Skip to main content

From One Extreme to Another

So over the weekend I was in Philadelphia, and Paul Hamilton and I performed CHROMA on a new-ish concert series at the Delaware County Community College.  It was  a lovely little venue with a great piano and a perfect video setup, and I had a wonderful time chatting with the nice audience afterwards.  The presenter suggested that we take questions at the end of the program, and as always I really enjoyed talking about the oboe, and the circular breathing, and the terrific music we played and the beautiful video presentation Paul created for us.  



Here's a sample of the fun we had -

My life seems to swing from one extreme to another.  From featured soloist to invisible accompanist.  Next weekend in South Bend we are playing four, count ’em four piano concertos.  Mozart 21, Prokofiev 1, Rachmaninov 2, and Chopin something-or-other.  It will be fun, I’m sure - I like to play - and no doubt the soloists will be top-notch.  (Here's the Tribune article about the great Toradze studio)

I can’t believe I’m about to admit this, but I’m not a huge fan of the piano concerto genre.  There are some great pieces, of course, and audiences seem to love watching the fingers fly, but I often find the experience a little tedious. It’s hard to hear the soloist from the ensemble, because the piano lid funnels the sound outward, away from us.   And I sit right in the middle of the orchestra, completely hidden behind that same piano lid, so the work I am doing is totally unseen, if not irrelevant. 

This concert will certainly be terrific.  I am looking forward to it.   I will have a good time.  This is not my favorite program of the season, but I am lucky to be able to do what I do.   It is  delightful to have so much variety in my career.  Every week is different, and I absolutely welcome that. 

Details are HERE. 

Comments

  1. dimkordMay 3, 2012 at 11:40 PM

    Thanks for the “sampling” Jennet, I am sorry I couldn’t make it to Philadephia
    For CHROMA. But I will be at the S.B.Symphony Saturday,(craning to catch a glipse of your oboe).
    I see what you mean about the piano lid. On your second concert at the De Bartolo the only seat I could get was behind and above the orchestra, and there I was hoping you’d turn around a bit to better hear your oboe. It had been along time since I sat up there and I had forgotten the distortions.
    Keep up the good work.Dimitri

    ReplyDelete
  2. JennetMay 5, 2012 at 5:54 PM

    Thanks, Dimitri! I always appreciate your support!
    Jennet

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownNovember 3, 2016 at 1:12 PM

    good

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Blog has MOVED

 Have you been waiting ... and waiting ... and WAITING for a new Prone Oboe post?  Don't wait here anymore!  The blog has moved to https://jennetingle.com/prone-oboe/  and will not be updated here on Blogger anymore.  Please come and check me out there!  I love you all - stay safe out there!  Jennet
Post a Comment
Read more

How Do You WISH You Could Describe Your Reeds?

In Reed Club last Monday, we took a moment before we started scraping to set some intentions.  We each said one word - an adjective to describe what we WANTED our reeds to be.  An aspirational adjective. Efficient was a word that came up, and Consistent . Dark and Mysterious . Mellow . Predictable .  Trustworthy .  Honest .  BIGGER . Reed affirmations actually felt helpful - both in the moment and in the results we found as we worked.  I don't know why that surprises me - I set intentions at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the month, at the beginning of a run, in the morning before I work.  I love a good affirmation.  I love WORDS.  But I'd sort of forgotten about the possibility of applying one to the mundane work of reed-making.   You don't have to know exactly how to GET to that result.  But having clarity in your mind about what that result is?  Helps you to stop going down unhelpful rabbit holes...
2 comments
Read more

On the generosity of Instagram practice accounts

Classical musicians are trained to make it perfect. To make all the notes correct, to make it sound like the CD, to do it the way everyone else has done it. The only way to shine is to be BETTER - which means cleaner, more in tune, more perfect. We DO NOT SHIP until it’s perfect, which is why so many people struggle with performance anxiety and stage fright. Live is scary because you can’t control how perfect it is. But here’s what the kids are doing, over on Instagram. They are making “practice accounts” and sharing their work in progress. They are sharing snippets of pieces, little technical etudes, minute-long snatches of what is happening. They are sharing the messy middle. The first magic in this is that the process of recording yourself, listening to what you’re doing, making judgements for yourself about what is good ENOUGH to share, trying again to make the snippet REPRESENT where you are in the journey - that PROCESS is making you better. The second magic is that seeing your ...
Post a Comment
Read more