CSO

I've written about Evgeny Kissin before here, specifically about his appearances with the CSO at Symphony Center. 3 years ago, these were some of the comments I heard after his performance:

"That's scary." "There's just no one like that." "Do you think he does anything else?" "That look in his eyes, that explains it." "This is the best I've heard." "I'll remember this one for years."

I went on to describe how he earned these comments:

I was reminded today while teaching a lesson just how much of a difference it makes to practice with the same kind of sound you will make in performance. This sounds obvious, but most people from time to time will begin to "slow practice". This usually means playing a passage divorced from all musical meaning and timing. The sound is often of a shockingly low quality, either wispy or scratchy; the posture slouched; the tempo pushed and pulled to suit the convenience of the moment.

This week's program at the CSO is the standard overture, concerto, intermission, standard... except that the concerto, far from being a warhorse, is the Penderecki Concerto Grosso for 3 cellos. Our maestro for the week, Charles Dutoit, commissioned the piece ten years ago, and has been touring with it since then. Three of our cellists, John Sharp, Katinka Kleijn and Ken Olsen tackled it for the first time in rehearsal this afternoon, and it may end up the highlight of the show. They sound great, and the piece is well written for the cello.

and we still have the equivalent of a Bruckner symphony to play in the second half! Can my back/shoulder/brain survive? Maybe this diet Coke will help?

This week's singers are great, and the music is beautiful, which is really all you can ask for. This one would probably be fun to follow from the audience, lengthy though it is, because of its Old Testament story. There are great moments of drama, all wrapped in a sound that's somewhere between the 18th and 19th centuries.

The bell has rung, time to go do it!

Today's Bruckner, the second of four (of the 7th!) reminded me how different the same piece feels less than 24 hours later! A bit more relaxed, dare I say sleepy? Perhaps that's why Esa-Pekka injected a little extra juice into the opening of the first piece on the program, Wagner's Meistersinger overture?

It's been quite a quarter since my last entry, from the almost-mystical date of Oct. 10, '10!  Just 4 days before, I had won a job in the Los Angeles Philharmonic.  It was a strange day, one that I spent mostly alone, and one that's had a major effect on all of our days since then.  And now finally, Akiko and I will be moving to LA once I join them as First Associate Concertmaster on the equally auspicious date of July 4.

was one nickname for the late George Plimpton, journalist extraordinaire who wrangled major-league experience in a number of fields:  boxing, baseball, football, and even music!  Plimpton joined the percussion section of the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein for one month, then wrote about his experience.  Here's an excerpt from a Time Magazine interview about that month:

how could I forget to post?  First, the sextets.  Znaider is a wonderful player, which was true not only in our chamber concert but in his Beethoven concerto with the CSO later in the week.  He was also a gracious colleague and compelling leader.  We had two rehearsals, and that was just about right.  Not enough for too many cans of worms to be opened, but enough to smooth most rough edges.  We reversed the program order, so Schoenberg was first and Brahms B-flat the closer.  This was a good move, I think, because even for a short program like this, concentration and stamina become factors

for tomorrow's 7:30 PM Donor Appreciation concert on stage at Symphony Center.  Nikolaj Znaider is in town to lead the sextets (Schoenberg's Verklarte Night and Brahms' B-flat) and we have our first meeting this afternoon.  Should be a great time, as sextets usually are!