it is not properly bound. Rather than binding it like a book, they\u2019ve just a simple glue binding, but not used enough glue, so the pages are falling out faster than my hair. It\u2019s 174 pages of music- what are the odds those will stay in order between now and Saturday? Yes, I can get it rebound, but if I\u2019m going to spend all that time, why shouldn\u2019t I have just made a copy of a library score for $5, which would have been on better paper, and the binding of which would have lasted forever??????? Then there\u2019s my Schumann Vn Con score, which was only available as an eye-wrecking mini score which, no matter how many gazillions of hours I spent with it on my piano and desk, wouldn\u2019t stay open. It just feels lame when Dover will sell you Gotterdammerung for $20 and it’s readble, it stays open and it will last forever, but Eulenberg want $50 for an unreadable mini score that won\u2019t stay open of a 25 minute Schumann concerto\u2026.. Argh!!!<\/p>\n Rant over.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of admin stuff to sort out for the OES in the next 24 hours, but I also must find some time on my PDT cello, which is very different from my regular one at home, before we start rehearsing Schubert tomorrow\u2026..<\/p>\n In other words, I\u2019ll try to get back on track with the postings, especially as I think there will be much to report on here in the coming hours and days, but please be patient. I was actually too tired after rehearsal to go to the Rainbow- so the memories will have to sustain me for a while- read\u00a0this for a flavor of the place<\/a>.\u00a0If only I could hire and assistant blogger. Maybe I can\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n