Come on a journey together with me and my cello through the world of music and beyond.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Halloween Concert
The one thing you expect from a concert is that is goes off without a hitch. No interruptions, no mistakes, no stopping in the middle of a piece, these are all things that aren't supposed to be a part of concertizing. However, for the fist time that I can remember something happened during the middle of our performance in Battle Creek tonight. It was enough to cause the conductor to stop the orchestra and look around for some explanation or help to put a stop to the cause of the irritation. And what was this stirring the ire (not really ire I guess, but more of a befuddlement)? Nothing short of a lovely performance of The March of the Marionettes by Gounod from his opera Faust played by the illustrious PA system in Kellogg Auditorium.
The incredulous look from the conductor's face as she strained to search out the sound technician to no avail was priceless. Then she muttered something about ghosts and walked off stage to find a way to switch off the music herself. A minute or so later she walked triumphantly back on stage after having conquered the intruding sounds.
In all my performances I have never before stopped right in the middle of piece no matter the problems. Whether my own or from another source. Normally I am embarrassed by this kind of thing, but tonight I found it amusing. No, truthfully I was laughing so hard that I wanted to burst out but thought better since I was on stage in the outside chair this cycle. Wish I had been able to video this whole thing. Alas, I was playing my cello during the whole ordeal, or sitting with it anyways.
The incredulous look from the conductor's face as she strained to search out the sound technician to no avail was priceless. Then she muttered something about ghosts and walked off stage to find a way to switch off the music herself. A minute or so later she walked triumphantly back on stage after having conquered the intruding sounds.
In all my performances I have never before stopped right in the middle of piece no matter the problems. Whether my own or from another source. Normally I am embarrassed by this kind of thing, but tonight I found it amusing. No, truthfully I was laughing so hard that I wanted to burst out but thought better since I was on stage in the outside chair this cycle. Wish I had been able to video this whole thing. Alas, I was playing my cello during the whole ordeal, or sitting with it anyways.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Battle Creek
This week on the Traveling Cello blog is another concert. This time the distance is not as far as Traverse City. Or is it farther? Yes, the actually distance between my place and Battle Creek may be less than between my place and Traverse City, but I drive to Battle Creek a total of three times. Let's do the calculations. My place to Kellogg Auditorium in Battle Creek, door to door is 81 miles. A round trip makes that 162 miles. Multiply 162 by 3 and the total miles traveled for Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra rehearsals and concert equals 486 miles.
The Traverse Symphony Orchestra mileage begins like this, the distance between my place and Interlochen Center for the Arts (the orchestra performs in Corson Auditorium) is 241 miles. Make that a round trip and it becomes 482 miles. Oh yeah, travel is more for Battle Creek.
Wait!!!!!!! I forgot to calculate the times I went from my lodging to the rehearsals and concert for Traverse Symphony. Let me add that mileage to the total. Kingsley to Interlochen is 19 miles and a round trip equals 38 miles. I made that round trip two and a half times. I can tack on another 95 miles to my TSO trip. Therefore I get 482 plus 95 equalling 577 miles.
I actually thought that the Battle Creek cycle would beat out Traverse City cycle before I calculated it. And it does for those trips that go straight from home to venue. I will put the map on here for the visual comparison to last weeks TSO post.
The Traverse Symphony Orchestra mileage begins like this, the distance between my place and Interlochen Center for the Arts (the orchestra performs in Corson Auditorium) is 241 miles. Make that a round trip and it becomes 482 miles. Oh yeah, travel is more for Battle Creek.
Wait!!!!!!! I forgot to calculate the times I went from my lodging to the rehearsals and concert for Traverse Symphony. Let me add that mileage to the total. Kingsley to Interlochen is 19 miles and a round trip equals 38 miles. I made that round trip two and a half times. I can tack on another 95 miles to my TSO trip. Therefore I get 482 plus 95 equalling 577 miles.
I actually thought that the Battle Creek cycle would beat out Traverse City cycle before I calculated it. And it does for those trips that go straight from home to venue. I will put the map on here for the visual comparison to last weeks TSO post.
Monday, October 24, 2011
TSO: October Concert
I just returned from rehearsing and playing with the Traverse Symphony Orchestra. The concert was a great combination of Classical and Romantic Era styles. Although each rehearsal seemed like a battle between the instruments and those controlling them, the end result was quite pleasing. Yes, something was not quite working this time. It was as if half of the orchestra was either not trying or just having a really off weekend with music.
The surprising part about that is not that the rehearsals were extremely slow going, like slogging through the same ideas each time we came to them, but rather than we were playing Beethoven and Mozart (at least two of the pieces)! Straight forward music that has little if any tempo changes or rubato or anything of the like in it. Just "da da da da, da da da da" or "daaaa da da da da da, daaaa da da da da da" and it was all over the board. Counting seemed like a foreign concept to the orchestra, especially when came to sub division. Rushing through a dotted quarter note followed by five eighth notes is supposed to be only done by youth orchestras.
The Sibelius had it's own set of difficulties. It was like Bach's complex counterpoint. Each group of instruments had their own "melody" to play, and very different for the rest. Or each group of instruments would imitate the previous instrument that entered only a measure before. This happened straight from the beginning all the way to the end practically. It is as if Sibelius studied Bach's Art of the Fugue before writing his Symphony No. 1 and decided that he should do that too. Only his harmonies, sonorities and rhythms would be Romantic in nature.
In the end TSO did a good job, but the lack of counting and the conductor's ever mounting frustration of having to mention it every time we came back to rehearse those things was disturbing. The orchestra really can play well. There must have been something strange in the air this time. Hopefully that's the case. Oh, I almost forgot the soloists. The flute and harp players were great. Mozart wrote a master piece in this concerto for flute and harp. The soloists obviously had rehearsed until they knew every note, phrase, sound, dynamic, rest, nuance and interaction with the orchestra. They were a treat to listen to.
The surprising part about that is not that the rehearsals were extremely slow going, like slogging through the same ideas each time we came to them, but rather than we were playing Beethoven and Mozart (at least two of the pieces)! Straight forward music that has little if any tempo changes or rubato or anything of the like in it. Just "da da da da, da da da da" or "daaaa da da da da da, daaaa da da da da da" and it was all over the board. Counting seemed like a foreign concept to the orchestra, especially when came to sub division. Rushing through a dotted quarter note followed by five eighth notes is supposed to be only done by youth orchestras.
The Sibelius had it's own set of difficulties. It was like Bach's complex counterpoint. Each group of instruments had their own "melody" to play, and very different for the rest. Or each group of instruments would imitate the previous instrument that entered only a measure before. This happened straight from the beginning all the way to the end practically. It is as if Sibelius studied Bach's Art of the Fugue before writing his Symphony No. 1 and decided that he should do that too. Only his harmonies, sonorities and rhythms would be Romantic in nature.
In the end TSO did a good job, but the lack of counting and the conductor's ever mounting frustration of having to mention it every time we came back to rehearse those things was disturbing. The orchestra really can play well. There must have been something strange in the air this time. Hopefully that's the case. Oh, I almost forgot the soloists. The flute and harp players were great. Mozart wrote a master piece in this concerto for flute and harp. The soloists obviously had rehearsed until they knew every note, phrase, sound, dynamic, rest, nuance and interaction with the orchestra. They were a treat to listen to.
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