Musical Treasure Chest: July 2024
Summer, for me, is devoured by playing in the Glimmerglass Festival Opera orchestra. Over the course of about 8 weeks, the orchestra rehearses and performs four operas in rotation. It’s not that I am ignoring Musicians of Ma’alwyck responsibilities, rather it’s that the opera sort of subsumes all else! Don’t think I mind; I love playing in the pit, and I look forward to it all year (even with the heat!). So I thought I would step away from Musicians of Ma’alwyck insights, and tell you a bit about life 6 feet below the opera stage!
My summer job has been with Glimmerglass since 1987, when the opera house on the shores of Otsego Lake first opened. The experience has always been a labor of love, and I mark my time with the opera in synchrony with my marriage, the birth of my children, the graduation of those same children from high school and college, and now the marriage of my oldest son. Can I really have been playing that long?! The German language has a wonderful word for the rapid passage of time: Augenblick, and that’s what the last three decades have been.
Over these decades I have been immersed in the amazing operatic repertory that Glimmerglass presents; I have too many special ones to name every opera that I adore, but some of the operatic pinnacles (for me) have been Massenet’s Werther; Puccini’s Fanciulla del West; Cherubini’s Medea and Handel’s Rinaldo. This summer I am rediscovering Pagliacci. I had forgotten just how much ravishingly beautiful music is contained in this short score, not a note is extraneous.
We rehearse all of the operas pretty much simultaneously. And that’s a lot of notes to learn! Our string sections at Glimmerglass are relatively slender, so every player needs to pull their own weight, which is both a wonderful gift and a big responsibility. The orchestra is comprised of players from all over the United States and even Canada. The competition to get in the orchestra is extreme, and the players are outstanding. I cannot tell you the thrill of getting into performance and making music with these terrific musicians, both in the pit and on the stage. Opera is such a revelatory art form.
If you happen to visit Glimmerglass Opera this summer, please come say “hi” to me. You know where to find me!
Ann-Marie’s Musical Treasure Chest
During our COVID-19 isolation, I thought you might enjoy hearing about the musical works and artists that I turn to when I want inspiration, release or just the sheer joy of listening to a certain passage thrillingly executed. The older I get the longer my list grows, and the more pleasure and satisfaction I derive from revisiting various pieces.
I am frequently asked by audience members if I have a favorite piece or composer. I do not, I cannot narrow down my musical loves to even a few pieces or composers. But certain works at certain times seem to satisfy my musical hunger. As I thought about the pieces I want to share with you, I began to jot them down (the list expanded quickly), and I was rather surprised at what popped into my mind: some of the works (and the particular performances) date from years ago, even from my childhood and college years. I think the ideas were triggered by great memories of listening in a time when my life was mainly ahead of me and music was a tremendous passion. Music is still my life, but as you mature some of that youthful excitement tempers. Revisiting these pieces brought the memory of that intensity back. And, strangely, sometimes taking a break from what you do, no matter how much you love it, can reinvigorate you.
My plan is to tell you about two or three special pieces per week. I am titling these discussions Ann-Marie’s Musical Treasure Chest. While my selections might be just a wee bit skewed towards violin and string works, I will try to have a variety of repertory of all types. So that you can listen too if you are interested, I have provided links to the performances. Thank you for letting me share this with you, and I hope you will enjoy a little musical diversion.
Click on the number below to view each week's edition:
#1 #5 Glimmerglass #9 High School
#2 Opera #6 Audience #10 Aleda
#3 Janower #7 Dorian #11 Glimmerglass
#4 WMHT-FM #8 Poor Soldier #12 MofM
#13 Weddings #17 Walking #21 Scandinavia
#14 Austria #18 Mahler #22 Hyde Hall
#15 Hyde Hall #19 Suffrage #23 Crailo
#16 Tango #20 Einhorn #24 Moon
#25 Sites #29 Williams #33 Messiah
#26 Beethoven #30 Mozart #34 Nutcracker
#27 WMHT-FM #31 Siena #35 Winter Solstice
#28 Fenner & Dike #32 Windham #36 Merle Winn
#37 Christmas Oratorio #41 Williams #45 New CD
#38 Shorts #42 Faust #46 Eddy/MacDonald
#39 Tanglewood #43 Congress of Strings #47 Movie Scores
#40 New CD #44 Brendel #48 Rheinberger
#49 Buxtehude #53 Enescu #57 Schumann