Solo e soli.

January 10, 2009 at 8:17 AM

I'm planning a mammoth post on my Dayton audition (to begin at the beginning), and orchestra auditions in general, soon, but in the meantime I just want to note something I never would have imagined as a student: though I have yet to play any major concertmaster solos with the DPO--Scheherazade, Heldenleben, and other big works that are well-known audition staples and concert highlights--I have had some interesting solos, and gotten plenty of exposure already, often on non-Classical series concerts.

One of the most enjoyable was from The Composer is Dead by Nathaniel Stookey, which we performed on a young people's concert. Written in the vein of Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, but with the twist of solving a mystery--namely, who murdered the composer--The Composer is Dead is absolutely one of the most entertaining educational pieces I have played. Mr. Stookey has his orchestral stereotypes down pat (for example, he paints the viola section as a self-pitying lot who "play the notes in the chord that nobody cares about" and have to stay late to stack up chairs). My role, of course, was that of the flamboyant showoff with an overdone cadenza. I was also encouraged to throw in some extra notes so the cadenza goes on just a tad too long, and though improvisation isn't my strong suit, I did manage to make each of our two performances for area schoolkids somewhat different. It was fun to play a solo that involved a bit of acting, and I believe it was my stand partner who advised me best: "Just go crazy, man."

Another memorable concert for unusual solos is one I just played a few hours ago and will be repeating again tonight. On our SuperPops series (which, according to its name, is apparently superior to your average pops series), we are featuring the lovely Maude Maggart, a cabaret singer (and the sister of Fiona Apple). The program features earlier songs of Irving Berlin, her specialty, and the description on her homepage of her tone as "sultry-sweet" by a USA Today writer is very apt. Her version of "Pack Up Your Sins (and Go to the Devil)" begins with a violin cadenza (which I was discussing with the conductor, so I couldn't possibly have murdered the composer...sorry, inside joke from the last paragraph). She also sings a love song called "Yiddishe Nightingale," accompanied by piano and violin obbligato. Add to that some "Younger Than Springtime" solos in our Rodgers South Pacific Symphonic Scenario on the first half, and somehow I have my hands full (literally) this concert! As I just made my solo debut with the orchestra on New Year's Eve, I certainly didn't expect to be standing up to play again anytime soon, but hey, no complaints. It's great to be back at work.

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Solo e soli.

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