opera

September? You can have it

Sit down. Please don’t be mad, okay? But… I’m taking September off.

Yes, all of it. AB is almost four years old and in that time the longest vacation I’ve taken has been two weeks. In 2010. So – it’s time to refresh! Recover! Re-evaluate! Rejuvenate! Renew! Other words that begin with re-!

The concert season is only just beginning; make sure you check out the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, and Strathmore websites to keep abreast of the latest concerts and events.

If you’re feeling bereft without me (and who wouldn’t?) you’ve got almost four years of archives to investigate!

Or you could listen to this playlist over and over. It’s practically the same as hanging out with me.

He ain’t heavy, he’s my leitmotif

Only secret squadron members who have decoders can decode them.

Composer Cagematch! Round 3: Schubert vs. Respighi

JUST KIDDING. Apparently we’re fresh out of surprises ’round these here blogging parts. John Williams never stood a chance against Hindemith, who took the match with ease. And that is the right and proper order of things. Clearly.

So we can turn away from that fight with light hearts, only to get them all bogged down again with another age old question (except maybe not really, assuming we really are fresh out of surprises). Regardless, in this corner, he has nothing bad to say about Ives because really, good show, mein Herr! And really, if anyone can afford to be generous it’s

FRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANZ SCHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERT

And in this corner, he put the rah rah rah in opera! It’s

OOOOOOOTTOOOOOOOORIIIIIIINOOOOOOO REEEEEESPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

No, but actually, I like surprises. I do.

Me me me me (Carmen)

Um… hi. So… sorry about the whole going AWOL without notice thing last week. I was at a conference and had planned to throw you music jokes all week, but the work laptop I was given was so wildly ancient and ponderous to work with I just said the hell with it and went back to sulking about the San Francisco weather. Which is cold. If you didn’t know. Thanks to Matthew Hodge for rescuing me from what might have otherwise been a very lonely existence at the Wordfly party!

Anyway. Right. Apologies. Here’s a video to make it up to you. I think you’ll find it sufficient.

Robotic opera

Did I say the machines would never replace us? Oh, well, I suppose even I can be wrong sometimes.

Last week I bought myself a t-shirt that says “NERD” in giant letters across the front. It seemed only right.

“Vocal villainies all desire to shirk”

Hi guys! I’m back! And speaking of back, here’s two ways we’re going back in time today:

1. Two weeks ago I saw The Mikado at Wolf Trap and it was pretty awesome. I LOVE Gilbert and Sullivan.

2. So here’s one of my favorite songs from my second favorite G&S operetta, as performed at the Stratford Festival in 1982. If you were alive in 1982*, please try not to bump into your old self while you’re there – I hear it causes all kinds of fuzziness in the space-time continuum.

* I wasn’t!

Video Week: “Ooh, I’m pleasant”

You know, I think it’s high time YOU wrote a rock opera. I think you, too, owe it to society. Get on that. [Edited to add: video should be correct now.]

Problematic, indeed.

I didn’t realize it was an either/or proposition

Roundabout origin story for this post: I wanted to find something about the great Jimmy Stewart’s taste in classical music, because happy birthday, Jimmy Stewart! But I couldn’t. What I DID find was a clip of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland explaining, among other things, that you may like opera or you may like swing but you may NOT LIKE BOTH. As far as I know it’s not either of their birthdays but it will have to do. Hit it, kids!

Good Morning – Stereo – Opera vs. Jazz – Where or When – Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney from Great Movies on Vimeo.

“The only opera on earth that comes in the giant economy package”

Holy bejeezus, guys! Turns out I know the prelude to Das Rheingold!

I know, I know, that’s THREE videos down there, which is, oh, one hell of a time commitment, but seriously, guys, watch it. I was showing my parents some Victor Borge clips I’d found last night, and they told me about Anna Russell, and I looked this up and HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, that’s all I’m saying, y’know? And by the way, she’s your aunt.

The Little Concert Roundup

• This week the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra has Midori. Need I say more? I thought not, but I will anyway: she’s doing the Bartok violin concerto (praise be to God that it’s not the Mendelssohn!) and then the BSO follows it up with Brahms‘ first symphony. [Some pun about melon liqueur goes here.] April 25 & 26 at the Meyerhoff; April 27 at Strathmore. [ See it! ]
• The National Symphony Orchestra counters with a solo pianist: Andreas Haefliger taking on the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1. Plus Tchaikovsky‘s fourth symphony (the “Little Russian” if I’m remembering correctly) and did you know there’s a composer named Wagenaar? Did Wagner know about this? I feel like he would have sued. April 25 – 27. [ See it! ]
• This week at Strathmore: Jazz drumming; boogie-woogie piano; the Marian Anderson String Quartet. [ See the calendar! ]

If you’d like your concert included in next week’s roundup, leave a comment or drop me a line.