April 2007 Archives

From a conversation with David Robertson about the February 3-5, 2006 program “Mourning”:

Mstislav Rostropovich passed away in Moscow today. I looked up his performance history with the SLSO:

This morning guest conductor Robert Spano began rehearsal with a long moment of silence in honor of one-year-old Eliot Roosa, who died yesterday, and his father and mother, Greg Roosa and Amy Jo Rhine. Greg has played with the SLSO as a member of the horn section since 2003. Amy plays frequently with the orchestra as an extra horn.

Until tomorrow

“We’re linked up!” Scott Parkman announced with a mixture of joy and relief following the third sold-out LinkUp! concert in as many seasons. It is hard enough to go before 90+ expert musicians and lead them through the William Tell Overture. It is something else to turn to a full house of school students from throughout the region, waiting eagerly for their cue to play their recorders. They’ve been waiting all year to do this.

My first day back and I received a couple of interesting emails from two SLSO fans who perceived two completely different concerts last weekend.

Overheard last night as two SLSO fans went out into the night with their signed Deborah Voigt CDs in their hands (by the way, she signs after Friday night’s concert too):

Last night during rehearsal, the following was overheard in the chorus after Deborah Voigt sang: “She has more power in her voice than the three of us put together.”

A colleague and chorus member who participated in last night’s rehearsal described Deborah Voigt: “She is a force of nature.”

For this week rehearsals are split between morning and evening. The orchestra rehearses during the day, then returns in the evening to rehearse with the guest vocalists and chorus, because singers only come out at night.

During spring break for the orchestra, parts of Powell Symphony Hall are getting a paint job, the Henchmen are hard at work with a stage extension to accommodate chorus, children’s chorus, orchestra and featured vocalists for the Britten War Requiem season finale, and we await the arrival of the great soprano Deborah Voigt, who will be with us next week to sing Richard Strauss, including the deliciously grotesque final scene from Salome.

I am taking a long weekend. My next post will be Tuesday, April 10.

On the bus to LaGuardia at the close of the Carnegie tour:

I mentioned Frances Tietov’s fun skirt made of ties, which she wore to the Saturday afternoon rehearsal at Carnegie Hall. I’ve learned that the skirt was made by associate principal double bass Carolyn White, who is one terrific seamstress with a passion for textiles. A self-described “fabric freak,” Carolyn has traveled to Asia and Europe and brought back the most wonderful materials.

As they say in Team America: “You’ve got to have a montage!”

At the close of Harmonielehre, when that tremendous storm of music reaches the most stunning silence in orchestral literature, what was left was the uproar of applause from the Carnegie audience, one that lasted and lasted and lasted. It was a night of music that was, from beginning to end, rare for its emotional and intellectual impact, sensational, as the best music brilliantly played can be. Hooray for our team.