things from the misc. bin

I’m still not sure what I liked the most about our recent guest conductor Rossen Milanov. He was charming. He spoke well, both to us and the audiences. He had interesting musical ideas, especially in the Haydn, which is where most conductors either soar or founder on the rocks. He did seem to engender a sense of unease in the ensemble, however, and I’m not exactly sure why. I would say that this is the area where the mysteries of conductor/orchestra chemistry come in to play. Some conductors come to us and their gestures seem indecipherable, but there is something that we respond to, and there is cohesion, music – magic. Of course, other times, not so much. In this case, Milanov seemed comfortable with a bit of ensemble looseness, which is not the norm around here, and that may have been what made some of us a bit uneasy. The concerts were enjoyable, however, especially due to the beautiful playing of our soloist, Natasha Paremski, in the Brahms First Piano Concerto. What assured and expressive playing. She made this massive and craggy masterpiece seem easy. It would be great to have her back with Carlos on the podium.

I’m working on a follow-up post to my Ten Things I Wish I’d Known As a Young Musician article – if you’ve got any suggestions that I didn’t cover in that first foray, drop a line to me via the ‘Contact’ tab above and I’ll see what I can do to include them.