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Music
Notes on a season
Florida Orchestra members tell us what they did over the summer and what excites them about the fall.
By JOHN FLEMING
Published October 5, 2006
You might be surprised at what members of the Florida Orchestra listen to for fun. Jazz, country, Canadian new age, rock and books on audio - those were the answers to an informal poll taken during breaks in a recent rehearsal. Then again you might not be so surprised at the answers, since orchestra players get plenty of classical music on the job, and their musical tastes are not so different from other people's tastes. Some even moonlight in pop and jazz bands; percussionist David Coash is a mainstay of the Frank Zappa tribute band Bogus Pomp. The orchestra is back in full swing this weekend, with its first masterworks concerts of the season under music director Stefan Sanderling. So we also asked some of the musicians how they spent their summer - many play in festivals, such as the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico, the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, and the Central City Opera in Colorado among others - and what they're looking forward to playing this season. A telling note: Without fail, all the musicians said one of the pieces they were most looking forward to was Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, which will be paired on a program with Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony Jan. 12-14. Sounds like one to put on your calendar. John Fleming can be reached at (727) 893-8716 or fleming@sptimes.com. Maurizio Venturini, assistant principal bassoon Summer: "The highlights were teaching bassoon at a music camp at the University of Tampa and playing in the Swannanoa Chamber Music Festival in North Carolina. I build wood models of 17th and 18th century ships and worked on a Swedish galleon from 1692." Listening: "I like jazz, blues, easy listening, some rock. Recently I was listening to Celtic music by a Canadian singer, Loreena McKennitt. Very well done, very interesting arrangements: cello, violin, harp. I started buying her CDs after I heard her on the sound track of The Mists of Avalon." Looking forward to: "The chamber music on the second masterworks program, the Dvorak serenade for woodwinds, a beautiful piece of music, and the Serenade in C minor by Mozart." Jeffrey Multer, concertmaster Summer: "I went to Colorado and climbed a couple of 14,000-foot mountains: Mount Albert and Mount Sherman. I played in the Eastern Music Festival in North Carolina, and Stefan came and conducted one week. I was in a chamber music festival in Tuscany, Italy, and also visited Berlin and Switzerland." Listening: "I do a lot of my listening on the CD player in the car. It's mostly not classical music. Lately, it has been Bonnie Raitt, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Lynyrd Skynyrd, K.D. Lang, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday." Looking forward to: "I'm really looking forward to doing the Schubert Mass No. 6. I haven't done that since college. We're doing the Beethoven Ninth Symphony again, and I never get tired of that piece. The Schumann Rhenish Symphony (Symphony No. 3) will be great." Vicky Newcomb, clarinet Summer: "Spending time with my kids, going up to Tennessee to see my brother and his family for the Fourth of July near the Smoky Mountain national forest. I have two teenagers, so I have my hands full." Listening: "I like Brazilian music that has a lot of percussion and rhythm. And sometimes I listen to the stuff that my kids listen to. Some of it's pretty good. They are totally not into orchestra music." Looking forward to: "The Shostakovich Seventh Symphony because it has a very big bass clarinet solo in it. I'm also looking forward to Rite of Spring, which is always fun to play." David Coash, percussion Summer: "I played at the Lake George Opera in New York, which I do every summer, but the highlight was actually coming back and having nothing to do for about a month. When I get time off, it's precious." Listening: "A jazz quintet called Pursuance, out of Boston. A good friend of mine is the group's vibraphone player. They do a really neat arrangement of the Miles Davis tune So What. I've been listening to some Frank Zappa albums, like Sheik Yerbouti. Tower of Power is one of my favorite groups to listen to." Looking forward to: "Three things: Rite of Spring, the Shostakovich Seventh Symphony and Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotiques (Exotic Birds). The Messiaen is a famous piece for percussionists. It's one of those you practice for years and years and rarely get to play." James Petrecca, bass Summer: "We went to Colorado where we have a place and like to hike and camp." Listening: "I