carnegie hall orphéeic magic

monday evening i snuck some photos of the stage at carnegie hall (3rd row!) - no musicians or stage lights, just the empty stage. the haydn symphony was dazzlingly clean. seeing orpheus makes me wonder why we all can't conceive of orchestral music as glorified chamber music! the musical ideas for each piece are generated by "core" members of he orchestra, and the act of listening is so intense and intimate that it almost feels selfish to spend money on a ticket. it's not so much about owning the music, but rather about respecting eachother's musical space.

the rorem set was wonderful to see if only for the fact that a singer was leading a small orchestra! a personal favorite was the final song, "alleluia" - jauntily and slyly employing mixed meters reminisent of neo-classical stravinsky with the trasparency of early ives. sitting so close to susan graham was a little unnerving: at the start of the set, she seemed stiff, stoic; by the middle, however, she was completely in character, balls to the wall, unbeatable. after intermission, ravel's pavane for a dead princess, led by cal wiersma, was absolutely gorgeous in a hauntingly effusive way.

todd phillips led a romping rendition of stravinsky's danses concertantes, which explicitly reminded me of the octet and symphony in c.

i met up with my luminous pal clio for hot chocolate made with milk (yumm) and a split piece of cheesecake (though we thought it needed something tart and fruity, not caramel sauce, as a finishing glaze).

listen listen

last weekend (i'm late!) was the look&listen festival...i saw some great art at ok harris and gary snyder/project space, met some stellar personalities - the inimitable mark stewart and fresh face victoria bass of bang on a can all-stars; the charming and musically eloquent jade simmons and svet stoyanov; blogger extra-ordinaires bruce hodges and karissa krenz; so percussion (and their fifth member, luca); fascinating violinist todd reynolds. i wonder, though: does it get lonely, this pursuit?

someday i'll have screenshots, a fleshed-out resume, a bio to speak of. this summer i look forward to some RENCONTRES DE MUSIQUE NOUVELLE avec martin matalon (argentine/IRCAM), denys boulianne, jean lesage, et le NEM (montréal). je suis flûtiste, entendez-moi hurler!

tomorrow i hit carnegie hall for orpheus + susan graham in concert...it pays to be friends on facebook!

maybe karissa is right - that you have to post at least a few times per week for anyone to pay attention. i might be m.i.a. for a spell this summer, but i will do my best (unconscious reference to fox's "dollhouse").

current fixations: herbie hancock's joni letters; issue 07; short films made by people i know; performances involving lamps and interesting distortion effects; simple, clean design; the idea that maybe, someday soon, i will be gainfully employed.

this is the face of dreamy contentment, one reconciled to the fact that it couldn't get much better.