tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90932072008-05-05T09:03:48.090-05:00ericBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-79427393197016722522008-05-05T09:01:00.002-05:002008-05-05T09:03:48.133-05:00

Just announced today is that Riccardo Muti has been appointed as the 10th music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Under a five-year contract, he begins in September 2010 and requires at least 10 subscription weeks per year. The tag line for this could probably go as follows: ``Attempting to gain acceptance of the younger crowd, the CSO board [again] decides to go with the younger, more

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-79267678770304258482008-03-12T14:44:00.007-05:002008-03-12T15:15:24.338-05:00

Sometimes being a musician means you have to play the occasional piece of music that isn't in your Top 10,000 Greatest Hits iTunes playlist. Ok, I get that....but Mendelssohn's Reformation Symphony takes my disdain for horrible music to a new level. May I suggest the following, instead? I vote for option #2.

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-47568535141061456342007-12-24T15:30:00.000-06:002007-12-24T16:37:59.871-06:00

Frequently, I receive looks of interest towards the amount of goods that I carry around with me as part of my normal arsenal of mallets, sticks, and other miscellany. Percussionists need be capable of performing all instruments in our family, including drums, keyboard instruments (xylophone, marimba, etc), timpani, and all the "toys" (triangle, tambourine, finger cymbals, ratchet, etc.). In order

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-89095674979449564042007-12-18T14:35:00.000-06:002007-12-18T14:48:51.216-06:00

The end of holiday concerts is always a relief. Although I did miss a note or two during a first-read performance of some non-trivial mallet parts, luckily I came away unscathed! For the holidays, I've chosen the following books to pass my time with. Although I joke that this end-of-year present to myself is simply to increase the intelligence of my bookshelves, I truly intend to (at least) read

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-73420274397671966302007-12-11T15:06:00.000-06:002007-12-11T15:17:00.807-06:00

WFMT, the classical music radio station in Chicago, current changed their policy on streaming music. Months ago I posted here that 'FMT was requiring a subscription to the streaming service. We feel that this is the right direction for WFMT and helps promote the station, as well as classical music in general, in a less-than-elitist way. Bravo to WFMT for making the right decision. Please visit

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-72012376334189319942007-11-27T14:09:00.000-06:002007-11-27T15:25:31.497-06:00

Now playing, the Monstrosity of Organic Romanticism, or Bruckner's E-flat Symphony. This work is nothing less than a study in utter boredom for the timpanist. No offense intended to the Maestro, but I could play some of the roll studies from Technique for the Virtuoso Timpanist and get just about as much fulfillment as I can from playing this symphony. Let me try and be positive for a moment and

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-11603609572304101652007-10-22T15:48:00.001-05:002007-10-22T15:54:44.302-05:00

I have started on the long, painful task of searching for a replacement minidisc recorder. I use minidisc recorders to capture live concerts. It's the easiest way to record concerts, but the format appears to be dying, slowly, as it has been since the late 1990s. Both of my recorders have served me well for the past 7 years, but now require replacement (one plays, one records). Check back here

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-84784897996653843012007-09-06T16:51:00.000-05:002007-09-06T17:18:57.913-05:00

According to various news sources, Luciano Pavarotti died today, 06 September 2007, at the age of 71. While I am not familiar with much of Maestro Pavarotti's work, I do know that his rendition of the literature can impress even the strongest opponent of opera. Let us conclude this entry by quoting one of Pavarotti's signature work's, Nessun Dorma from Puccini's Turandot.Dilegua, o notte!

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-35997745089428085322007-09-05T23:52:00.000-05:002007-10-22T15:59:16.350-05:00

Today is the tenth anniversary of Sir Georg Solti's death. Solti was the Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1969 to 1991. Following his retirement from the CSO as Music Director, Maestro Solti was made the first and only Music Director Laureate in that orchestra's history. In reflection of the many wonderful years of devotion to music, I chose to visit the his bust, which was

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-90059790074984280842007-09-05T14:01:00.000-05:002007-12-24T09:23:48.222-06:00

What is it with floor toms? Why must they always be so difficult, compared to other drums in a drum set? Last night I had a rehearsal that called for my playing a rhythmic drum solo on the floor tom in a "Gene Krupa style" (quoted directly from the score). Ok, I can do that. Dah-dah-zah-dah doo-dah-dah-zah-dah, etc. In the midst of playing this small little solo, the legs of the floor time

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-8628151276692683262007-07-02T17:04:00.000-05:002007-07-02T17:17:54.514-05:00

How often do you see this, perplexing, notation? Which note is louder, the principal note, or the accented grace note? Are both notes of equal volume? Care for another? Ok, try playing repeated eighth-notes in 6/8 time and get into a "groove". Now, attempt to play the next measure.

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-2791069099766718312007-04-06T14:51:00.000-05:002007-04-06T14:53:28.488-05:00

I had a nice month off. During that time, I managed to practice a lot of rudiments, expose myself to new music, and relax. Hey, the CSO hired a new percussionist.

