A Far Cry

My friend Carol pointed out an interesting article in the Boston Globe today about a young, professional, unconducted string chamber orchestra called A Far Cry. Here's the link: "No Conductors Need Apply".

Also on that page is a link to a audiovisual slide show on the orchestra, and from there you can find two youtube links:

Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings (4th movement)
and
Corelli, Concerto Grosso, Op. 6/9 in F

and another one, with a flute soloist: Quantz Flute Concerto in D

Of course, these are all professionally trained young musicians, but I do like this concept of all the players being collectively responsible for the repertoire and the performance, not primarily the conductor. The violinists and the violists stand during performances, and they move in an independent, yet coordinated, way to the music. And they sound wonderful. They are not actually making any money yet, but hopefully that will come.

They also have a web site and a blog.

Classical Music, Alex Ross, and Jamie Foxx

In the October 22 issue of the New Yorker, Alex Ross writes about classical music on the Internet: blogs, information, audio files, and such, concluding that the Internet helps promote classical music. (His definition of classical music includes all that modern stuff).

Ross's blog, The Rest is Noise, looks interesting, though I have not have time to read much yet. There was a reference Jamie Foxx, who played Ray Charles in the movie, Ray (a movie I have been meaning to see, but have not yet found the time for). Foxx is going to be a cellist in his next movie. Here is a snippet from the article Ross linked to in the Daily Record (U.K.)

His interest in ladies is one of the reasons why he's working hard on his new challenge, learning violin and cello for his next film, The Soloist, where he plays a homeless schizophrenic who plays classical cello and violin brilliantly on the streets of LA.

And when the Record arrived at Jamie's hotel, so did a courier with a cello for Mr Foxx to practise on after our interview.

"The guy who shows up to show me how to play the cello is nothing like what I expected," says Jamie. "I thought it would be a stiff guy. But my guy is like a Ninja cellist. He's a really fit, goodlooking Asian dude, and he comes to my place with his cello strapped to his back. The first time he came, there were some ladies at my place when he started to play, they just went all dreamy over him. They were fascinated and when I saw how impressed they were, I thought: 'Oh, my God, I got to learn to play the cello!' "

Whatever it takes! I will definitely make time to see this movie, and maybe even take a look at Ray first. (I thought I read this book, but I don't remember the "homeless schizophrenic who plays classical cello and violin brilliantly on the streets of LA" part. Perhaps I am thinking of another book? Perhaps the storyline has been changed?

Classical Interpretations, with humor

These aren't exactly Suzuki tunes, but I enjoyed them and wanted to share them. The first is Sid Caesar and Nanette Fabray pantomiming an argument to Beethoven's Fifth, from Sid Caesar's 1950s "Your Show of Shows.

I can't get the second one to post correctly so follow this link:
Jack Benny and Isaac Stern

Jack Benny and Isaac Stern play Bach's Double Violin Concerto in d minor. I have played this on flute, though not entirely successfully, as the second part drops below the flute range quite frequently! A friend played cello in a version for 2 violins and cello, but I haven't tried that yet. I'm not sure if this is a Suzuki violin piece, but most of the violin students play it.

There are a lot more Jack-Benny-playing-the-violin videos on YouTube. I saw him play violin when I was young, and he remains a favorite of mine.

Denise Djokic

I have been asked to write a review of a local concert featuring cellist Denise Djokic. I am not familiar with her, but various web sites call her the "best young cellist in the world," with a "warm and lyrical" sound. "Lyrical" is my favorite word to use in music reviews. The "All Things Considered" reviewer said, "she shows how classical music can let its hair down without dying it purple." I love this and may quote it in my review if it seems appropriate.

I am excited to discover that she has a CD called Folk Lore, which features classical music with folk themes. I have ordered her CD and am looking forward to this concert. My usual nervousness about reviewing a concert has dimished considerably.