5.20.2005
things to do
Wow... What a week and a half. I feel like I was buried in work, but a few fun things have indeed come up.
Chronologically, I suppose, the Oxford University Orchestra concert. I was playing contrabassoon and bassoon, and I'm very happy to report that I don't ever have to touch the contrabassoon again. Well, this year. It's insanely heavy and unwieldy and unfotunately cannot be left near the rehearsal spaces. So I have to carry it back and forth from Keble to the music faculty on St. Aldate's street. I wish I could show even on a map how long that is, but a map doesn't really do it justice. Suffice it to say, it's extremely unpleasant to walk with. Concert was Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, Kodaly Dances of Marosszek, and Mahler 1. I'd played the Brahms before and love it. Heard but never played the Mahler, and I genrally enjoy it as well. And the Kodaly was a real treat. I had very low expectations for the Kodaly going in - I usually figure it's going to be some random Hungarian nonsense but was really quite pleasantly surprised this time. Overall, the orchestra played well, though the concert was in 3rd week instead of 5th week of term, so we were understandably a bit more rushed and unsure of ourselves than at other concerts in the year. Downside: someone swiped my nice music stand. Grrr!
Finished up two days (and one aborted day) of recording with Magdala yesterday. We're recording a disc of Palestrina, which has been incredible. Tuesday we recorded two pieces, yesterday we recorded three. Wednesday we were set to record, but the recording equipment wasn't having any of it. At least that day I got some supper back at Queen's. Queen's was having a gaudy grace that night and, though I was unable to attend, I got out of Magdala's aborted recording session early enough to nick some food. As always, the delightful Queen's College cold buffet spectacular. This always includes poached salmon on wilted lettuce covered by a healthy dollop of mayonnaise, potato salad covered in mayonnaise, shredded carrots covered in mayonnaise, a tossed salad with mayonnaise and salad dressing on the side, and some sort of starch salad. Wednesday, it was rice salad. Second Wednesday in a row I'd eaten that stuff - the previous Wednesday had been a dinner thrown by the provost of Queen's in his house. The provost is an amazingly generous and kind man, and I had a lot of fun talking with him. Moreso than I ever have talking to the warden of Keble. Also met members of the Queen's SCR, which was lots of fun. But back to the disc, I got to chatting with some of my fellow singers last night at the wrap party and we all agreed it was amazing to record. There's just something about those pieces that makes one weep, they're so gorgeous. Beautiful. This CD will help to pay for our July tour to Levanto and Genoa. :)
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, I'm walking into the cloisters at Magdalen College when I run into...
Ryan Brandau!
Couldn't believe my eyes. I hardly ever see Ryan when I go to Princeton reunions or things like that. But the last time I went to Ikea in New Haven, I saw him afterward on the streets just outside of Yale. I bump into Ryan in the strangest places. He's a dear friend - someone I have a lot of affection and respect for, both musically and personally. His group, Yale Schola Cantorum, was on tour and singing in Magdalen Chapel while we were off recording. Unfortunately, he was only here for one day and had forgotten to email until it was too late. Still, it was wonderful to see him.
Meanwhile, I'm thrilled that other people have the same reaction to food writing as I do. Speaking of over the top food writing...
Monday was the MCR Black Tie Dinner. It was decent, I suppose. No menu printed, so I can't really write with any certainty of detail what we ate. Starter was a sliced pear half and brie on baby greens. Lackluster, not too flavorful, and certainly not helped by the bland white wine that was served. It lacked bite and was uninspiring. Main course was a delicious breast of duck. Served over an herb mashed potato and drizzled with a delicious sauce, I could have had much more of this. Unfortunately, the serving size was tiny and we were left feeling quite hungry. The red had enough spice to stand up to the gaminess of the duck, but really didn't leave anything memorable. And having gone to France a few months ago, where I had quite a bit of duck and some delicious red wines, this was a little lacking, sadly. Dessert was a roulade of whipped cream and hazelnuts in a raspberry sauce. I gave mine to Ted, as I really hate hazelnuts. One star out of four, at best. The afterparty, however, was outstanding: we had planned an extravagant to-do in a place called Freud's, but Freud's wasn't going to charge us much and someone else came in after the contracts had been signed and offered them a boatload of money. They conveniently forgot that they had already booked us and doublebooked us out of there. So we ended up at Copa, where we could rent out the entire top floor. Appetizer trays of food abounded (more food, honestly, than had been at the dinner), and we had set up a poker game, complete with a very professional dealer from the Keble JCR. Nice work. A great night overall.
