Via Sequencia

God bless the iPhone

Just updated my iPhone to version 2.0. Can now blog from my iPhone. My calendars now all sync properly. I am now, for the first time since buying this lovely phone, able to do all I want to do with it. Gregory, dear, I am finally without any disappointment. I'm giddy really!

5+++ Sequencia Stars

Magical Moments Musical

For the past twelve summers, I've had BPI, that wonderful fortnight where dreams are made and musicians find rebirth in a new—or rather old—way of doing things. For me, the magic was in finding the fortepiano after years of frustration as a pianist; then, in subsequent summers, finding myself as a full-fledged harpsichordist and organist. In other words, I have BPI, along with its brilliant and encouraging faculty, to thank for my renaissance as a musician.

While every summer in Oberlin has its own special magic, there are isolated moments for all of us individually that are exceptionally memorable. Some of those moments for me, of course, have been my own personal successes in performing; but today I'm interested only in a handful of magical moments of which I was only an observer. These four experiences I will carry with me forever:

• Die schöne Mullerin. A few years ago, my dear friends and colleagues, Max van Egmond, baritone, and Penelope Crawford, fortepianist, collaborated on performances and a recording of Franz Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Mullerin. The BPI community that summer had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of hearing these two amazing musicians perform the cycle in an early afternoon recital. Making the experience even more memorable was Penny's Conrad Graf fortepiano (c. 1835), which she had brought with her that summer for the sole purpose of playing this recital with Max.
• Weinachts Oratorio. During another summer, one of BPI's Bach years, I had the privilege of hearing my beloved Incontesta sing "Schlafe, mein Liebster" from J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio on the faculty concert. It was hands down some of his most beautiful singing and a moment I will never forget. An added bonus was that I was sitting with our dear Florence, who held my hand as we both cried through the entire aria.
• C.P.E. Bach Cello Concerto. Within the last couple of years, Catharina Meints wowed us all with a spectacular performance on another faculty concert with C.P.E. Bach's Concerto for Cello, Strings and Basso Continuo. Cathy's playing has always impressed me, but on this particular day, her playing was transcendent.
• Goldberg Variations. Again, a number of years ago, Lisa Goode Crawford, harpsichordist, took us all to that otherworldly place with a performance of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations. That same summer, she recorded the work. Much to my delight, the recording was released this year.

Moments like these are rare. I can only imagine the other magical moments musical that have occurred during the 25 years of BPI before I started attending. Many of my friends there who have been at the institute for many of those previous 25 years have similar stories to tell, I'm sure.

This summer, however, I shared a moment with two dear friends, which must join my list above. All of the above moments were very public events. This one was much more private. At the end of a voice lesson that my friend Nancy Zylstra, soprano, was giving to Florence, I began playing Schubert's "Gretchen am Spinnrade." As I began playing, Nancy began singing. What's remarkable about this is that Nancy hasn't sung in years. She stopped singing before I really got to know her about 15 years ago. But Nancy's voice was legendary. It was a sad day for all when she stopped. Well, she and I performed the song for our audience of one, Florence. When we finished, Florence's hands were over her mouth and tears began to well up in my eyes . . . and then in Nancy's. Her singing was powerful, beautiful, and very moving. I always thought I would never get to hear her sing. That evening changed all that. Thank you, Nancy, for my latest (and one of my most memorable) BPI moments. Please keep singing! 

Sweeney Todd, the Movie

Sweeney Todd is arguably Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece. I would most heartedly agree with that sentiment. I was lucky enough to see it on the stage in a Lyric Opera of Chicago production a few years ago and I also saw, of course, the televised production with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn—both wonderful experiences.

So when I heard Tim Burton was directing a movie version with those oh-so-well-known-for-their-singing-talents actors Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman, I was a skeptical. I could immediately see them acting the roles, but would that be enough?

When it comes to movies, I always try to accept them for what they are. This was no exception. I was determined to enjoy it, even if it didn't live up to the standard of the original work. And to my happy surprise, with the exception of the obviously missing chorus and one of its best parts of the show, "Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd," I loved the movie! And at least the beginning music of the movie (and the end music) included an orchestral arrangement of that chorus, so it wasn't completely lost. And I really loved the cast . . . all the way around.

Yes, I hear you purists out there. The singing wasn't what we're used to. And Sasha Baron Cohen wasn't vocally at all what we've come to know and love as Pirelli. But I say, so what? I loved his characterization.

For those fainthearted of you purists out there, the violence which is somewhat removed from the audience in the stage show is most indubitably not removed in the movie. Can you say gory? From arterial spurts of blood to corpses slamming onto a concrete slab two stories below, it's quite a horror show. Kudos to Tim Burton for adding his amazing touch. And hurray to the whole project for keeping the integrity of the story intact.

So . . . be sure to see this before it's gone. I'm sure it will lose something on the small screen, no matter how big your plasma TV and surround sound system is.

5 Sequencia Stars

In Praise of the MacBook Pro

I have found myself over the years to be somewhat attracted to Macintosh® computers, but like the loyal husband, I have always remained faithful to my first computing partner, the PC.

