Yes, an old image, but apparently pics from Saturday's game cost $Google translate tells me that means 'mixed bag', and I'm typically inclined to believe GT, though there are plenty of translations that are pretty far off the mark, according to Dutch-speaking friends.
Yesterday my beloved Northwestern Wildcats 'American football' team downright pummeled the Redbirds of Illinois State. Despite lots of googling and a fruitless attempt to see the game by buying an internet TV subscription (I got desperate), as well as tireless efforts by a good friend to pursue his known methods for internet-based US TV watching, we ended up simply listening to the game through much more dependable sources: WGN and WNUR radio. This actually allowed us to sit on his porch and grill brats while enjoying the game away from his TV - all in all a great and satisfying experience. In fact, we got even more enjoyment out of hearing the Chicago accent-heavy WGN announcers ('and Deeanny Peersa' drops back to peeass') and the truly unbridled enthusiasm of the student broadcasters ('How DARE you throw a screen while Corbin Bryant is in the backfield?!'). Sorry, ESPN and BTN, it's tough to duplicate those intangibles. We did find a (slightly) more dependable method for watching ESPN without having to throw down any euros, and thus were able to catch the first half of the OSU-Miami game (during the sloth-slow second quarter I began succumbing to a veritable beer-brats-post-Wildcat-victory-coma). It was a great night, remotely.
This is a bit behind, but shortly you'll see the second section-leader story I wrote for the August issue of the magazine. The Grachtenfestival it references is an annual music event that features a week of performances at various spots on and nearby Amsterdam's main canal district (just recently named an UNESCO 'World Heritage Site'). I know it's not timely any more but I'm still proud of the few things I've gotten published - my blog so my prerogative to post things when I want ;)
From Classical & Opera, August 2010
Four violas, four tubas, four baritone saxophones, two marimbas (with four players), eight cellos? Is Grachtenfestival 2010 partnering with Sesame Street’s Count von Count? No doubt the caped purple number-cruncher would be giddy over this programme, but festival organizers claim not to have enlisted his help in booking five groups that play up their identical instrumentation to the fore.
Though the over-arching theme this year is ‘Undercurrent’ – which is defined by organisers as a reinterpretation of the musical status quo – several subsidiary themes lend a little more structure to the more than 150 performances and events. In the past, for example, the festival has featured ‘Voices in Residence’, a popular series presenting groups with shared vocal parts, at the Amstel Hotel. This year organizers decided to apply that same concept to the instrumental world and showcase it at a new festival venue, the Museum Werf ’t Kromhout.
Concertgebouw tubaist Perry Hoogendijk formed the Amsterdam Tuba Quartet last year specifically for the Grachtenfestival and made quite a splash. Festival organizers jumped on this success for 2010. ‘That is indeed no coincidence,’ says Grachtenfestival spokesperson Ilonka van den Bercken. ‘The quartet series was deliberately set up because we thought it would be interesting to see what is possible.’
The four homogeneous quartets include: the Zemtsov Family Viola Quartet, Amsterdam Tuba Quartet, the Four Baritones (saxophone) and a marimba quartet featuring famous Dutch percussionist Niels Meliefste. The Cello8ctet Amsterdam will perform separately in front of the Hotel Pulitzer, but even Big Bird would agree: they are like the others.
Typically ensembles require a variety of instruments to cover the broad range of pitches and colours necessary for a balanced sound. But these groups are discovering how the right instrument can cover all the bases. ‘The baritone is the only sax in the family which has the advantage of the low register as well as the most beautiful upper register,’ says the Four Baritones co-founder Niels Bijl, being perhaps a little tongue-in-cheek.
Not only are these groups transcending performance norms for their respective instruments; their mere existence has opened the door to all kinds of new compositions. ‘At our first concert people in the audience were so blown away by the quality of the ensemble that they immediately started writing for us,’ explains Bijl. ‘Within 48 hours we suddenly had an hour’s worth of extra repertoire, transcriptions ranging from Josquin des Prez to Led Zeppelin. That’s when we realised we were on to a good thing.’
Cello8ctet Amsterdam has inspired similar creativity. Starting in 1989 with only two pieces on the books written for cello octets, they’ve since arranged and transcribed their way to an extensive catalog ranging from Argentine tangos to Philip Glass symphonies. In all, the group has debuted more than 70 works from 20th-century elite including Glass, Pierre Boulez and Arvo Pärt.
Even with such an impressive library, the octet really thrives on stage because of its ‘collective’ mentality. Member Stephan Heber explains there is ‘slightly more competitiveness than in a mixed-instrument ensemble; we all know the instrument so well and what the others are capable of. But moving past the initial tension allows for greater potential: the cello can play all parts of an arrangement, so then we operate like a perfect team composed of imperfect individuals.’
Their afternoon Grachtenfestival concert will feature mezzo-soprano Karin Strobos and spirited 20th-century dances from Argentina’s tango master Astor Piazzolla and Spanish classicist Manuel de Falla. There may not be much room for actual dancing, as the group performs op de pontoon, but don’t be surprised to see more demonstrations of the cello’s versatility if the seas get rough.
‘It’s probably the most expensive, ineffective boat you can imagine,’ says octet manager Brendan Walsh. That’s eight ruined cellos. Ah, ah, ah.
