It was Saturday afternoon and all were quite excited to hear Zeuill Bailey, famed cellist from the DC area, play the Bach Suites. Six in a row! Hot dog. Well, I arrived in enough time to obtain a ticket: the very last one!! Then, I proceeded downstairs to sit, unbeknownst to me, behind a fellow cellist (!). But first I had to wait, and wait I did, reading the book about the history of J.S. Bach and his super sweet Suites. Well, in short order, the late-comers all filed in after the first Suite and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I would be sitting in a seat in the center orchestra. The man sitting next to me would ask at the end of the concert, 'Are you a cellist?' To which I responded, "Yes, yes I am." He wanted to see my hands, for Zeuill Bailey himself was rather freakish with his large left hand (!). Be that as it may, it was an excellent concert, and Mr. Bailey proved himself not only an excellent cellist, but also a stand-up comedian to boot! For between each Suite, and sometimes in between movements, he would talk about himself and the Suites. For you see, each cellist has an interesting story to tell as it relates to Bach's cello Suites. He talked about encountering an airplane stewardess who screamed because he was indeed a famous cellist and asked if he knew Mo-Mo Ya. Haha, said Mr. Bailey, I do; everyone knows Mo-Mo! Haha, indeed.
Well, then Mr. Bailey went on to play the fourth Suite, the one before the intermission. And what confidence he displayed and mastery as his hands went up and down the string board. I took care as well to note how he held the cello and the bow, the placement of the fingers, etc. It was a joy to watch and listen! Mr. Bailey had a way of playing, so he said, that treated the Bach Suites as romantic music. For, as he noted, Bach did have some twenty-something kids in total (!). But seriously, his interpretation took this into account and he was able to render them excellently, such that all kow-towed at his playing. Some of the passages in the Bach Suites are really quite fast, and he performed them, again, excellently. Supposedly, it took Mr. Bailey ten years to master, which as it turns out, is two years less than Mr. Casals. Be that as it may, the concert this past weekend was out-of-sight and he received a standing ovation at the end.
The sixth Suite, supposedly, requires one to have five strings and Mr. Bailey cello is a giant cello, so he could play it. But, as he noted, he was trying to enjoy it, yet "bleeding on the inside" as he did so. Haha. Well, he performed it quite admirably, excellently in fact and that was all well and good. Then, finally, as an encore, he played the Prelude to the first cello Suite again for all to hear, as it completed the cycle of the Cello Suites. This was all well and good, for I had in fact missed it. Then, he called it quits, as he had another concert to play that very night, and many stayed to hear it, but the Cello Suites was the main event of the day at Strathmore that day and was sold out, in part thanks to me, me and my cello teacher, that is, who I also saw at the concert. She had an excellent seat about three rows back from the stage. We confirmed our next lesson and so, I will go back to Bethesda and endeavor to play Bach (!). His Minuet in C and Minuet #2, no less. That should be fun!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Zeuill Bailey at Strathmore
It was Saturday afternoon and all were quite excited to hear Zeuill Bailey, famed cellist from the DC area, play the Bach Suites. Six in a row! Hot dog. Well, I arrived in enough time to obtain a ticket: the very last one!! Then, I proceeded downstairs to sit, unbeknownst to me, behind a fellow cellist (!). But first I had to wait, and wait I did, reading the book about the history of J.S. Bach and his super sweet Suites. Well, in short order, the late-comers all filed in after the first Suite and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I would be sitting in a seat in the center orchestra. The man sitting next to me would ask at the end of the concert, 'Are you a cellist?' To which I responded, "Yes, yes I am." He wanted to see my hands, for Zeuill Bailey himself was rather freakish with his large left hand (!). Be that as it may, it was an excellent concert, and Mr. Bailey proved himself not only an excellent cellist, but also a stand-up comedian to boot! For between each Suite, and sometimes in between movements, he would talk about himself and the Suites. For you see, each cellist has an interesting story to tell as it relates to Bach's cello Suites. He talked about encountering an airplane stewardess who screamed because he was indeed a famous cellist and asked if he knew Mo-Mo Ya. Haha, said Mr. Bailey, I do; everyone knows Mo-Mo! Haha, indeed.