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-9737157048385949792007-02-24T22:55:00.000-06:002007-02-24T23:41:45.864-06:00

A friend pointed out this comic today, and it offered a nice interlude to what had become a rather monotonous day of looking through various percussion scores for new literature to perform. This particular comic has to be one of the best representations of shopping for classical music I have ever seen. Truly, it's nearly impossible to find a good recording of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-13432611356806796642007-02-23T07:52:00.000-06:002007-02-23T09:03:27.910-06:00

Listeners of Japanese percussion music are sometimes frustrated by the lack of recordings available in mainstream distribution. Years ago while shopping through the bins at the now-defunct Tower Records store on Wabash Avenue in Chicago, I purchased Ground: Sound Space for Percussion III by Sumire Yoshihara. Recently, to my delight, I rediscovered this recording in my collection and wanted to

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-82386495113096723842007-02-04T09:04:00.000-06:002007-02-04T10:17:19.272-06:00

My tour of the Adler Planetarium last friday was slightly interrupted by the news (to the left) listed on the front page of the 21 December 1968 Chicago Tribune newspaper. It would seem that Giulini and Solti both had their front-page experience that day, in addition to those famous astronaunts.

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-49752333191919330992007-02-02T13:35:00.000-06:002007-02-02T15:18:02.489-06:00

There is a strong buzz in the city of Chicago before this years Superbowl Sunday. Buildings everywhere are donning blue and orange colors to ramp-up team spirit. The CSO is also displaying their spirit. During the 1986 football season, Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus recorded Jerry Downs' Bear Down, Chicago Bears, a song written in 1941 that has served as the team's

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-81116977711147820082007-01-30T08:14:00.000-06:002007-01-30T12:48:44.281-06:00

Films scores are certainly interesting creatures that live and die by many factors that could not be further from the music itself. The author did not realize this until presented with a unique opportunity to accompany - as part of the University of Chicago Symphony Orchestra - New Babylon, by russian film directors Grigori Kozintsev and Leonid Trauberg. The film score was composed by Dmitri

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-74923890670989355132007-01-26T16:50:00.000-06:002007-01-29T13:41:59.123-06:00

It seems that WFMT in Chicago is once again streaming audio. The catch? You have to be willing to pay $100 USD to be a part of the club. Sorry, no freebies here in Chicago! WFMT used to offer free streaming services 3 to 4 years ago until many entities decided they should not be broadcasting this music onto the Internet. It isn't quite enough that royalties have been paid to those money-hungry

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-107024983718013192007-01-23T17:08:00.000-06:002007-01-25T00:54:37.633-06:00

Sadly, Tower Records has now ceased to exist in everywhere but cyberspace. I have many fond memories of the Tower Records location on Clark Street on the north side of Chicago, and even the Wabash Street location. There was always a wonderful selection of classical music and knowledgeable staff. While superstores such as Border's Books and Music and Barnes and Noble keep a decent stock of

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-69347309659326546032007-01-23T16:48:00.000-06:002007-01-23T16:55:05.743-06:00

It isn't very often that we see images from the eyes of historical figures, themselves. This photograph of Bela Bartok was taken by legendary Hungarian conductor Fritz Reiner. I often wonder what Bartok was thinking in this photograph, or if Dr. Reiner had just asked the Maestro for a photo opportunity the way anyone would ask a friend.

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-1166115449060388472006-12-14T10:47:00.000-06:002007-01-27T12:10:45.724-06:00

The Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum is now offering the Neue Mozart-Ausgrabe (Digital Mozart Edition). This is a digital collection of the whole of Mozart's works. This is awesome, and hopefully it leads to more research of his music.

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-1164670310628807792006-11-27T17:23:00.000-06:002007-01-23T23:47:35.913-06:00

Today I was doing remedial searches for images of various percussion instruments when I stumbled across an excellent document titled The Well Tempered Timpani written by Richard K. Jones. I believe I've seen this document before, but I haven't written about it. There is excellent information in this document that any timpanist, percussionist, or physicist should be aware of. I highly recommend

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-1162321219632631932006-10-31T12:54:00.000-06:002007-01-23T23:48:32.660-06:00

Check out this picture of Skelly the pianist jamming out to some tunes of the 1800's. He's got a new gig at a haunted house out in the western suburbs of Chicago, and I'm a pretty big fan of his. Rumor is that he also knew Scott Joplin. Happy Halloween!

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-1161189634150613742006-10-18T11:02:00.000-05:002007-01-23T23:49:15.127-06:00

Last Saturday I attended Lyric Opera's staging of Iphigénie en Tauride at the Civic Opera House. Susan Graham offered the audience an outstanding Iphigénie, who is a high priestess tasked with killing any strangers captured in Tauris. If you are not familiar with the opera, it is one of the more prominent roles for mezzo-soprano in operatic literature. Ms. Graham had such wonderful control in all

erictag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9093207.post-1161015517015844712006-10-16T11:13:00.000-05:002007-01-24T16:26:04.873-06:00

The CSO had this very interesting banner ad on the Chicago Tribune website. Seems like someone enjoyed the concert enough to have drumming on their brain! Click on the link to enlarge it.

eric