February 2009 Archives

My friend arrived looking so cold Friday morning before the Coffee Concert I thought he might cry.

From a colleague who has been close to rehearsals this week (Lizst Les Preludes, Dvorak Piano Concerto with Garrick Ohlsson, Saint-Saens "Organ" Symphony, Jun Markl conducting): "The music is beautiful. The orchestra is happy...."

She didn't say "ooh la la," but it felt like that.

Thank you to all who wrote kudos for yesterday's post. I've requested a number of musicians and staff who are part of the Facebook universe to submit their own 25 random thoughts on the SLSO, and we'll await what may appear. Meanwhile, Allison, a member of the Saint Louis Symphony Chorus, sent me three of her 25 random thoughts about herself--the three that are pertinent to the subject at hand. They are:

With the recent Facebook fad in mind, and with the understanding that in the e-world that fad has probably already passed, here are 25 random thoughts about the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra:

Here is a shout out to Tilden Attendance Center, which brought 63 schoolchildren to Powell for the morning Kinder Konzert. Tilden is a K-4 school in southern Illinois, about 70 miles from St. Louis. The Dean, Jerenda Aitken, told me the school received an $800 grant from Target to attend the concert. The Target grant was specifically created so schools could "take the classroom on the road," Ms. Aitken said, "and to encourage cultural events." Tilden applied for the grant in the fall and was one of 5,000 schools nationwide to receive it. Way to go, Tilden! Way to go, Target!

This morning I chose not to take part in the ritual beating of the piano cover. Sorry, it was just too cold outside for me. But the Henchmen report that a piano cover gets very, very dirty just sitting there protecting the integrity of the instrument.

I hope this is a harbinger of spring.

Busloads of schoolchildren have been coming to Powell this week. Each morning students of various age groups from around the region have been listening to the SLSO play Mozart and Berlioz and Dukas and John Williams, with Ward Stare conducting. I arrived backstage as one school group was getting a tour of the hall. They were packed in the small space and I slowly waded through them as they gazed at the less-attractive side of the glamorous life--an essential part of any arts education.

A few of us around the hall, and I'm sure many of you who are SLSO fans, were slightly amused at the combination of events at Powell this last weekend: a requiem on Valentine's Day, a memorial service for Randy Adams Sunday morning followed by the Broadway Valentine program of Gershwin and Bernstein showstoppers Sunday afternoon.

A member of the Saint Louis Symphony Chorus writes:

Verdi's Requiem requires a big bass drum, played in this weekend's concerts by Will James, but the score doesn't specify just one bass drum. So, Wednesday afternoon Mike Lynch was placing yet another bass drum on stage, per David Robertson's instructions, and because St. Louis is a double bass drum town when it comes to Requiems.

At the first Verdi Requiem rehearsal this morning (Wednesday), David Robertson began, "It's always good to start with the end of the world," and the orchestra took off into the fiery abyss. Thrilling.

Ta da! Check out the press release on the 2009-2010 SLSO season here. 

And you can watch David Robertson and Fred Bronstein explain it all to you on HEC-TV, Tuesday night, February 10, from 5:30-6:30pm, live from the Powell Hall stage via Charter Channel 26, AT&T U-verse Channel 99 or from anywhere in the world on HECTV.org.

I'll be the one skulking stage left.

An SLSO fan writes:

"Ever since the 08-09 season was announced, I had been looking forward to the past weekend's concerts. I have several recordings of the Elgar Concerto and have always wanted to hear Danny [Lee] play it. I have to tell you he was AWESOME!!! His performance was better than the legendary recording by Jacqueline du Pré. The Tchaikovsky was outstanding too, but hearing Danny do the Elgar was something that I'll NEVER forget. For those music lovers who were not in attendance, I must extend my condolences, they missed one of the best SLSO concerts ever."

A quiet, chilly morning in the Lou. I'm backstage in search of blog fodder. A few musicians are on stage gearing up for a morning of Tippett and Tchaikovsky, the eternally calming sound of Frances Tietov's harp murmuring through the hall, and George Berry (principal bassoon) comes up, "Hey, Eddie, have you heard of Antony and the Johnsons?"

The orchestra plays Cape Girardeau, Missouri tonight (Tuesday), the Bedell Performance Hall on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University. Berlioz, Strauss and Brahms, Ward Stare conducting.

I used to live a few miles down the road from Punxsutawney Phil, but never made the pilgrimage for the annual forecast--pancakes and a rodent's shadow are not enough to get me up that early in the morning.