I remember the 8088, that old clunky thing from the 80s, then the AT, then the 386, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.  My God, that seems so long ago! I also remember my friend Keith telling me—when I was preparing to purchase my first computer in 1990—that I would never fill a 20 megabyte hard drive, and he was curious why I felt the need to spend the extra dough on the 40 meg option available on the AST® I was looking to buy. Never fill 20 megs? The only reason he never filled a hard drive was because he wasn't an avid collector of "art photos" like I was destined to become. Of course, they were only available through the news groups back then. Oh, the hours I wasted invested downloading!

Over the years, I have enjoyed my computing journey. DOS® to Windows® (what a day that was for me!). And now we find ourselves with Vista®. Hmmm... I have yet to see it. I've only heard horror stories. I loved every time WordPerfect® would release a new version. Those were the glory days for me. I knew every keyboard shortcut there was to know. Ah, the memories!

Well, after the aforementioned horror stories I'd heard about Vista®, I was prepared to stick with XP® for as long as I could. Then one day, while Incontesta and I least expected it, one of his students came to a lesson with his brand new MacBook Pro, and I instantly fell in love. And to my complete surprise, so did Incontesta. He turned to me and asked, "Would you like to go by the Apple® store after lessons?" If my teeth were fake, they'd have fallen right out into my lap at that very moment.

So a couple hours later, we went to the store and found ourselves Mac® users. I will promise that I will endeavor not to become one of those Mac assholes who insist that PCs are worthless and that PC users should be considered second class citizens. But I have to tell you that I'm very, very happy we switched. This machine just makes me smile every time I look at it.

Mom is happy, too, because I gave her my two-year-old Dell® laptop (she was still using an old Windows® 98 desktop...poor thing!).

Now, if only Corel® would see the error of its ways in deciding not to develop WordPerfect® any longer for Mac®, my life would be SoftwarePerfect.

World premiere without the ticker-tape

My Meriam Mass was given its world premiere this morning at church. It was successful, I think. The notes were all there in the voices as well as in the organ (thank God!). How embarrassing it would have been to play it wrong! The choir sang it beautifully. The congregation was singing, albeit timidly. New pieces always get that treatment. Within a couple of weeks, they'll all be singing it with gusto, I'm sure.

Bottom line: I was well pleased with its first use in the service; it's raison d'etre, if you will.

Having said that, its reception from the masses (no pun intended) was much cooler than I would have hoped. In hindsight, I should have realized it would be just as it was. My therapist keeps telling me that it isn't so wise to ask a question hoping for a specific answer in return. He says that if one does, one will almost always be disappointed.

As much as I was trying to be humble about my work, I was not hoping for it go unnoticed. To be fair, three of my favorite people in the parish who are outside the music program sought me out afterwards to tell me how nice they thought my compositions are. (One friend from outside the parish came to church today specifically because she wanted to hear and sing the pieces, which of course is especially gratifying.) I was grateful for their comments, but they always comment and are very forthcoming with their praise for what we do there to enhance their worship experience. What was disappointing is that no one else saw fit to say a word.

I know I'm on the verge of whining and sounding rather unappealing, but we musicians thrive on attention and need your approval. The piety of Soli Deo Gloria most certainly did not originate with a church musician! It was painful for me to bare my soul in the form of some very personal music today and then feel as though no one gave a shit. It's so typical of Episcopalians to avoid rather than engage. It's no wonder people so often find our signs ironic: The Episcopal Church Welcomes You. Yes...we want you to come and be welcomed by our superior way of doing things, but don't expect us to say much more than hello to you after church. Heaven forbid we should truly connect with you on a human level.

Oh, and yes...peace be with you!

Rufus at Ravinia

Finally, after waiting all summer for the day to arrive (and then again waiting for the warm-up acts to finish and get the hell off the stage), I got to see my new favorite performer—Rufus Wainwright—in concert. Once we got to the main event, it was fantastic, but the 90 minutes leading up to it were excruciating.

His opening acts are A Fine Frenzy and Magic Numbers. I was okay with A Fine Frenzy for the most part. The singing was decent and the songs were nothing to be offended by. Her five-note range was a little tedious after four songs, but thankfully she sang only five. End of part one.

Then came on Magic Numbers, a four member British band that had a sort of Seals and Crofts whine to their sound, but totally uninteresting music to go with it. I can't imagine a more annoying combination than that. They received a standing ovation from a very small percentage of the audience who apparently were related somehow to the band members (at least that's the only way I can figure it). They were too loud, every song was too driven and sounded the same (except one, which I actually enjoyed listening to...kind of), and were on stage way too long. End of part two.

Then Rufus! He was promoting his new CD, Release the Stars, so most of the songs he sang were from that album. It was a great show. He sang well, and his band was great. I think this album is way over-the-top produced compared to his more introspective stuff, but I like it anyway. I think that if I were to have repeated the experience of going to see The Police or Crosby, Stills and Nash last night like I did twenty years ago in a sports arena, I wouldn't have enjoyed it much. But sitting in our box seats in Ravinia's Pavilion was a great way to see this show. The weather was great and the audience at Ravinia is very well behaved. I was amused by the fact that so much of last night's crowd was 40-something or older. I gotta go to shows up there more often!

4.5 Sequencia Stars