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03-23-2024, 11:38 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-23-2024, 11:39 PM by Drunk Monk.)
Festival (not to be confused with Bob Weir’s horrid song of the same name).
Some prelude - I’ve been trying to titrate my Rx, mostly my nortriptylene because I hate being on so many meds. I reduced my daily nortrip to 6 days out of seven, but it hit me in the ass today. That intense shoulder pain, my post Covid hell that sent me to the ER and had me bedridden for several days flared - something I thought I conquered but no. So I wasn’t in a great mood for this concert. I dropped some painkillers from my stash before the show to make it through. Between that and constantly having to suck ricolas to stifle my metformin induced cough, I was far from comfortable.
Jose Granero: Matsuri Overture
There were percussionists set up on both sides of the orchestra armed with taiko drums which they barely played. Seemed like a lot of work to truck those bad boys out and only use them for a few beats, but symphony can be like that. It was a peppy piece, but felt a tad chinoiserie to me.
Schumann: Cello Concerto
A fine cello soloist and a lovely yet middling piece. I enjoyed the cello and strings overall, but it wasn’t overly moving.
Stravinsky: Petrushka
This is a ridiculous piece of music that kept going different places - so much so that I was engaged trying to guess what might happen next. It’s a ballet about a puppet who becomes real, but it reminded me of a dozen different soundtracks - soundtrack composers must just love to poach ideas from this work. I was reminded of Disney’s fairyland, John Wayne movies, and even the jaws theme at one point. And then it just ends. Still very enjoyable.
I think this is my last in the series. There’s another - Bach - which I’m sad to miss but it falls on the same date at TCEC so I’m out. Stacy will find another date.
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Went to the rehearsal last night. Sat in the front row. Walked there during the last of the sunset. Walked home as the rain began. It was very pleasant.
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Another rehearsal night. Symphony Shakespeare is a coproduction with SC Shakes. They’re doing shakes themed pieces with shakes actors framing it with bits of dialog. Shakes & Symph - 2 of my fav things. Anna Cline’s Sound and Fury was from Macbeth so they did the Boil boil toil & trouble dialog. The went through the first movement straight. That was great. Then they started Mendelson’s Midsummer’s night dream but only got part of the way through before they took a break. I left then because I was hungry. Skipped Romeo & Juliet.
I was seated at the stage left side last seat on the front row, right next to the percussion. And the xylophone was majorly featured, as well as some tubular bells. Twas a very pleasant Friday eve.
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Mozart's Requiem
If you've seen Amadeus, you know the mythology behind Mozart's final work. We had planned to go to the rehearsal but they moved it from Friday to Thursday and neither of us could make it, so we splurged and got tix at the last minute, way up in the nosebleed seats on stage left. However, the Civic is a small venue so it was still good. The place was sold out tight.
The fist set began with Björk's Overture to Dancer in the Dark - a three minute piece that did nothing for me, as much as I love her. Sounded more like a warm up. Then there was a piece by SCS's conductor, Daniel Stewart, Lux Perpetua. That was cool to see him conduct that and get into it. The piece didn't move me beyond that. Third was the final performance of the Cabrillo Symphonic Chorus's director Cheryl Andersen, who is retiring after a 35 year career with the college. That was awesome. The chorus was passionate, rising to the historic occasion.
Requiem is epic from every angle. Four guest artists took on the singing solos, and the soprano, Savoy, simply dominated with her commanding voice. I have a soft spot for any choral symphonic arrangement - this, Beethoven's 9th, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. I love when 150 people unite their voices with an orchestra. And SCS did Requiem masterfully. It's amazing that such a modest town as ours has sucha powerhouse of classical music.
Twas a fun night. It was a 5-10 min drive from home and we found parking within a block.
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There was only about one good song on the Dancer in the Dark soundtrack, a duet with Thom Yorke called "I've Seen It All."
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There must be some Bjork energy in the air...I just started to the Bjork: Sonic Symbolism podcast. Each episode delves into an album and she talks about the music, and where she was at the time. It's very interesting if you like the Song Exploder type podcasts and explains some of the reasons why Vespartine and Medulla are such departures.
There's only slight mention of Dancer in the dark in passing...
