Saturday, January 13, 2007

random concerts and conversations

I finally got to see the LA Phil tonight! I had a lovely time with Jenny, Kim, and Julianne. We saw Mahler 7, with Esa-Pekka Salonen (who's kinda hot. am i allowed to say that? well, he is. plus i think i developed Finnish Fascination while working on my thesis last year). It was a good performance, though I didn't love the sound of the first clarinet or bassoon, especially compared to those I'm used to in Houston & Chicago. The oboe section sounded great, though. And the giant churchbells at the end were pretty cool. The piece didn't have as much emotional oomph as I would have liked, but I think that might be my reaction to the symphony, not the performance. Actually, maybe because the Webern didn't really involve emotions, I preferred its chrystalline performance. Anyway, I'm really glad I finally got to go.

The crappy Aspen tape has been mailed, but I have a lesson tomorrow and nothing to show for it (hi Allan, I went to the LA Phil last night instead of practicing?). I've been really frustrated lately, especially because I've been spending an exorbitant amount of time on reeds without any results. Maybe Allan will set things right.

It was good to have quintet again, and Wind Ensemble wasn't so bad because there are mainly chamber pieces and a several good people in the rotation. I'll need to practice the parts a bit, though. Playing with Lot is fun, though I'm having issues sitting next to someone else playing English horn solos. At least I'll be playing Galadriel with Debut very soon.

Missing someone still. As always.

Odd that I mentioned Gustavo Dudamel the other day, because today on line at the post office I had a long conversation with an older Korean gentleman about him, and the Venezuelan youth orchestra system, and how nice it would be if we could implement that system, or part of it, here. It was a nice surprise to have a conversation with someone who actually knew and appreciated classical music, and didn't ask what an oboe was (he commented on my backpack, which I explained was actually an oboe case).

Well, I guess that's all. Goodnight!

1 comment:

Winifred said...

Esa-Pekka is totally hot.