Wish I was going. ;)

..hopeful on this one...

I haven't seen a philharmonic in a while...

I'll take one for the team. Good luck all.

...great, does this mean that I have to tell everyone that I'm Eric Field?

(...did I actually win? cello is prolly my most favourite instrument... (yay.)

Is that a tie? Or did Cello Towel beat me to it?

@Chris: Yep, Cello Towel (aka Wet Towel) beat you by approximately three seconds. Sorry.

Donald that was very sweet of you.
(most folks know who I am anyway...)

I promise to clean up good before the gig... (may actually wear polished shoes...)

-thank you again.

-E

...wait a minute, this means I have to scare up a date (and) drag out the suit...
(eyes widen.)

...oofdah...

looks like I'm cleaning the car too...

(well Donald, you certainly are raising me a few notches with this one... unkay, coach, I'll make you proud..)

ooh, I'll actually have to pay to see this. I always wanted to marry a female cello player, and Wendy is amazing in more ways than one.

(think HMac will take up the cello?)

now it's going to have to be cultural art towel. :P

...sorry Chris, (sincerely)
If it makes you feel anybetter, I nearly decapitated my Left pinky the other day, so my typing speed is slow'd a bit...
and you're clocking in at only .03 sec behind is pretty fierce finishing, --I'd dare say a photo finish...

But, there is a female cellist on the line, (and a good one at that.)

...somebody went and changed the clocks, we've lost an hour (sigh.)

-First, Donald, thank you so much for the tix. Really, it was a nice night out for myself and my date (the girl looked smashing, we both are classical freaks and it was nice to be able to discuss the music afterwards... (granted, our choices were Denny's or IHop, -but not so bad, really...) --Had I not been doing construction for the previous 6 hours (with concrete) I would have been a bit more sparkly in my discussion.. but she knows me well, and we were both sleepy, -but were dashing.

Double Kudos to yourself for putting the tix at the front desk, and the front desk putting them back to the guard at the rear, --who may quite possibly be one of the nicest fellows in uniform in this hemisphere (building on Friday had me running late... they were with the guard, he was a perfect gentleman, and no doubt deemed the evening with his courtesy and charm.)

The event itself:

-There was some sort of massive inter scholastic championship happening next building over (selland?) so the mix in the elevators was an interesting combination of clothing (and music) styles to say the least, ---but everybody seemed to get along... -traffic jam at the end, and more than a few busts taking place by FPD --but nobody in evening gowns and opera shawls were seen kissing the hood or seated at the curb in cuffs... (hmmmmm.)

Our seats were about midway up on the floor and to the right.
Not bad, not bad at all (and for free, who could complain?)

The house was (at my guess) maybe two thirds full, ---no idea as to the balcony, --there was a strong attendance, but a LOT of empty seats still.
(we claim-jumped after the intermission to a couple of the empties closer to the centre of house, better view, better sound (hopefully) and nobody seemed to mind...

I kept looking at the wall behind the orch. (that towering pannelled off white thing,) thinking... 'yeesh, this thing's seen some damage, perhaps I could sneak up there with a roller and some flat off-white and just touch things up a bit... (sorry, I'm big on presentation... and matching the colour of the panels is not that hard...)

The orch assembles and tunes right in front of you (bit by bit.) ---rather 'down home' and 'chummy' feel ---which I find kind of endearing.
Very attractive people (the orch.) well dressed, highly skilled, with a french horn section that are sort of on the breathtaking (no pun intended) side.

Haydn: 88 G Major.
Done well.
In truth, it sort of felt like a warm-up piece, (you know, the one that the band opens with to sort of mix the levels first on in the set,) --it was well played, it was Haydn, and kind of 'eased' folks into the whole thing.
Bombastic? No...
I guess in medical terminiology this would be considered an unremarkable study.
They played, we listened, they did well, we noticed, everybody clapped, --and the conductor (Kuchar) somehow managed to restrain himself and not climb into the F Holes of the Violins... (my date: '...rather dramatic little fellow, isn't he.') --The man literally will lurch and point (as if showing us the necessary muscles of the subjects upper thoracic region, (or worse) scant centimeters from the players... (I'm sure the guy on tymp, and folks further back in the rows in the band appreciate the distance.)