--tg
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05-07-2025, 01:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-07-2025, 01:15 PM by Drunk Monk.)
(05-07-2025, 12:49 PM)thatguy Wrote: There must be some Bjork energy in the air...
Dropping today...
(03-29-2025, 06:29 PM)Drunk Monk Wrote: björk : cornucopia
I saw bjork during my AFS/Warfiled years. It was her first US tour, right after Human Emotion dropped. She was incredible - a tiny woman with a massive voice - up there in my top concert experiences.
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We were both mourning the loss of Tassajara Zendo and grappling with taxes all day so we took a break to catch the symphony rehearsal downtown. They’re doing Amadeus in cahoots with the Cabrillo choir and Santa Cruz Shakespeare. Live actors do scenes from the movie as the orchestra & choir do the music. It was grand. Amadeus is one of my all time fav films. I don’t know how many times I’ve watched it. I’ve even seen a live theatrical play from San Jose Rep. As a mediocre writer, Salieri resonates. Seeing it with a live orchestra is the way to go. Highlights of some of the most beautiful symphonic pieces ever. Tempted to get tix but we can’t swing thst right now with our taxes and Yuki’s med schedule. But at least we got a taste. And the rehearsal was packed, almost as full as a real concert. We remember when we first started attending rehearsals and there was like 2 dozen people there. But still, it’s free orchestral music - how can we resist?
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Tickets on stage left behind the percussion. This performance was nearly sold out. I gifted Stacy tix to this last xmas. It was so good that we are contemplating investing in season tix next time.
Carnival Overture, Antonin Dvorak - As the title implies, this was bombastic symphonic circus music. It was a loud audacious start by Daniel Stewart was having a blast conducting it. Woke us up.
Khaenoncerto for khaen and orchestra, Jaron Lanier. There was actually 2 by Lanier - this and another short piece. Both were canons, which for those of you who don't know, means a repeated music phrase overlapping each other - think row, row, row your boat. The first piece was based on some music on the cover of Scientific American. I don't remember all the context but it was explained. The second piece was based on a khaen, which for those of you who don't know, is a traditional Laotian mouth organ made from bamboo. It has a slightly discordant sound, reminiscent of a bastard half of bagpipes and a pan flute. Lanier was there, a white dreadlock dressed in a Cruz clown suit that he claimed he bought downtown several decades ago and had never worn until today. I was dismissive of him because he came off kinda goofy when he spoke, but it turns out he's the guy who coined the term 'virtual reality' and is considered one of the top 25 influencers in tech.
The #9, one of my fav symphony's of all. It was the first Ludwig Van that I fell in love with, and I confess it was due to Wendy (then Walter) Carlos' soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange. Everyone knows the 5th, at least the first 4 notes. The 2nd and 4th movement of the 9th are so beautiful, and that opened me up to all of Beethoven's symphonies. 9 is still the best, but I'm very partial to 3. It's rare for me to say this but we were too close to the kettle drums, which overwhelmed the delicacy of the 2nd movement. Stay and I debated about whether he missed a few beats. We both agreed that the symphony was fumbling in the 1st but rallied in the 2nd and rose to the challenges of the piece delivering many fine moments throughout the rest. The 5 standing basses were on the opposite side of the pit, but they faced us so their sound was turned up. Nothing like the depth and warmth of 5 basses. Baritone soloist Edward Tavalin killed it. We had a yoga friend in the chorus which was nearly 200 people strong. A joyous sound. as Ode to Joy should be.
Bravo.
Going from EDM on Friday to #9 on Saturday was a massive ear gear shift. Such a blessed weekend.
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Wait, isn't Jaron Lanier virtual reality visionary from the 1980's?
(Checks internet...)
Yes, he is!
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I had no idea who he was. Like I said, I kinda blew him off at the show. He just struck me like your typical Cruzian clown. I shouldn't be so judgmental, lest I become like Greg.
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(5 hours ago)Drunk Monk Wrote: I had no idea who he was. Like I said, I kinda blew him off at the show. He just struck me like your typical Cruzian clown. I shouldn't be so judgmental, lest I become like Greg.
He used to come in to Tower Books pretty regularly when I worked there. Not a lot of white guys with dreads back then.
--tg
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