Sose I park de cab and leaves Brooklyn fur� (Carmina Burana)

[thebes]

…to visit sum buddies in de great state of Mayland. I hooks up wid Larry “da Perfessor” Clare,
Mike, “Lucky” Lindsey and his cutie-pie niece whose foist name is, get dis,
Lindsey. Confused I wrap me paw around
a glass of foist-class Chardonney at a fancy-smancy diner , called Chez
someding or udder, and proceeds to wolf down some

tasty frenchie treats.

I’m in da town of Bethesda to take in some sounds at an
uptown club called “Da Srathmore Center Fur De Performance of Artsy Fartsie
Stuff”. Dey got a show on called Carmina Burana and Da Perfessor
tinks we all oughts to go and sees
it. Well da joint is crawling with
toffs, swells, high society matrons and udder assorted high rollers. Dey look
at me like I’m some kinda bum but I aint intimiadated sose I throw a couple of
two tree elbows and I clears a path sose we can git to our seats.

When I sits down and gets a chance to look around I can tell
I ain’t inBrooklyn no more. Whadda facility.
Da walls in de blonde scandernavian wood wid da lights shaped loike the
old Art Decoed movie theaters I’d go to
back when I was kid. Wur overlooking da stage and dere must be a hundred
muesicians down dere. Behind dem up in
sometin like a choir loft are over a hundred ladies and gals dressed to da
nines in penguin suites. In front of dem are about 50 grammer schools kids
dressed in white.

While da band tootles about fur a bit and den dis broad wid
a little stick comes out, climbs onto a little platform da local Teamsters had
run up sose she could see everyting and wid a wave of her stick da music starts.

Oh man, I gotta tell ya, dis ain’t no hillbilly jug
band. Dey starts out wid dis piece
called”O Fortuna” and fur some reason
all I can think of is a division of dose Kraut panzers rolling across Belgium
in 1939, especially because the singers sound like Nazis strom trooper marching
on Paris.

Comesd ta find out, all dese songs and music and stuff are
adaptations of some poems some guys going into da priesthood back in the da 12^th
century wrote. Dere written in Latin, middle-high German and old Frenchie and
some smart guy back in da 1800’s put dem all ta moisic.

Now da nuns taught me some of da Latin back when I was a kid
attendin “St. Mary’s The Martyrs and Saints and Such” but I weren’t to good at
all dat so I was getting confused about what dey were singing about. Sose I purused da program and dontcha just
know it, dere’s a transiation and such of all da words. Ya cants believe what dese seminary cats
were singing aboud. Mostly women, making da badda bing (as my Italiano friends
over in Queens would say) en drinkin.. Sure de got some stuff in dere about
flowers and spring and all I cant help laughing dat dere all dese prim and
proper hoity-toities in the audience and dey don’t know dere listenin to dirty
lyrics.

Oh, I almost fergot.
In additon to da the choir, and da kids and da muesicians dey gots tree
singers, a Baritone, whose voice is as deep as a rumbling subway train, a
Tenor, whose a guy who sounds like dose Irish guys who sings on saint Paddies
Day, and a Soprano who doesn’t look anyting like Tony.

I was really disappointed in da Soprano dough. I was expectorating a big fat lady wearing a
brass corset and wid horns sticking out of here ears but dis was a skinny
little ting in a long dress wid a low-cut bodacious tingy. Lucky Lindsey seemed
ta like her dough, cause I noticed his
leg started tapping really fast when she turn towards us a gave us a bow at da
end of de concert.

One odder ting before I turn dis over to da Perfesser who
I’m sure will tella a lot of educated stuff about dis music.

I tink I’m in love.
Ya see dere was dis broad singing in da choir. Silky black, hair, a long, long
neck, ya know da kind dat looks great on da broads but makes guys look like
say, Gilbert. She had full lips and da
greatest smile and eyes dat would light up her face when she commensurated ta
sing.

My mom’s gonna get very mad at me when I tell here I’ve
fallen fer a Chorus Girl. She’ll tink
it’s one of dose broads from da
Siegfield follied or sumtin.

Dis classy broads a long ways from thority third and thoid
dough.

[LarryC]

Another classic, Marty!

As usual, we perched ourselves over the side of the stage to see everything going on in the percussion and winds. A lot to keep up with. The raised back of the stage was taken up with the adult and children's chorus, and what was left was jam-packed with Orff's huge percussion battery and large brass and woodwind sections and the usual 50+ string players. The Baltimore SO did the honors and conductor Marin Alsop was clearly on top of everything going on. Carmina is a 20th century landmark for percussion and rhythm. The soprano hit her high D (not just high C) at the end as well as anyone I've ever heard.

It was a great evening, thanks to the company (Marty, Mike Lindsey, and his niece), the dinner out, and the concert.

[Mallette]

>I tink I’m in love. Ya see dere was dis broad singing in da choir. Silky black, hair, a long, long neck, ya know da kind dat looks great on da broads but makes guys look like say, Gilbert. She had full lips and da greatest smile and eyes dat would light up her face when she commensurated ta sing.

My mom’s gonna get very mad at me when I tell here I’ve fallen fer a Chorus Girl. She’ll tink it’s one of dose broads from da Siegfield follied or sumtin.

