ESO Concert

I'm not tired, so I figured I'd blog about the concert I went to tonight.

First off, there was a couple sitting next to me who didn't really know what was going on. They kept talking at a relatively high volume throughout the first half, which annoyed me, but I understood when, as we were sitting back down after intermission, they asked me what the big violin was called. I told them it was a viola, and they looked not quite happy. Then, they asked what the woman with the grey hair was playing. It was a cello, I told them, and for good measure, I told them which ones were the double basses, too. ^_^

We all know that the non-trumpet music isn't important, so I won't talk about it. The Hummel was up first, and, I gotta say, I didn't like the performance. I seemed kinda phoned in. It lacked energy and tension. I think the main reason is that the piece just wasn't challenging enough for him. I was telling Peter over the break that the trumpet world needs a Christian Loba (Lauba?). Then, after the break, was the Jolivet, and that made me happy. I've always called music like that "Post-Romantic." Stravinsky's good stuff, ie, when he's not the model of Neo-Classicism, is also in this category. It's got the intense feel of Romantic Music, but has more complexity and interest. Ole Antonsen delivered a much better performance on this piece, I think.

When I went backstage afterwards, I saw a bunch of people I knew, but no Ole Antonsen. Russ showed us to him (Ian Trace was there to, and he's dating Cathy Glasper, which floored me, since I didn't know they knew the other existed), and so I got to congratulate him, but I didn't get to talk to him about the Jolivet. Russ gave a lecture on it before the concert, but I missed it, so maybe I'll get him to give me the jist of it in lesson on Monday. That should eat up some time. ^_^

Tomorrow: I continue to lounge around! Yay!