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Secret Confessions from Skitty

By Brenda Tremblay ~ Posted Fri, 11/02/2007 - 8:58am

Oscar Wilde said that there are two kinds of people in the world -- tedious and charming.

I recently heard that there are two kinds of bloggers in the world – serious and cat.

A catblogger is someone who blogs about cats.

In other words, not to be taken seriously.

I’ve weighed the risks and decided to advance with my dubious plans to introduce a new feature to this space:

Secret Confessions from Skitty

Skitty says, “I don’t really like Beethoven. Totally overrated.”

Other miscellany:

Orchestras around the country are starting to annoy audiences with long fund-raising speeches before concerts. Some run as long as 12 minutes. I’m glad the RPO doesn’t subject Rochester audiences to pitching.

Also, last week the New York Philharmonic Orchestra charged audience members an extra $5 to hear conductor James Conlon give a pre-concert chat. The talk was sparsely attended. This is outrageous, I think, given that decent seats cost $77. I don’t know if Conlon’s speech was a special case or not. Even so.

I’m hoping to see friendly faces at the Early Music Festival tonight!

"To Charm the Mortal Ear"
November 2, 2007 7:30 PM
Saint Anne Church
1500 Mt. Hope Avenue
Rochester, NY
Click here for a map:

http://www.rochesterbachfestival.org/events/remf2007.html

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Comments

No shame

Submitted by Andrew (not verified) on Fri, 11/02/2007 - 11:19am.

Hmmmm, and Skitty seems pretty proud of it, too.

We've been to several NJSO performances that featured a pre-concert chat with the conductor or a soloist, and none of those cost extra. You simply had to arrive early. At $77 a seat, you would think they could thrown in the chat for free.

Skitty has a right to her opinions

Submitted by Brenda Tremblay on Fri, 11/02/2007 - 11:46am.

Yes, you think the NYSO would throw in the free chat. My colleagues at the NEA Institute were outraged, even though they weren't footing the bill.

Classical Conversations

Submitted by Sharon GR (not verified) on Sun, 11/04/2007 - 6:42pm.

The NJ Sympnony Orchestra occasionally does pre-concert "Classical Conversations." They only do them on certain performances and they don't charge any extra for them. I've been to a couple; they were very interesting, expecially on nights that we didn't know the performer or the piece of music very well. The conversations also had a light attendence, I'm guessing because folks often had dinner plans or such before the concerts.

With an extra charge, I'm not at all surprized that the chat had a low attendance!

Hi, Sharon, The New Jersey

Submitted by Brenda Tremblay on Sun, 11/04/2007 - 8:44pm.

Hi, Sharon,

The New Jersey Symphony is a fine orchestra. The NJSO's artistic director is a former classical producer for NPR. I met him during the NEA conference. He had nice things to say about Rochester's pops conductor, Jeff Tyzik. It's a small world in the classical realm -- just like New Jersey politics!

No charge

Submitted by Rich (not verified) on Mon, 11/05/2007 - 6:13pm.

I'm one of Brenda's fellow NEA Fellows, and the funny thing was the next day I went to the free pre-concert talk for the London Symphony's performance of "The Creation" at Lincoln Center, and it was packed.

Hope you're doing well Brenda, and I love the black velvet and microwave macaroni image. I've definitely had those high-low nights.

I'm glad to hear The Creation chat was packed

Submitted by Brenda Tremblay on Mon, 11/05/2007 - 6:40pm.

Hi, Rich,

Do you know if the New York Phil always charges an extra five bucks for the chat?

Brenda

Don't know

Submitted by Rich (not verified) on Tue, 11/06/2007 - 12:51am.

I don't know if the NY Phil charging is standard, or if that was special for Conlon.

The Creation chat and concert was great prep for Haydn's "Lord Nelson Mass," which the Lexington Singers are doing this weekend.