Poor Richard's Anorak

Thomas Hampson, Gustav Mahler, Luciano Berio

Just enjoying a Thomas Hampson CD  I haven't listened to in a while. He made a CD several years ago of early Mahler songs, including some orchestrations by Berio. What a joy to hear what genius can do with genius! This one of the finest Mahler recordings I know.

Mahler: Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen, Frühe Lieder with David Lutz Piano

Mahler/Berio: Frühe Lieder, Philharmonie Orchestra, Luciano Berio

Some Satisfaction

Several posts back I mentioned a young man who was taking college auditions. I'm pleased to say he was admitted to FSU as a Music Education Major. That was his first choice, and I'm delighted for him. This is a student who made a perfect score on the math SAT, and yet wants to be a music teacher! He will be a credit to the profession.

Jeremy Denk, pianist

I neglecged to include Jeremy's website information in the previous post, and I just found out that he is giving his Cleveland Orchestra debut with the Bartok Concerto No. 3 next weekend! Wish I could hear that.

JeremyDenk.net

Jeremy Denk performed the Bartok Piano Concerto No.3 with The Florida Orchestra last evening in Clearwater's Ruth Eckerd Hall. It was altogether a marvelous performance, both exciting and illuminating. What a pleasure to finally hear this wonderful artist perform in person. Mei-Ann Chen was the guest conductor, and she did an excellent job on the entire program. Also performed were Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. A thoroughly satisfying concert.

I always get an unmoored feeling at the end of a term. The usual schedule is interrupted, and things come one at a time in seeming random order. I suppose I am more a creature of habit than I like to admit.

I taught a good lesson this evening to a new student who is preparing for college auditions. He has played bass clarinet all through high school, and is an outstanding player on bass. He needs to shape up his embouchure and articulation on the soprano clarinet, and learn some new literature in six week. A tall order, but I think he is capable of it. He is motivated to study music education at a good college. He changed several things right away in the lesson, and that tells me he is very smart. I look forward to helping him get through these auditions with success.

It was a coincidence that he came in with a Vandoren 5rvLyre mouthpiece. I told him my teacher Harold Wright had helped Vandoren design the mouthpiece. He gets a good sound on it.

Good Semester

This semester has been a really good one for me here at Eckerd College. I have the greatest group of students ever. Not only are they dependable and hard-working, but they are genuinely nice people. I love working with the band and the orchestra both. There were tremendously rewarding moments in both concerts.

Duke to soak customers again

In yet another scheme to soak its customers Duke Energy now plans to invest in fracking in Oklahoma and let the customers pay for it. Not only are they backing away from increasing solar power, they are getting into another corrupt business.

So-called Public Service Commission of Florida

The PSC in Florida is an owned subsidiary of the power companies and big business. The latest outrage by these puppets is to endorse proposals by Duke and other utilities to gut the state's energy-efficiency goals by 90%. This makes the title "The Sunshine State" a cruel irony.
The voters of Florida seemed to endorse this kind of stupidity, in spite of the rising rates and horrible management decisions of Duke. There has to be a way to unseat these bought members of the PSC.
David

End of term and Thanksgiving

I was absolutley thrilled with the performances of our Eckerd College band and orchestra two weeks ago. Both ensembles rose to the occasion and played at their best. We couldn't have done the band concert without the help of our wonderful New Horizons Band members who join us on certain instruments.

Sometimes I wish we had bigger numbers and played in larger venues, but their are rewards to playing in medium-small groups in rather intimate halls. I enjoy talking to the audiences, and they seem to appreciate it. 

I was especially pleased to see so many college students in our concerts. This is a change for the better in my opinion. I appreciate our older audiences, but we all know what they mean if the younger audiences aren't cultivated. Being on the College Program Series helped a lot. 

Thanksgiving was wonderful. I spent it with my friends on Davis Islands. Surrounded by a lot of Neurosurgery residnents, doctors, and nurses, it has become rather a tradition for me. Lots of good conversation!

We are in the final week of classes at Eckerd and at SPC both. Remaining tasks: final exam for music fundamentals, final performance class and juries at Eckerd, juries at SPC, New Horizons performances at the Florida Botanical Gardens Illuminated Christmas on Dec 12th at 6:30 and Pioneer Settlement in South St. Pete at noon on the 13th. 