Shostakovich Cello 1 Op 107:
-And for this a large (sorta) carpeted box was placed next to the conductors... and a rather lovely woman dressed in a beautiful black and deep violet gown comes out with her cello. (beautiful on both accounts... cello really is an instrument that has had my heart since a boy, --I've been told that it's notes and tone are closest to the human voice, (though I'd argue the French Horn to that... (ahhh, the french horn players...... ..... ..... (ahem, excuse me)

There are some pieces that are meant to be inviting, warming, and downright friendly (consider most of Mozart, a lot of Beethovan, even Bach -the genius of cello,)
Shostakovich? --hmmm. well.
In a world of squares, rectangles and circles... Shostakovichs piece is something not easily discerned, --and finding the proper area to it is not going to be an easy formula.
It's a strange taste.
I have no doubt that it was a profoundly difficult piece, and do not go to a performance demanding something so easy that I could put it together myself in my kitchen (though I buld some pretty intense stuff,) ---but this was waaaaaaay different than the Haydn, -she was placed front and centre on the box --quite dramatically, --and there was no denying that this was 'somebody else' playing 'something else.' and it was a bit of a separate event.
-The piece itself is not at all short, it really does go all over the place, and is one of those creations that champions (or at least demonstrates) how radically different a cello can sound and how the higher register can be demanded.
-There were parts where we were collectively sitting as if on our own private iceflows,
with the notes and realization that the notes were the single thought of sanity that would (either) pull us through, or enable us to at least not die completely deranged...
(tightening and thinning in line, our breathing too constricted to even gasp should it snap... several times she played to the point of a flame, barely hovering above the wick, a hairbreath from becoming a whisp of smoke, (then) she'd come back in full)
---THAT was something.

-There were also parts where the cello was it's own conversation and staccato of dozens of impulses, and she was all over the strings in dpi that went from pointlism presenting shade change
-to a tatto'sts needle.... (though nothing stung.)

It was a very challanging piece, and took attention to be a part of.

But it felt 'too long...'
(I know, who am I to complain of such things,)

---but the 'story' of the piece,
--though you know there was one, and you'd sometimes come back to it, and try to follow,
fell somewhere between disjointed
'Bergman film,' where the monotones, black and white, and richness of the narrow scenarios were not expanded along a flat horizon, (such as staring at the sea,) but became a bit more 'endurance.'
(I think I know why this happened.)

You just had this feeling that something very sad was being told you, -but you didn't understand the language, and the points that would have given you a foothold and insight, were lost along the expanse... (I'm going to revisit this piece by other folks handling it, I usually really enjoy stuff like this, to night it seemed to wander a bit, pierced by moments of '...damn, that looks difficult, we're seeing something technically hard here...'

It was well played, and was complex... And I was glad to witness it.

folks clapped, a lot stood, Had I known it was the only piece she was going to do with us, I'd have as well...

Intermezzo...

-3.00 bottle water LOTS of older folks (very sweet people, dressed beautifully, a few 20-30 somethings, -some fathers and mothers with kids (or a few families.) --but definitely an older crowd.

-One woman wore a coral pink sequined gown that was absolutely tremendous... All I could do was smile and say good evening... (she did in return.) --These girls really were decked, and beauty is timeless (proven once again.)

Mendelssohn: 4 A Maj. Op. 90 'Italian'

Thank God for this piece... (I'm serious)
Kuchar had settled down and wasn't as 'stabby' as he was with Haydn, --the crew was all spot on, having a good time, (one of my fav. moments was walking back in as Intermission was ending, and seeing a lone cellist sitting in the dark on stage (dwnstg L --very very sweeping and graceful sweep of trouser? skirt? that went from back of chair to elegant foot (very spanish style, yet dark and sheer) -as she quietly worked through her upcoming part in silhouette, THAT was a lovely moment as well.)

