Live Music

[audiogirl]

Thanks, Shap. I've lurked from time to time, but something kept going wrong with my log-in, and I got out of the B.com habit.

[piqaboo]

How old is little Altoid now?

Hello audiogirl! How's by you?

According to Altoid's 1st grade teacher yesterday, Altoid's 21. According to the calendar, its closer to 6.

[Shapley]

... and I got out of the B.com habit.

It's gotten quieter here since the loss of the free stream, I'm afraid. Several of us have migrated to facebook, but the conversations there aren't as satisfying as they are here.

There is a Beethoven.com page on facebook, if you get on facebook, but it's kind of quiet, too.

I need to post there every now and then, just to keep it coming up on my status, so others will see it, but I keep forgetting.

[Sir Stewart]

i kind of got out of the b.com habit myself !!

[Giant Communist Robot]

In a post on another thread I mentioned our local symphony often cannot pay its' members; yesterday their bankruptcy hearing allowed them to sell off all their assets. Some other cities have endowments that generate enough money to pay orchestras during hard times. Honolulu did not. I understand San Diego and some other cities went through this already.

We don't even have a classical music station here, unless you consider Rod Stewart "classic."

[Shapley]

The St. Louis Symphony has a great line-up this weekend:

Schubert - Symphony No. 2
Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No. 2
Beethoven - Symphony No. 7

Hopefully, the weather will not keep me away.

Mahler's 2nd is scheduled in April, and Carmina Burana in May.

[Schmeelkie]

We had to miss the OrKIDStra presentation of Bugs Bunny at the Orchestra as the stomach flu hadn't cleared the house yet. We were able to turn in our tickets (thanks to my folks who were able to pick them up from us and drop them off when they went to the concert), so, as we already have 4 tickets for each of the rest of the OrKIDStra concerts this season, I'll be scanning the schedule for something for the hubby and I to see! Missed Beethoven's 5th last weekend, and probably won't be able to go to anything else until March as my mom's having some surgery in early Feb and I don't want to ask her to watch the kids... Anyway, last year the 'Red White and Boom' was free for kids, so we'd only need to save two tickets for that. Just would be nice to go to a grown-up concert. Haven't done that since pre-kids...

[Trumpetmaster]

The St. Louis Symphony has a great line-up this weekend:

Schubert - Symphony No. 2
Shostakovich - Piano Concerto No. 2
Beethoven - Symphony No. 7

Hopefully, the weather will not keep me away.

Mahler's 2nd is scheduled in April, and Carmina Burana in May.

GREAT PROGRAM!!!!!!

Enjoy!!!!

[piqaboo]

Turandot opening night this weekend.
OT is a temple guard this time, instead of one of the poor teeming masses as in years past.

Motionless, and stern, for hours.

[Haggis@wk]

Who Cares?

This morning, I thought of something that an insider once told me about the New York Philharmonic. I was inquiring about spiraling costs in the music business — also about why we don’t really have recordings or radio broadcasts anymore. A big part of the answer, of course, is the unions: killing or suppressing music, as they kill or suppress so much else. This insider said, “Don’t think of the Philharmonic as an orchestra. Think of them as Local 802.”

[Shapley]

I travelled to St. Louis yesterday afternoon to hear the St. Louis Symphony perform Tchaikowski's 6th Symphony. They opened with Vaughn Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, which was well played and well received. This was followed by a piece by Stephen Mackey which, though roundly applauded, drew a few winces from those members of the audience that did not sleep through it. I was impressed by watching the tympanist perform by dropping what appeared to be a golf ball onto the tympany and letting it bounce for an apparently set length of time, a technique I had never seen before. Is this a normal thing? Overall, the piece was capably performed, I just havent' figured out why...

After the intermission, the Pathetique was performed. Mr. Robertson came on stage before the performance and explained that it was permissible to applaud after the third movement, as this was the norm in Tchaikowski's era and that, even though they lecture St. Louis audiences repeatedly not to do it, they were given a reprieve for this performance.

This reprieve is understandable, given that the real 'fire' of the work is found in the third movement, with the fourth being rather anticlimactic. As usual, the St. Louis Symphony did a great job of performing.

[Shapley]

Yesterday, The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra performed Mahler's Symphony No. 2. I had the pleasure of attending.

They opened the concert with a short piece: Barber's Cantata Prayers of Kierkegaard. I was not familiar with it, but it was enjoyable, and well performed.

The Mahler was outstanding. I did find myself drifting off to sleep during the second movement (most embarassing!), but a quick elbow to the ribs from my son brought me around, and I was able to enjoy the rest of the movement and of the symphony.

I have to admit being puzzled when members of the brass and percussion wandered offstage during the fifth movement. I have heard the work performed on LP and CD, but never live, so it had not occurred to me that the horns and tympani were actually offstage during part of that work. The effect was impressive.

A very enjoyable performance, and a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

This was the last of my concert series for this year. The symphony has a few more concerts scheduled for the year, including Tchaikovski's Piano Concert No. 1, and Orff's Carmina Burana, but I do not know if I'll be able to attend any of them.

Bach's B-Minor Mass is on schedule for next year, and I'm hoping to be able to attend that one.

[piqaboo]

Saw Der Rosencavalier lezten wochenende.
Enjoyed it. Nothing to hum along with, interestingly - essentially without arias.
The story is not a huge tragedy, so its not surprising it doesnt get performed more.
There are lots of sightgags written into the show, and ably performed they were.
OT was quite saddened to see how much fun he wasnt having (he had been cast as one of Count Och's drunken servants, but had to give up the show due to illness).

[Shapley]

Hopefully, OT will be fully recoverd and ready for the next performance when it comes around!

[piqaboo]

Thanks.
Next season will be interesting. Most of the operas have small choruses, and a new person will be doing the auditions.
Meanwhile, he is back to tuning pianos, which is nice.

[Shapley]

I've still not made it to a live opera. It's on my 'bucket list'

The St. Louis Opera Theatre is offering

Don Giovanni
The Daughter of the Regiment
Pelléas and Mélisande
The Death of Klinghoffer

The Winter Opera has wrapped up their season.

The Union Avenue Opera starts in July. They are offering:
Puccini
Turandot
July 8, 9, 15, 16
Rossini
La Cenerentola (Cinderella)
July 29, 30 Aug 6, 7M
Heggie
Dead Man Walking
August 19, 20, 26, 27

So there's plenty of opera here, it's just a matter of getting up there to see it.

[barfle]

I just discovered that Morton Subotnick (an electronic composer/musician) will be having a free concert next Wednesday night at the University of Maryland.

Subotnick's style is sort of like Philip Glass, but a bit freer, if that doesn't scare you away. I bought three of his albums in the 1970s and think they're great fun. It should be a blast, considering there's going to be a light show along with it. Flashbacks, here I come!