I just had an urge to use that utterly whimsical title for no other reason other than to quote Kermit. And use the armadillo for some good reason. I had a few very, very strange dreams last night though. First, I was Data from Star Trek ungoing 'surgery' and then I was Vincent Valentine from FF7 undergoing "good surgery" [if you've played the game, you understand] and celebrating [I now want a Vincent Valentine birthday cake, and I think I have the means to do it], and then I had this weird blend of movie-making, dish washing, FFXIII, mad dogs, and Angela Lansbury.
And no, it's not the Vicodin I take before I go to bed. This is within the "normal" range of dreams for me; abnormal is nightmares.
I'm about halfway done with my first essay for my challenging professor's class; his compressed undergrad class was an utter bear, and given the fact I need to read about 20 books for his class alone this term, I'm bracing myself for many a late night and have accepted the fact I need new bookcases to house this coursework.
I'm also contemplating a new desk. I may go thrift for it, or I may buy new. Not sure yet. My study is still in the embryonic stages, but it will happen before fall semester is over.
Third night of the Baroque Festival tonight. Sort of hesitant due to work tomorrow and the schoolwork I need to do before then, but tonight will probably be the best. I can already tell the tickets has sold the best; the closest I could get to the stage was 10th row. I managed to get fifth row these past two concerts....I had wanted 8th row, which they would normally be, but they have put aside the front orchestra for these special nights, so I am closer than anticipated.
Anyone, last night was a different sort of concert from the usual. It started out with Purcell's Abdelazar, which was an assembly of the background music from the opera and the intermezzi music. It's British baroque, and the only example of it in the festival [Handel is a German who became an English citizen living in England who served a German English King - gotta love Queen Anne and the succession to Sophia of Hanover's line]. I like Brit Baroque, decidedly. Bach's Brandenberg Concerto IV had one of the violinists from the USSR (now Azerbaijan) and two of the flutists doing their thing. I couldn't help but notice how different this violinist was from the American I had seen the previous night (who seemed to be in pain and misery) or the Taiwanese gentleman (who seemed to just barely tolerate the American). He minimized movement. He could stand stock still with minimal shoulder movement; it was all in his elbow. I saw it when he was sitting as well; he wasn't hunched over like others. He sat back in his chair, legs relaxed, the only movement the hinge of his elbow as he drew the bow back and forth over the strings. Economy of movement, to use a Napoleonic war term, but it applies here. He also was wearing a tunic rather than a tux for his solo, which I always like. All the best violinists in FWSO seem to be either Taiwanese (our concertmaster and assistant/associate concertmaster are) or from the former USSR (Ukrainian or one of the other satellite states).
See kids, having overbearing parents who make you practice does pay off!!
Rameau was a vibrant and interesting; I can't quite describe it adequately, but I now desire to buy the work on CD if it's available. Les indes galantes was epic in terms of expanse of music covered -- from dirges to celebratory numbers.
The second half was Peruvian and Bolivian music from the Baroque music. However, it wasn't completely alien; they were European colonies at this point, so they did have violins and instruments parallel to a 'normal' orchestra. They did have guitars and other percussion instruments that are truly South American. They even had a guitar made from a frickin' dead armadillo. There was a dead armadillo onstage! I feel that the second half dragged on a bit too long, however. The first half was done in an hour, which sped by quickly, but the second half was an hour and a half of unfamiliar music -- always harder to sit through than fan favorites.
The first four compositions were South American sacred music. No problem; it had a choir and a solo soprano. Well done. Then there were two pieces that... just didn't work for me. They were written by anonymous authors, and while that is never an indicator of quality, they simply padded the performance a bit much for my tastes. The last two pieces had elements of spoken word, and those were much more of an interesting ride!
We have had classical South American music performed at FWSO many times before; the Caminos Del Inka organization specializes in it, and until this year, the conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya had integrated it into our symphonic season. It's been discontinued, simply put, because it is too hit or miss. There are purists that want their European/American classic music, period, endpoint. Others are more open to to wild and interesting sorts of music. I'm of the latter sort that will give anything a listen, but you will not succeed in making me sit through anything twice that I do not enjoy. I do like South American classical music, but because I "didn't feel like going", it was enough for me to skip last year's concert -- South American classical music has not really crossed over into the popular consciousness. And many exchanged tickets out of that concert. So it's not the FWSO's cashcow by any means.
Last night was fun, but as I said, two pieces could have gone and while the second half would have been shorter, I would have been able to sit through it easier. It's been the only concert I've ever had thought of sneaking out early. It was just dragging on so long. Despite sleeping til 1 yesterday, I was sleepy!
No comments:
Post a Comment