Well, then Mr. Bailey went on to play the fourth Suite, the one before the intermission. And what confidence he displayed and mastery as his hands went up and down the string board. I took care as well to note how he held the cello and the bow, the placement of the fingers, etc. It was a joy to watch and listen! Mr. Bailey had a way of playing, so he said, that treated the Bach Suites as romantic music. For, as he noted, Bach did have some twenty-something kids in total (!). But seriously, his interpretation took this into account and he was able to render them excellently, such that all kow-towed at his playing. Some of the passages in the Bach Suites are really quite fast, and he performed them, again, excellently. Supposedly, it took Mr. Bailey ten years to master, which as it turns out, is two years less than Mr. Casals. Be that as it may, the concert this past weekend was out-of-sight and he received a standing ovation at the end.
The sixth Suite, supposedly, requires one to have five strings and Mr. Bailey cello is a giant cello, so he could play it. But, as he noted, he was trying to enjoy it, yet "bleeding on the inside" as he did so. Haha. Well, he performed it quite admirably, excellently in fact and that was all well and good. Then, finally, as an encore, he played the Prelude to the first cello Suite again for all to hear, as it completed the cycle of the Cello Suites. This was all well and good, for I had in fact missed it. Then, he called it quits, as he had another concert to play that very night, and many stayed to hear it, but the Cello Suites was the main event of the day at Strathmore that day and was sold out, in part thanks to me, me and my cello teacher, that is, who I also saw at the concert. She had an excellent seat about three rows back from the stage. We confirmed our next lesson and so, I will go back to Bethesda and endeavor to play Bach (!). His Minuet in C and Minuet #2, no less. That should be fun!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Cello Lesson, Followed by Chamber Music Concert by NSO Quintet
So, first I had my cello lesson, which went well. Although, I must say that I seem to be incredibly tense et al in my arms and hands. Hmm. Well, I toyed with the idea of getting a massage before each of my lesson, but that could get rather expensive in the long run. So, what's to be done? Well, I suggested that I could do the Aikido stretching techniques. Ms. London thought that that was not a bad idea, so I figure I'll give it a try. Couldn't hurt! I must say, however, that Ms. London is pretty liberal when it comes to helping me out. I mean, that is to say, there does seem to be a lot of physical contact when it comes to the teaching of the cello, that is, between the student and the teacher. I don't think that I've had that much physical contact in like five years (!). Lol. But seriously, Ms. London is an excellent teacher, I think. She is always so approving of my playing et al. Well, that's all one. Then, we played some more duets pizacatto, which was exciting. We played 'Long, Long Ago' and 'Allegretto', as well as 'The Wind Song'. We had started with some scales, after having tuned my instrument. Although, I did hear that there's this new technology which really helps with the tuning of the cello, as the gears are so small and fit right into the head of the cello. They have it for other instruments, too, but supposedly it costs around $200. Well, who has two-hundred bucks to spare these days? Maybe if I had a job. Lol. But seriously, I think I should get one (a job, that is). Haha. Then I went off into the night to catch a Chamber concert. I hadn't realized it, but there was a cello. One Ms. Rachel Young, who is supposedly married to the bass player, which is pretty cool actually. Anyway, the venue was Busboys & Poets, which is part of the NSO in your neighborhood series this week in Columbia Heights. It's all very cool. The piece, I was pleased to hear, started off with a piece by none other than Ludwig van Beethoven. It was the String Quartet Op. 59, no. 1. It was pretty exciting.
The first I heard Beethoven on the cello came in the movie 'The Soloist', so this was a treat! The NSO Quartet treated the audience at Busboys to four movements, which was pretty sweet, especially as one is allowed to eat while they play, which would never happen at the Kennedy Center. We were also allowed to drink and clap between movements (!). I was digging it, as was Daniel, who was sitting right next to me, and also happened to be a cellist. We compared notes and he gave me his blog web address as well. He seemed quite knowledgible, obviously. His favorite composer came next with a Strink Quintet by Antonin Dvorak Op. 77. It was pretty serious stuff with an 'Allegro con fuoco' section, as well as a Scherzo section which is to be played 'Allegro vivace'. Awesome! I hope to hear more NSO stuff in the neighborhood soon! Here's to more good music.
:)))
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