Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
The Classical Girl In my second year of playing the violin, back in 2006, I decided my $200 starter violin, initially a rental, had served its purpose, and it was time to invest in a quality advanced beginner violin. My budget was $2000. The search took five months as I sampled over forty violins, in San Francisco, Santa … Read more
Boy, the things you come back home to after you’ve been away on vacation. Especially if you’re one of those people, like myself, who tries to avoid the stuff that chains you to your regular, non-vacationing life: the news, the Internet, social media. Sometimes this philosophy backfires. In mid-June I came home from a relaxing … Read more
Back in 2013, when this blog was but a fledgling, I thought it would be clever, as my very first post, to discuss Tchaikovsky creating his first symphony. The post, entitled “Creating the First” applied to both him and me, you see. I just love Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 1 and I love the story behind … Read more
“Tout un monde lointain, absent, Presque defunct, vit dans tes profondeurs, forêt aromatique,” (A whole distant world, absent, barely alive, dwells in your depths, oh scented forest.) Mstislav Rostropovich commissioned this cello concerto. The poetry of Charles Baudelaire inspired it, albeit loosely. Pierre Boulez disdained its composer, Henri Dutilleux, and his work, which might be … Read more
The San Francisco Symphony is right across the street from the San Francisco Ballet. I attend both. I sharpen my skills as a dance reviewer while watching the ballet, so it would stand to reason that I learn more and more about composers and their music while at the symphony. Except when it comes … Read more