Another School Shooting

We have a national disease. I believe that eventually we will be able to pass some common sense background checks for firearms purchases. That would help quell the disease. 

Jazz Cooks

I have now twice cooked Stanley and Judith Turrentine's Baked Chicken from Jazz Cooks:Portraits and Recipes of the Greats, by Bob Young and Al Stankus, photography by Deborah Feingold. Good chicken! Great book. Looking forward to exploring dishes by other Jazz greats.

David

Rainy Days

Several rainy days in a row here have made me somber and thoughtful. I don't know if I could survive living in Seattle or someplace where it rains all the time. I love sleeping on rainy days, but in general I don't enjoy them.

One of my former students dropped by today. He has a chronic health condition and I asked how he was doing on his meds. He said he is responding well, but he can't afford the latest round of pills, so can't make a doctor's appointment to get his latest injection. Our health care system is criminal. I'm totally behind Obama's health care bill.

Jeremy Denk wins MacArthur Fellowship

Congratulations to Jeremy Denk for his MacArthur. Well-deserved.

It is rare enough to be a first rank artist pianist, but to also be a brilliant writer is extraordinary.

More on Minnesota

MInnesota Lockout criticized

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2013/08/slipped-disc-editorial-minnesota-is-trapped-in-a-bubble-of-virtual-unreality.html

Mess in Minnesota

Face The Nation (CBS) was

Face The Nation (CBS) was the most informative talking head show Sunday am, hands down.

R.I.P. Keith Wilson, who directed

R.I.P. Keith Wilson, who directed the Yale Band and was one of the chief builders of the Yale Music School.

Topic on #blogchat on twitter right now about blog security. Great free advice from pros!

VP Debate

My take on the VP debate is that Biden was by far the stronger of  the two. Ryan made some hits on Libya, and he had some "Look" stuff cribbed from Romney, but Biden hit every Democrat point with power, and debunked a lot of Ryan's. The old man looked good, and he made Ryan nervous.

But a playoff will have to suffice.

I would love to see a World Series between Detroit and Baltimore.

Landmark

This is the first time I have had home internet in four years. I didn't know how much I missed it. The iPhone is a poor substitute.

So, Poor Richard's Anorak should be much more active now. I apologize for the hiatus. Money  causes a lot of unintended consequences.

Also enjoying listening to the baseball playoff on radio. I find the announcers more informative, and I can do other things without haveing my eyes glued to a tube.

Reluctantly reading The Bourne Betrayal after The Bourne Legacy, which was a disapointment, and a total non-connnect with the movie of the same name.

I look forward to getting into The Troubled Man by Henning Mankell, one of my favorites, and unfortunatlely the last of his wonderful Wallender series.

Prepping my office for a possible hit by tropical force winds and rain. We should be feeling Hurricane Isaac by late this evening. RNC first day has been cancelled, so they think it is going to be nasty. There will certainly be some flooding in low places, and some high tides.

Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist endorses Obama

Crist endorses Obama

Rick Scott Knows It All

Rick Scott Thinks He Knows It All

Sanderling To Leave Florida Orchestra Sooner Than Planned

Sanderling departure

The Florida Orchestra has had to line up a stable of guest conductors to fill the hiatus created by Stefan Sanderling's early departure. Instread of conducting a diet of Masterworks Concerts up through the 2013-2014 sesason, he will be doing only one program per season.

RIP Levon Helm

I remember breaking down in tears in theaters only twice--once in "Piaf" as the supper club falls silent when Marlene Dietrich approaches Piaf's table to tell the seriously ill chanteuse how much she loves her singing; and again, years before in "Coal Miner's Daughter" as the young Loretta Lynn waits for the train with her father, played eloquently by Levon Helm.

She tells her "Daddy" that she will be back, and he says he he doesn't think so.

Tonight, as I listen to Levon singing that Arkansas harmony with his daughter on their 2007 album "Dirt Farmer," I remember how he moved us forty years ago, singing "Virgil Caine is the name and I served on the Danville train......."

We remember oh so well, Levon. Rest in peace.

Nook on the iPhone

I'm enjoying my Nook app on the iPhone. I'm surprised at how much I read on the go--in waiting rooms, restaurants, on the patio, during any down time when I don't have anything to do. Currently, I'm reading The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer, a new discovery. George Clooney is apparently making the movie!