News flash, Marty. Yo mamma is the least of your worries...

The Twins

[Mike Lindsey]

Another great story, Marty! As usual, another great get-together with the classical contingent! Larry never ceases to provide the best seats in the house, and the Strathmore never ceases to put on a memorable show! It was the first time my neice had seen a classical concert, and she enjoyed it very much. The Baltimore SO is a very good orchestra. This is the third time I have been to the Strathmore and the first with this orchestra. They seemed to be a little more polished than the National Philharmonic imho.

I'm with Marty on the chorus girl. Not only was she beautiful, but of the 100 or so chorale singers she sang with more passion than any of them. You couldn't help but zero in to her while she was singing. I wish we had a camera to remember her by.

Mike

[Brac]

so you guys went to a singin' thing and there was a girl, I got the much now try the rest a little slower, and before you take you mornin meds. ;(

[Mike Lindsey]

so you guys went to a singin' thing and there was a girl, I got the much now try the rest a little slower, and before you take you mornin meds. ;(

Huh?

[kaiser SET say]

Sounds like jus guys had another wonderful time Marty. Larry is the proverbial Classical master[]

p.s. what are morning meds[*-)] Now morning lumber is something else altogether[6]

[thebes]

so you guys went to a singin' thing and there was a girl, I got the much now try the rest a little slower, and before you take you mornin meds. ;(

Actually Brac it was a symphonic orchestra, student and adult Chorals, constituting about 300 musicians and singers in one of the nicest facilities with killer acoustics that I ever been in.

Over the last couple of years LarryC has organized several gatherings of Forum members to share with others his passion for symphonic works. They have been attended by members who do appreciate this form of music and by several who have never had the opportunity to hear live classical music. This weekends get together was an informal adjunct to these Forum gatherings. I do believe that not only do we get to experience superb music selected by someone who truly understands the nuances of classical music, but provides us a greater appreciation of this music when we listen to these works on our own gear.

As to my little tale, at times I get bored with straight discourse and wander off into the realm of really bad writing. Some enjoy it and I'm sure others don't. Such is life.

[thebes]

Almost forgot. Here's a more succinct review by a Washington Post music critic:

Marin Alsop,
the Baltimore Choral Arts Society and the Baltimore Symphony raised the
roof Saturday night at the Music Center at Strathmore, with a loud,
joyous romp through Carl Orff's fail-safe extravaganza "Carmina
Burana." Alsop primed the audience with an amusing talk, playing up the
lurid and erotic elements of the program, which began with Samuel Barber's dark "Medea's Dance of Vengeance."

A successful "Carmina" depends on the chorus more than anything, and
the Baltimore singers were well trained and mostly solid. The outbursts
in "Veni, veni, venias" were lusty but perfectly placed. There were
pitch problems in "Chramer, gip die varwe mir," and the reprise of "O
Fortuna" was a little underpowered, but overall, the chorus had good
focus and diction. Led by baritone Leon Williams, the soloists were
excellent. Williams's voice is not huge, but it is burnished and clear
from top to bottom, and he brought just the right touch of
theatricality. "Dies, nox et omnia" was as beautiful as ever, and the
droll "Ego sum abbas" approached performance art. Soprano Maria Kanyova
was similarly fine, although one heard some strain in "Dulcissime."
Tenor Gordon Gietz actually sang his strangled lines.

Alsop conducted confidently, although the two orchestral interludes
were bland, and ensemble problems cropped up in "Tempus est iocundum."
Most annoying was the rapid tempo for "O Fortuna," leaving no room for
Orff's thrilling kick-start on the final "plangite!"

-- Robert Battey

[Groomlakearea51]

loud, joyous romp through Carl Orff's fail-safe extravaganza "Carmina Burana." ..... The outbursts in "Veni, veni, venias" were lusty but perfectly placed.

[<)][][H]

[Duke Spinner]

I'm glad ta see someone else can speak NYC lingo ..

even ifn' ya are from Syracuse ...[]

[skonopa]

so you guys went to a singin' thing and there was a girl, I got the much now try the rest a little slower, and before you take you mornin meds. ;(

What?? You mean like this singin' thing with the girl? [6]

Okay, I'll admit, Jaxx Nightclub is definitly not the Strathmore music hall, but alas, I was tied up at another show that Saturday night, of which I had tickets to since back in November. Kinda sucks actually, as I've always wanted to see an actual performance of Carmina Burana, but go figure that Symphony X and Epica (pictured) decided they need to play on that same night. [8o|]

The real kicker is that I did not really care for the first three bands that came on that night, thus I probably could've STILL went and saw that Carmina Burana performance and STILL made it back to the Sym X show and still saw the two bands I was really interested in, Epica and Symphony X themselves.

Oh well, like Marty said - such is life sometimes! Glad Marty, Larry, Mike and company had a wonderful time, as I sure wish I could've been there myself, but at the same time, that Symphony X show was friggan killer, though! Sucks to be both a metalhead and a fan of classical sometimes - [] But, I have to admit whan I can hear them both put together, ala Symphony X - it can be divine, though!

[oldtimer]

Thebes, you just watch heavy metal again?