Musings on ballet, classical music, the violin, and life
Concerts, recordings, reviews, musings, you name it. I’m a lifelong classical music fan.
Having blogged earlier this week about William Bennett, principal oboist with the San Francisco Symphony, who collapsed mid-performance last Saturday, I’m so sad to report that he died today. http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_22689844/william-bennett-san-francisco-symphony-musician-dies Extending heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and the members of the San Francisco Symphony. He was only 56. Boy. That always makes it sadder.
William Bennett, principal oboist with the San Francisco Symphony, collapsed onstage on Saturday evening, while performing as soloist in Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto. As I wasn’t there at Davies Symphony Hall that night, I’ll let the news articles do the explaining. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22661083/star-oboist-san-francisco-symphony-collapses-stage-mid and http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/S-F-Symphony-oboist-has-stroke-onstage-4304378.php From the news I can glean today, Tuesday, he is still in … Read more
This first appeared at Violinist.com in March 2010 Back in the late 19th and early 20th century a superstition developed in the classical music world that prophesied the Ninth would be a composer’s last symphony. Arnold Schoenberg summed it up in an eloquent fashion, stating that “he who wants to go beyond it must pass … Read more
I’ve been thinking about the recent Gil Shaham recital (https://www.theclassicalgirl.com/?p=81), how I enjoyed it, and how we as the audience were all delighted when Shaham and his accompanist delivered us an encore. It was a lovely one, a rag-based melody. As is often the case when the musician calls it out, I wasn’t sure about … Read more
Listening to a live performance of a Bach partita, by a master on the violin, on an instrument crafted by the world’s greatest luthier of all time, in a world-class music venue, is about as sublime as it gets. Almost holy. Certainly the silence, the attention from the audience was reverent, worshipful. Gil Shaham opened … Read more