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twoelevenas part of the DSO's "meet the obscure musician" series, we got to hear doug map on the double bass (string bass). it was one of the more surprising performances we've heard. he simply walked on stage, picked up his instrument, and began to play some improv jazz. after playing for a few minutes, he gave a brief talk on the place of improvisation in the classical canon: essentially, until the development of recording and broadcasting, anybody who was any good at playing classical music was expected to do a little improv, even if it was just theme and variation stuff.
then doug went back to playing jazz (there isn't really anything classical for the double bass): fragos, baker, and gasparre's "i hear a rhapsody", green and heyman's "body and soul", and pettiford's "tricotism". (only the last is available on footube as a bass solo, but there are plenty of arrangements of the other two available.) and then a little more improv, followed by doug taking his bows.
there was also some composed music too. we heard some pre-natal beethoven: his "serenade in d major" is essentially juvenalia, since it's happy, bouncy, cheerful, and even -- in the set of open cadences that end the fourth movement -- playful beethoven. not, as maestro amado put it, the "old, ill-dressed, angry skull beethoven" we know and love. both of us were surprised by the piece, and had we not known it was the angry skull himself, we would have placed it earlier in the classical period.
and then five fish played trumpet. er, well, something involving a "trout quintet". this piece was also surprising because maestro amado played the piano. as he put it, it had been so long since he played rather than conducted, "it took me fifteen minutes in my closet to find a white shirt that didn't have french cuffs.". (which rather says something about the effect der mahler had on establishing an official conductor's uniform.)
the performance was the first i've heard the DSO give that actually deserved a standing ovation. the DSO's audiences seem willing to give the standing-o to any performance with a powerful ending (respighi's "the pines of rome") or a bit of spectacle (beethoven's ninth or orff's "carmina burana"). i expect technical excellence from professional musicians and a bit of virtuosity from the touring soloists. but this performance was not merely well-played, nor even spirited, but had that je ne sais quoi that distinguishes excellent musicians at the top of their game from the merely first rate. it probably didn't help that it's easier to hear fine playing in a small ensemble than it is in an orchestra. (which is one of the many reasons i want to revive the "classical" small ensemble. but that is another post.)
then doug went back to playing jazz (there isn't really anything classical for the double bass): fragos, baker, and gasparre's "i hear a rhapsody", green and heyman's "body and soul", and pettiford's "tricotism". (only the last is available on footube as a bass solo, but there are plenty of arrangements of the other two available.) and then a little more improv, followed by doug taking his bows.
there was also some composed music too. we heard some pre-natal beethoven: his "serenade in d major" is essentially juvenalia, since it's happy, bouncy, cheerful, and even -- in the set of open cadences that end the fourth movement -- playful beethoven. not, as maestro amado put it, the "old, ill-dressed, angry skull beethoven" we know and love. both of us were surprised by the piece, and had we not known it was the angry skull himself, we would have placed it earlier in the classical period.
and then five fish played trumpet. er, well, something involving a "trout quintet". this piece was also surprising because maestro amado played the piano. as he put it, it had been so long since he played rather than conducted, "it took me fifteen minutes in my closet to find a white shirt that didn't have french cuffs.". (which rather says something about the effect der mahler had on establishing an official conductor's uniform.)
the performance was the first i've heard the DSO give that actually deserved a standing ovation. the DSO's audiences seem willing to give the standing-o to any performance with a powerful ending (respighi's "the pines of rome") or a bit of spectacle (beethoven's ninth or orff's "carmina burana"). i expect technical excellence from professional musicians and a bit of virtuosity from the touring soloists. but this performance was not merely well-played, nor even spirited, but had that je ne sais quoi that distinguishes excellent musicians at the top of their game from the merely first rate. it probably didn't help that it's easier to hear fine playing in a small ensemble than it is in an orchestra. (which is one of the many reasons i want to revive the "classical" small ensemble. but that is another post.)