And then finally, today is the qualifying race for the Summer Eights regatta. This is the first time in two years the MCR has been strong enough to enter a boat. And we are pretty strong. In the last regatta, Tom rowed in the 2nd VIII, Luke, Heiko and I rowed in the 3rd VIII. In the Michelmas term regatta, I rowed with the A crew, Tom and Dan in the B, Luke and Heiko with the C. Bosh is a rugby player who's got a lot of power, Steve is an MBA with a good amount of discipline and control, and the only real newbie is Edouard, who has made leaps and bounds this term. We like our chances, but there are still 49 crews competing for 26 spots on the water. I'm nervous... We have a time trial today - top 26 crews get to race next week. I will be, shall we say, annoyed if we are not among them.
We've had great coaching - Jess Rispoli from the Women's 1st VIII is our head coach. Also, Robin Owen, who was on the Men's 1st VIII a few years back, Inga Deakin, who rowed for her college at Cambridge and is now on the Women's 1st VIII also coached. Best coach, or at least, most illustrious coach, might have to be Jason Flickinger, who rowed in the winning Blues boat this year. See this posting from March for information on the boat race. Jason has the 8th fastest 2000m erg time in the world. At the beginning of Hilary Term, I pulled my butt off to pull at 7:20. I couldn't feel my legs afterward and felt like passing out. Jason pulls a 5:30. RIDICULOUS. Anyway, Jason came down to coach us, but because one of our members forgot to come down, he jumped in the boat. It probably would have been more enjoyable to have him coaching from the bank, but now I can say I've rowed in a boat with Flick. amazing.
OK, that's it. So wish us luck with rowing on. I'll know by tonight at 8 whether we qualified. Most people say that we will, but I'll relax when I see the results.
Chronologically, I suppose, the Oxford University Orchestra concert. I was playing contrabassoon and bassoon, and I'm very happy to report that I don't ever have to touch the contrabassoon again. Well, this year. It's insanely heavy and unwieldy and unfotunately cannot be left near the rehearsal spaces. So I have to carry it back and forth from Keble to the music faculty on St. Aldate's street. I wish I could show even on a map how long that is, but a map doesn't really do it justice. Suffice it to say, it's extremely unpleasant to walk with. Concert was Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, Kodaly Dances of Marosszek, and Mahler 1. I'd played the Brahms before and love it. Heard but never played the Mahler, and I genrally enjoy it as well. And the Kodaly was a real treat. I had very low expectations for the Kodaly going in - I usually figure it's going to be some random Hungarian nonsense but was really quite pleasantly surprised this time. Overall, the orchestra played well, though the concert was in 3rd week instead of 5th week of term, so we were understandably a bit more rushed and unsure of ourselves than at other concerts in the year. Downside: someone swiped my nice music stand. Grrr!
Finished up two days (and one aborted day) of recording with Magdala yesterday. We're recording a disc of Palestrina, which has been incredible. Tuesday we recorded two pieces, yesterday we recorded three. Wednesday we were set to record, but the recording equipment wasn't having any of it. At least that day I got some supper back at Queen's. Queen's was having a gaudy grace that night and, though I was unable to attend, I got out of Magdala's aborted recording session early enough to nick some food. As always, the delightful Queen's College cold buffet spectacular. This always includes poached salmon on wilted lettuce covered by a healthy dollop of mayonnaise, potato salad covered in mayonnaise, shredded carrots covered in mayonnaise, a tossed salad with mayonnaise and salad dressing on the side, and some sort of starch salad. Wednesday, it was rice salad. Second Wednesday in a row I'd eaten that stuff - the previous Wednesday had been a dinner thrown by the provost of Queen's in his house. The provost is an amazingly generous and kind man, and I had a lot of fun talking with him. Moreso than I ever have talking to the warden of Keble. Also met members of the Queen's SCR, which was lots of fun. But back to the disc, I got to chatting with some of my fellow singers last night at the wrap party and we all agreed it was amazing to record. There's just something about those pieces that makes one weep, they're so gorgeous. Beautiful. This CD will help to pay for our July tour to Levanto and Genoa. :)
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, I'm walking into the cloisters at Magdalen College when I run into...