Also reading Robert Reich and Ahmed Rashid. Other books I have enjoyed on Nook are Michaels Connelly's The Drop,and Karin Slaughter's The Fallen.

After-Shock by Robert B. Reich

I'm reading Robert Reich's excellent After-Shock. He makes more sense than any of the pundits or economists who get endless exposure on the boob tube. Highly recommended.

He firmly drives home the message that there must be a middle class to purchase goods in order for an economy to come back to life. Something the 1% seem to have forgetten.

Wake Up Call

Your day is going nicely--early doctor's appointment, and home for a nap. Neighbor wakes  you up to take baby owl to the Humane Society. On the drive there you are in a collision that totals your car and sends you to the hospital for x-rays of the leg. A perfectly good day ruined in an instant.

The good news is that the baby owl was taken by a bystander, who said she knew where the Humane Society was. I was able to play a clarinet quartet concert at 5:30 and conduct an orchestra rehearsal, but the soreness was enormous. Teaching today, but I plan to rest hugely this weekend. At least I'm above ground!

Sandow | Greg Sandow on the future of classical music

via www.artsjournal.com

Greg continues to write provocative and informing posts about the present and future of classical music.

Jeremy Denk in The New Yorker

Jeremy Denk New Yorker Article

 

Anthony Shadid, a New York Times Reporter, Dies in Syria - NYTimes.com

Anthony Shadid, a prize-winning journalist, was reporting inside Syria when he suffered a fatal asthma attack.

Mr. Shadid, 43, had been reporting inside Syria for a week, gathering information on the Free Syrian Army and other armed elements of the resistance to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, whose military forces have been engaged in a harsh repression of the political opposition in a conflict that is now nearly a year old.

The Syrian government, which tightly controls foreign journalists’ activities in the country, had not been informed of his assignment by The Times.

via www.nytimes.com

Anthony Shadid was a courageous, talented journalist. This is so very sad.

Hey, you pundits, just read the signs.

Visit Slate to read the outstanding Dahlia Lithwick essay on how the mainstream media refuse to look into the very real issues being raised by Occupy Wall Street: "Mark your calendars: The corporate media died when it announced it was too sophisticated to understand simple declarative sentences. While the mainstream media expresses puzzlement and fear at these incomprehensible 'protestors' with their oddly-worded 'signs,' the rest of us see our own concerns reflected back at us and understand perfectly."

"A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere." ...Groucho Marx

Florida governor Scott wants to discourage students from liberal arts study

Our fraudster governor now wants to discourage students from studying liberal arts in Florida universities. Could it be that if students study the liberal arts they will be able to think, analyze, and write; and they will understand that Rick Scott is guilty of Medicare fraud, and is doing his Koch level best to destroy the great accomplishments of Governors such as Rueben Askew, Lawton Chiles, and Bob Graham? Is he afraid that students would see through his corporatist agenda?

"Throw the bums out" has never felt more appropriate than it does with this man's administration.

Occupy Wall Street/Occupy Together

 It now seems obvious that this movement has struck a chord with a huge number of people in this country. In spite of the media doing their best to ingnore it in order to please their owners, the Wall Street protesters have gained support daily. "Too Big To Fail" is a fact, and if you read The Report of the Financial Crisis Commission you will understand why. The facts are undeniable--they crashed our economy and haven't paid a price for it. As a matter of fact, they have been handsomely rewarded for it.

Watch this short discussion between Keith Olbermann and Matt Taibbi about the impending crisis Friday morning between Mayor Bloomberg and OWS. Taibbi is one of the heroes in the unveiling of the secrets of the Wall Street crooks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTJI7OompCM&feature=youtu.be

Wild Card Push

The Yankees are playing like the best team in baseball tonight, unfortunately. Only Baltimore can save our hide now, and the Red Sox just went ahead of them with a home run from Pedroia.

AL East Wild Card

The Tampa Bay Rays have miraculously cut their deficit from 9 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox to 2 games. Now we play the Yankees!

Service Station from Taco Bell

"Son, you have an oblique sense of humor." Elvis Presley to Steve Martin

The Happiness Project

I'm in the middle of The Happiness Project by Gretchin Rubin, and I'm very happy I bought it. Rubin is insightful, honest, clear, and refreshing in her lack of didacticism. The simplicity of a lot of her suggestions is attractive.