don't listen to much classical music because we do so much of it here. I listen to electronic music, lounge music, groups like Radiohead. I've been listening to a lot of bluegrass lately." Looking forward to: "Everything, really. I'm just glad to be back. I love playing this music." Toula Bonie, violin Summer: "I had a delightful, relaxing summer, and mostly rested from the last season. I practiced, took lessons." Listening: "Frank Sinatra, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams. I love standards from the '40s and '50s and country and western music." Looking forward to: "I have not performed the Shostakovich Seventh Symphony before, so I'm looking forward to that." Andrea Kaplan, acting principal flute Summer: "I was playing in Colorado for Central City Opera, and I had a great time hiking in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming." Listening: "I actually don't generally listen to music for fun. In my car I like to listen to talk radio or books on tape. My most recent book on tape was a course of lectures on the history of the Supreme Court." Looking forward to: "The Rite of Spring. It has a rhythmic drive like very few other pieces. The way the harmonies clash is really exciting." WHERE THEY ARE Concerts this weekend are at 8 p.m. Saturday at Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg, and 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. Most orchestra concerts are at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa; Ruth Eckerd Hall; and Mahaffey Theater. Tickets usually are $17 to $62. 813 286-2403, toll-free 1-800-662-7286, www.floridaorchestra.org. THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA MASTERWORKS SEASON Stefan Sanderling conducts masterworks programs, unless otherwise noted. SATURDAY-SUNDAY: Opening night; Robert Smith and Kenneth Brown, trumpet OCT. 27-30: Mozart: Serenade No. 12; Stravinsky: Concerto for Piano & Wind Instruments; Messiaen: Oiseaux Exotiques (with solo piano); Dvorak: Serenade, Op. 44; William Wolfram, piano NOV. 3-5: Mahler: Adagio from Symphony No. 10; Schubert: Mass No. 6; Master Chorale of Tampa Bay NOV. 17-19: Brahms: Viola Concerto (orch. by S. Adler); Dvorak: Symphony No. 5; Kenneth Montgomery, conductor; Ben Markwell, viola JAN. 12-14: Tchaikovsky's Pathetique and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring JAN. 19-21: Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3; Schnittke: Klein Sommernachtstraum; Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto; Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, violin FEB. 9-11: Bruckner's Symphony No. 8 MARCH 2-4: Skrowaczewski: Concerto for Orchestra; Beethoven: Symphony No. 2; Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, conductor MARCH 16-18: Haydn: Symphony No. 85 (La reine de France); Poulenc: Piano Concerto; Milhaud: Le Carnaval d'Aix, Fantasy for Piano & Orchestra; Sibelius: Symphony No. 3; Pascal Roge, piano MARCH 24-25: Mozart: Divertimento, K. 136; Symphony No. 40; Scott Yoo, conductor and viola; Jeffrey Multer, concertmaster/violin April 13-15: Debussy: L'isle joyeuse; Lees: Piano Concerto; Debussy: La Mer; Susan Haig, conductor; Ian Hobson, piano April 27-29: Hindemith: Kammermusik No. 1; Schumann: Symphony No. 3; Brahms: Violin Concerto; Viviane Hagner, violin May 4-6: Hindemith: Concert Music for Strings and Brass; Schumann: Cello Concerto; Brahms: Symphony No. 2; James Connors, cello May 25-27: MacMillan: The Confession of Isobel Gowdie; Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending; Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 3 (Scottish); Anne Akiko Meyers, violinPOPS season Oct. 19-21: Flash Cadillac: Rockin' at the PopsNov. 10-12: Rodgers and Hammerstein Celebration Dec. 1-3: Christmas SpectacularJan. 5-8: Arturo Sandoval in Concert Feb. 1-3: Jack Jones: Love Songs and MoreFeb. 23-25: Roger Williams, piano May 18-20: Marvin Hamlisch, conductor and piano FREE PARKS CONCERTS Oct. 12: Coachman Park, Clearwater Oct. 13: Curtis Hixon Park, Tampa with fireworks Oct. 14: Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg, with fireworks Oct. 17: (Noon) Lykes Gaslight Park Oct. 22: Sulphur Springs Park, Tampa SPECIAL PERFORMANCES Dec. 15-18: Beethoven's Immortal Ninth, Idlewild Church, Tampa; Mahaffey Theater; and Ruth Eckerd Hall DEC 31: An Evening in Vienna; The Florida Orchestra Imperial Ball, Mahaffey Theater Feb. 16-17: Beethoven Piano Concertos Nos. 2, 3 & 4, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and Nos. 1 & 5, Mahaffey Theater; Peter Rosel, piano Feb. 21-22: Lord of the Rings Symphony, Mahaffey Theater March 9 and 11: Madama Butterfly, Mahaffey Theater April 18: The Phantom of the Opera, Tampa Theatre, Tampa
[Last modified October 4, 2006, 13:00:57]
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