Ryan Brandau!
Couldn't believe my eyes. I hardly ever see Ryan when I go to Princeton reunions or things like that. But the last time I went to Ikea in New Haven, I saw him afterward on the streets just outside of Yale. I bump into Ryan in the strangest places. He's a dear friend - someone I have a lot of affection and respect for, both musically and personally. His group, Yale Schola Cantorum, was on tour and singing in Magdalen Chapel while we were off recording. Unfortunately, he was only here for one day and had forgotten to email until it was too late. Still, it was wonderful to see him.
Meanwhile, I'm thrilled that other people have the same reaction to food writing as I do. Speaking of over the top food writing...
Monday was the MCR Black Tie Dinner. It was decent, I suppose. No menu printed, so I can't really write with any certainty of detail what we ate. Starter was a sliced pear half and brie on baby greens. Lackluster, not too flavorful, and certainly not helped by the bland white wine that was served. It lacked bite and was uninspiring. Main course was a delicious breast of duck. Served over an herb mashed potato and drizzled with a delicious sauce, I could have had much more of this. Unfortunately, the serving size was tiny and we were left feeling quite hungry. The red had enough spice to stand up to the gaminess of the duck, but really didn't leave anything memorable. And having gone to France a few months ago, where I had quite a bit of duck and some delicious red wines, this was a little lacking, sadly. Dessert was a roulade of whipped cream and hazelnuts in a raspberry sauce. I gave mine to Ted, as I really hate hazelnuts. One star out of four, at best. The afterparty, however, was outstanding: we had planned an extravagant to-do in a place called Freud's, but Freud's wasn't going to charge us much and someone else came in after the contracts had been signed and offered them a boatload of money. They conveniently forgot that they had already booked us and doublebooked us out of there. So we ended up at Copa, where we could rent out the entire top floor. Appetizer trays of food abounded (more food, honestly, than had been at the dinner), and we had set up a poker game, complete with a very professional dealer from the Keble JCR. Nice work. A great night overall.
And then finally, today is the qualifying race for the Summer Eights regatta. This is the first time in two years the MCR has been strong enough to enter a boat. And we are pretty strong. In the last regatta, Tom rowed in the 2nd VIII, Luke, Heiko and I rowed in the 3rd VIII. In the Michelmas term regatta, I rowed with the A crew, Tom and Dan in the B, Luke and Heiko with the C. Bosh is a rugby player who's got a lot of power, Steve is an MBA with a good amount of discipline and control, and the only real newbie is Edouard, who has made leaps and bounds this term. We like our chances, but there are still 49 crews competing for 26 spots on the water. I'm nervous... We have a time trial today - top 26 crews get to race next week. I will be, shall we say, annoyed if we are not among them.
We've had great coaching - Jess Rispoli from the Women's 1st VIII is our head coach. Also, Robin Owen, who was on the Men's 1st VIII a few years back, Inga Deakin, who rowed for her college at Cambridge and is now on the Women's 1st VIII also coached. Best coach, or at least, most illustrious coach, might have to be Jason Flickinger, who rowed in the winning Blues boat this year. See this posting from March for information on the boat race. Jason has the 8th fastest 2000m erg time in the world. At the beginning of Hilary Term, I pulled my butt off to pull at 7:20. I couldn't feel my legs afterward and felt like passing out. Jason pulls a 5:30. RIDICULOUS. Anyway, Jason came down to coach us, but because one of our members forgot to come down, he jumped in the boat. It probably would have been more enjoyable to have him coaching from the bank, but now I can say I've rowed in a boat with Flick. amazing.
OK, that's it. So wish us luck with rowing on. I'll know by tonight at 8 whether we qualified. Most people say that we will, but I'll relax when I see the results.