Tampa Bay

Last season the Tampa Bay Rays won the American League East, then got rid of the top seven salaries on the team. Now, miraculously, The Rays are back atop the American League East!

And, Tampa Bay Lightning lead the Boston Bruins 1-0 in NHL playoffs. Amazing!

Thunder storm

We had a violent thunder storm this afternoon. The thunder was the loudest I have experienced in years. On an afternoon which would typically be in the 90s we have a cool, overcast day.

This has been a welcome change. I just planted a habanera plant in a huge pot with a full package of sweet basil seed.

I'm thinking about the poor farmers and residents of the Mississippi Flood Plain. That part of the country has endured so much since Katrina and the oil spill.

David

"Son, you have an oblique sense of humor." Elvis Presley to Steve Martin

The Real Reasons We Have A Deficit

All the mealy-mouthed, right-wing blaming of the public for poor decisions and irresponsibility are simply self-serving lies. Paul Krugman tells the simple truth here.

Florida--The Sad State of Our State

Bob Graham was one of the finest governors and senators this state has ever had. Last week in an op-ed in the St. Petersburg Times he explained how the policies of the current Republican Legislature and Governor endanger the progress made in Florida for decades in the areas of education and environment.

Playing Our Parts at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola in Jazz at Lincoln Center

Last Tuesday evening 22 February 2011 Jazz at Lincoln Center presented a fund raising concert for the Jazz Foundation in Dizzy's Club Coca Cola. The concert was in memory of my brother Dennis Irwin.

The Jazz Foundation paid medical bills for Dennis when he became ill. His stage four cancer was discovered when he went for an MRI at Englewood Hospital in New Jersey, which is centerpiece of the work done by The Jazz Foundation. This annual fund raiser is in memory of Dennis, and the Dennis Irwin fund is dedicated to cancer screenings for jazz musicians. 

Here is a slide show by Frederic S. Sater of some of the highlights of the amazing evening of music making. I'm grateful to Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Adrian Ellis, Todd Barkan, and Wendy Oxenhorn for arranging this special evening; and to all the master musicians who gave of their time and talent to help their brothers and sisters in the jazz profession in need of medical assistance. Playing Our Parts is an annual event given by Jazz at Lincoln Center. 

One of the most important people in setting up this event is Todd Barkan, currently in the hospital recovering from a serious auto accident. We all send Todd our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Money buys PR for Republicans

The Washington Post reports that an equal number of people believe the Republicans and Obama would be responsible for a shutdown of government. This is simply a reflection of the huge amount of money the Citizens United Supreme Court decision has allowed corporations to pour into Republican PR coffers. We are well on our way to Plutocracy.

New Horizons Band at Eckerd College

Our New Horizons Band at Eckerd College is busy. We are in our third week of winter semester, and we have had two great rehearsals and a nice outdoor gig. We performed two sets for the Gulfport Art Walk this past Friday night. It was a beautiful evening, with a nice audience and lots of pedestrian traffic.

We will be performing for International Night at Sanderlin Elementary next Thursday night 10 February. The International Baccalaureate PTA is sponsoring the evening.

On Saturday afternoon 12 March we will host one of New Horizons Southeastern tour stops, with a 2:00 pm reading session followed by a dinner with participants at Billy's Stone Crab in Tierra Verde. That should be a great day.

Kovacs, Poulenc, Bruch, Mozart, and Cahuzac

I hosted a lovely clarinet, viola, and piano recital Friday night. The visiting artists at St. Pete College's Music Center were Mark Gallagher, Frank Corliss, and Ken Kwo.

The program included music by Cahuzac, Kovacs, Mozart, Poulenc, and Bruch. They all played with artistry and sensitivity. Some of the finest chamber playing I have heard in a couple of years. Mark Gallagher teaches at Frostberg State, Frank Corliss at Bard College, and Ken Kwo is a member of the Florida Orchestra.

Paul Simon

I listened a lot of Paul Simon tonight, and am reminded again of what a masterful song writer he is. And he has always collaborates with great artists.

Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise: Film score report

Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise: Film score report.

Alex weighs in with his take on outstanding film socres.