Beethoven Triple Concerto Oistrakh Rostropovich Richter 1/4

We went to a performance of Beethoven's Concerto in C for Violin, Cello and Piano last night. It was good, but not as good as this YouTube version of it with Mstislav Rostropovich on cello, Sviatoslav Richter on piano, and David Oistrakh on violin. This is performed with the Moscow Philharmonic orchestra, Kyril Kondrachin, conductor, 50th Anniversary of the Moscow State Philarmonic Orchestra, Moscow Great Hall, 1970.

This is part 1 of 4.

The soloists in the performance this weekend's performances were all students at New England Conservatory in their teens or early twenties, and are all very impressive players.

Mom's Shawl

Today would have been my mother's 99th birthday. When I saw her on her birthday last year, she had an assortment of blankets and afghans to keep her warm, but I was in a knitting sort of mood and offered to knit her a shawl to keep her warm. "What color?," I asked. "Pink," she said.

I had a hard time finding a pattern for an interesting, yet easy shawl, and finally decided on one that called for seven to 12 different colors of yarn, to knit in increasingly wider rows of randomly selected color stripes. It was not easy to find seven to 12 shades of pink, but I bought an assortment of yarns in different colors and textures, including some that were not pink, for interest, including that furry "fun" yarn that was all the rage a few years ago, but now can be had for $1 a ball (down from $4 or $5).

I had imagined creating a gentle, romantic, warm pink cloud. In reality, my jumbled colors seemed loud and not clearly thought out. I kept showing it to people, asking if they liked it. They did, but I didn't really believe them.

When I returned to visit my mother in February, I brought the shawl project, but held off showing it to her. By that time, I reluctantly realized she was dying and just didn't want to see a look of disappointment when I showed the raucous shawl to her. So, I sat by her side in the hospital and knitted while she slept. Finally, I showed it to her and she smiled. A beautiful, heart-warming smile. She actually liked it, and she understood it was for her.

I didn't finish it before she died, and I set it aside for a while. I picked it up again recently and decided to finish it. It's a nice, warm project to work during these cold winter months, and it reminds me of her. I have to say I like it more now. It would have really brightened up that nursing home.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Self-portrait, with cello

I attended a wonderful art show yesterday featuring many unique and creative self-portraits of 55 Cape Cod artists. (For those of you on the Cape, it is at the Cotuit Center for the Arts through February 9.)

One self-portrait stood out for me: Cherie Mittenthal's hot wax painting of herself on the beach playing a cello. The inscription on the painting said: "I always wanted to play the cello because you get to sit down."

I was with a group of fourth-graders, on a tour, and at least half the group burst out that they always wanted to play the cello too, and everyone commented on the rich, warm sound of the cello.

A heart-warming moment, so I forgave the artist her inaccurate representation of the cello. It was her creative vision, after all, and it made me smile.

Concert for the troops

I am playing in a benefit concert on January 26. The price of admission is snack foods, small clothing items, and miscellaneous small amusements (crossword puzzle books, CDs, phone cards, stationery, etc.) for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There seem to be a multitude of these groups raising money or collecting pretzels for the troops. It's sad that such efforts are necessary--on so many levels--but, if the troops need wool socks, granola bars, duct tape, and playing cards, I am certainly willing to play music to make it happen.

I must admit that there is a little grumpiness among musicians associated with this event. Four or five ensembles are playing, and we all get 10 to 12 minutes each. Groups want to play for a half hour or an hour each. I am probably the only one who is perfectly willing to play for 10 or 12 minutes and spent the reset of the time listening to the other groups. It is interesting, to me, to meeting the other amateur music groups in the area, and I enjoy this sort of thing. To me, it is a good opportunity to work hard on a limited number of pieces and bring them to a good performance level vs., sometimes, not doing quite so well on a multitude of pieces.

On the other hand, I must also admit that, since I play in two of the groups who are performing, I actually get to play for 20 to 24 minutes, both flute and cello, and have no reason to be grumpy myself.

Well, I'm off to collect some nice, tasty, nutritious, organic snacks, and hope that someone on some level is working to bring the soldiers back home, where there are snacks and duct tape aplenty.

New Directions Cello 2008

I received a notice in the mail the other day about the New Directions Cello Festival, June 6-8, 2008. It's for all non-classical forms of cello playing and will be held this year in Ithaca NY, a mere 7-hour drive from here. I am contemplating going, mostly for the fun of toying with improvisation.

For many years, New Directions Cello was held at the Univ. of Connecticut, fairly close to me, but every year my daughter had a vocal recital that same weekend. Finally, the date of the vocal recital changed, and I was free to go--and they moved the festival to Wisconsin, and then California, too far for me to travel. So, this year, Ithaca sounds close. And according to MapQuest, the best route is through Schenectady, near where I lived when I was about 5 to 7 years old. I could also stop in to see Cellos 2Go.

According to the New Directions website, guest artists will include:

Montana Skies – guitar & cello duo from Georgia
Hank Roberts – group to be announced
Rushad Eggleston's Magic Wizard Band – rock trio
Gunther Tiedemann & David Plate - cello & guitar duo from Germany
James Hoskins - with Trio Sherefe – music of Balkans, Turkey & Middle East
Trevor Exter – with his trio.

I would love to hear Montanta Skies, after hearing some of their music online. Are they really from Georgia? I am not familiar with the others, except of course for Rushad, who has, thankfully, changed the name of his band again.

Is anyone else thinking on going?

Happy New Year!

I have spent a lazy day, this first one of 2008, reading, watching a video (Once), and generally relaxing. Soon I will practice. No decluttering yet today, though I had high hopes when I woke up this morning at noon.

Best wishes to all for a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous, Creative, and Fulfilling New Year!

Clutter free, maybe

One of my standard new year's resolutions is to rid the house of clutter. I make progress every so often, then the clutter creeps back. This year, I am trying a quantifiable goal: Spend two hours a week decluttering. It's not lot of time, but, if I am consistent, I might make some headway, especially if I can get a family member to help.

I am thinking about clutter today because there was a story in the paper today amid the "Highlights of the Year 2007" about a woman who was involved in an auto accident in February because her car was so full of clutter that junk rolled under the gas pedal and she couldn't control the car. Then the authorities then went to her home and found it so full of stuff and junk that the only way in and out of the house was through a window! Yikes. Stories like that make me throw everything out right now! Well, except for all the music and art stuff...and some of the books....