But seriously...
the Italian saved the day.
Flowed beautifully (vs the Shostakovich) told it's story with the majesty one is accustomed to know with Mendelssohn, all the while flurring around with those strings that seem to buzz you through his greats such as MidSummer Night's Dream... (hey, why spoil what works?)

The cohesive and sweeping aspects of the orch. in this piece was really what folks came to see, -you could read it in their body language, their attentiveness, and the smiles on their faces.
-Again, not an easy piece, --but certainly not a challange to listen to, either.

The Italian, done by our Orch. really made the night... hands down.

Final thoughts.

I've been to the saroyan before (caught the Bugs Bunny Show last year) ---and that afternoon was kind of marred by a lack of sound quality, (they sorted it out by the end of the performance, (mixing accoustic and amp'd stuff was a bit of a challange that day, --but in the end they had it covered...)

But I'm beginning to wonder if the saroyan is just (as a structure itself) not presneting the sound as it should?
-I've sat for quartets and smaller chamber work, baroque pieces, --even soloists on events like the cello, oboe even, ---and in a hall properly set, ---the thing can whisper to any body part you have, ---or dissolve and cut right through you...
(It's not just an issue of 'loud' or 'quiet')

With stuff that I'm familar with (such as the Haydn and the Mendelssohn) I very definitely felt last night that the thoroughly intense and completely swelling moments (where you feel the vastness, become it, and can feel the notes from bones to um, well, nether regions) just doesn't happen at the saroyan.
--Kind of like hearing everything from a tweeter and midrange, --no significant bass, no significant woofer...
-and the whole thing feels kind of 'up there on the stage, and distant.'

-Again, even a small number of players can create a sound that can put you against the wall, --and can (even in the quietest moments) completely sedduce and overwhelm the listener (and the composer counts on this, --it's as much a part of the piece as any of the notes are,)

Which is why, I think the Mid Piece (the only one Warner played in) the Shostakovich, sort of fell short, and became hard to follow...

When the Russians write, they do stuff with starkness and air temperature --as well as subtlety of light, ---that are tremendously deep, and gripping...
-I felt parts of this in Wendy's playing, --as well as the orch's backing.
--but with the sound of the space being so limited, ---I think a lot of the story, and the impact of the piece, really was lost.
-It's a truly majestic piece, ---but you have to be able to be swallowed by the sound and presentation, and then caressed, left washed up on it's shores, then pulled back in and under, ---in order for something like this to work.

My date: '...hmmm, yes, I know this is music here, but you know, part of this is getting kind of annoying.'

--that means that the depth and many shades and multiple passes from slightly different angles has been completely lost.
(which) considering the talent and ability of this performer, is really a bit of a crime.

--In all honesty, at times, you really couldn't even hear her for the rest of the orchestra,
---which is not to be mistaken as a sign of 'the blending of all the instruments and symphony,'
(no)
--as, done right?
you can still hear each individual player, --as well as their groups, as well as the whole,
---but nothing is supposed to 'dissappear'
-particularly a lead/focus soloist.

(I sort want to sneak into the Saroyan late at night, and drop the ceiling over the stage a bit,
---really create a proper shell (one where the music is given a proper springboard to leap from and then come out and have it's way with us, ---and these musicians
(who are pretty damn good,) finally thrown into the audience and their work really felt for the passion that they're putting into it.

This work deserves to make it across the threshold of the stage, in full health, in all it's subtle glory and terror, (not) kept and deadened...
-oh yeah, that
and bringing a roller with some off white for the squares that comprise the back panel.)

Donald, it was a wonderful evening.
-And both my friend and I really want this to work (orch in Fresno.) --and again, it's always such a blessing to be a part of live performance --and be so rewarded in attending.

Fresno has been blessed by some magnificent talent in her Musicians.

(now, perhaps to turn our attention to the accoustics of the hall that she presents them to us in???)

And then we'll really have something to moo about.

(Again, thank you, it was a lovely present for just being able to type fast.)

-Eric Field