Classical music in the summer

There are only a few things I don't like about Montreal. One of them is the dearth of classical music in the summer.

In winter, spring, and fall, there are many classical music concerts on the island of Montreal. In the summer, many Montreal ensembles and musicians play at summer festivals. These festivals take place in various places that are anything up to a two hours' drive from Montreal.

For classical music fans like me, who don't have cars, these festivals are impossible to get to (unless you know someone who is going to one of these festivals who does have a car.) Or maybe these festivals are for well-off people who are lucky enough to have cottages in Lanaudiere or the Eastern Townships.

I have been to concerts in the summer in Montreal which feature types of music other than classical. But you'd think that for such a world-class city, they'd be able to have at least some classical music in the summer.

That crazy modern music...

A line from Wah Keung Chan's Montreal Gazette music review of a Renee Fleming concert: "...the Mehldau songs were plagued by the sameness of most 20th-and 21st-century compositions -lacking rhyme, rhythm, melody, and ultimately reason." Seriously? Most 20th and 21st century classical music lacks rhythm, melody, and reason?
I guess many 20th/21st century composers wanted to turn away from melody. But many "modern" pieces do have melodies, maybe just not ones that every music reviewer enjoys or recognizes. And certainly, most 20th/21st century music has rhythm! And I'll bet that if music lacked reason, it wouldn't be composed.
And I don't think most recent music sounds the same, not at all.

Of course, this is the same reviewer who thought "crescendo" meant "climax."

Master debaters

(In spite of the dirty-sounding entry title, this entry is perfectly clean. )

Yesterday I went to a taping of the CBC radio show The Debaters. I’d been to the show last year, and I enjoyed it so much that I came back this year. It was part of the Just for Laughs festival here in Montreal.

In The Debaters, comedians debate various topics. In the first round, each debater presents their argument. Then, in the next round (called the Bare Knuckle Round), they argue with each other. The next round, The Firing Line, is where the host asks both debaters a series of questions on the topic being debated. Finally, each debater gives a summary of their argument. The audience then applauds for the comedian that they think had the better (or funnier) argument, and the winner of the debate is decided by applause.

The topics debated this time were: Vampires or Zombies, which are the greatest cinematic undead? Are the big oil companies really so bad? Is the moustache one of man's greatest inventions? Has Hollywood been good for Europe? Has stand-up comedy become a joke? And is everything (movies, TV) better in 3D?

The host of the show had a little hammer that he’d hit on his desk if the debaters talked on for too long. During one of the debates, one of the debaters went on talking for too long, and so the host hit the hammer on his desk. When the debater still wouldn't shut up, the host went over to him and hit him with the hammer.

Another time when someone talked too long, the host went over to a couch that was in the background and started to lie down on it.

During the debate about moustaches, the debater in favour of them was wearing a fake moustache. At the end of the debate, he took the fake moustache off, revealing…another fake moustache underneath it.

They had an Irish guy and a German guy debating whether Hollywood has been good for Europe. Before the debate, the two debaters danced for quite a long time. The debate itself was completely chaotic from start to finish, and honestly I never even knew who was on which side of that debate!

It was a very enjoyable afternoon!

The joys of Savoy

Last weekend and the weekend before, the McGill Savoy Society performed The Pirates of Penzance. I had such a good time! I played the viola part on clarinet in the orchestra.
The shows went really well. On each performance night, I gave cookies to my fellow Savoyards.
After the last night was the cast party. Cast parties are always fun, and this one was one of the better cast parties that I'd been to.

Europe, part 7 (Rome, then home)

Wednesday, July 9

On this day, we rode in our bus to Rome. We had lunch at a highway stop thingy, and arrived in Rome in the afternoon.

Rome is perhaps the most amazing city I've ever seen. There are old buildings and ruins everywhere. And the trees are incredible! There are lots of umbrella pines and palm trees along the streets. I was enthralled.

The Pines of Rome, as captured by my disposable camers from the bus window.

More pines. (Photo by a friend.)

When we got to Rome, we had a tour in the bus, then we had a walking tour. In the bus tour, we saw the Colosseum. On the walking tour, we saw the Pantheon and threw coins into a fountain. The walking tour was fun, but the streets were extremely crowded with tourists.

Fountain of Rome (photo by a friend)

Pantheon and tourists

Daniel and I hanging out at the Pantheon

After our tours, we went to our hotel. Then we went to a nearby restaurant for our farewell dinner, where speeches were given about how great the trip was and how much we all enjoyed it!

In the entrance of our hotel.

Farewell dinner. (photo by a friend)

After the dinner, I sat in the lobby. Someone said that there was a party going on in one of the orchestra members' hotel rooms. So I went to that room, and sure enough, there were several bottles of wine in there, and several orchestra members drinking wine.

The Wines of Rome! (Photo by a friend.)

Then a bunch of us went to the Colosseum on the metro. It was beautiful at night.

Me at the Colosseum at night. Photo by a friend.

We ended up singing Happy Birthday to some strangers at the Colosseum. Then we walked around for a little while, and looked at some more old buildings. Then we went back to the hotel on a city bus. The driver let us get on for free!

Thursday, July 10

We packed up all our bags and loaded them onto the bus. For the first time on the trip, everyone was on time. I was kind of sad that I had only spent about half a day in Rome. I was kind of sad that the trip was over. It had been such an awesome trip.

Rome airport...

We arrived at the airport. While we were waiting for our flight, I was talking to our conductor. I asked if I should learn to play bassoon, and he suggested that I learn to play viola. This idea had never occurred to me before, but it sounded pretty neat.

From Italy, we had a short flight to the Paris airport. I was a bit scared, but I was sitting next to my conductor and he was holding my hand, so it wasn't too bad. From Paris, we had a longer flight to Montreal. During that flight, I read a book. I was happy. I was coming home from the best trip ever.

And now you know the story of the best trip ever. (And now you know why I play the viola.)

The End

Europe, part 6 (Tuscany)

Before my travel diaries about Italy.....you can see a video of my orchestra (and other groups at the Salzburg festival) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVl4js5lj6I . The infamous Song of Peace comes in at 6:40 or so in the video. Enjoy!

Sunday July 6

It was the day of the long bus ride. The all-day bus ride from Austria to Italy.

We rode through the Alps. I played a funny paper game with friends. It was hilarious! We stopped off at a small road stop and I saw a lizard.

We eventually reached Italy. We stopped off at a restaurant place for lunch. I had some really good chicken. I think I may have bought some Kinder chocolate there too. It was so hot outside! Luckily, our bus was air-conditioned.

On the way to our hotel in Italy, we played a game in the bus. Our travel guide (the one we had for the whole trip) organized it. It was a trivia game about Italy. I didn't know a lot about Italy though.

We arrived in Montecatini in the late afternoon. My goodness, what a beautiful city! It was quite unlike Austria.

A friend took this photo of Montecatini from the bus window.

Our hotel (named "Tuscany Inn") was nice, and had some balconies. The view from the balcony was spectacular. As I was out on my balcony, I heard an orchestra member playing his trumpet from his balcony.

View from my balcony

A friend photographed this view from his balcony

I photographed my friends on their balcony, from my balcony.

After we got settled into our rooms, we had dinner in the dining room at the hotel. After dinner, our travel guide took us out for gelato. I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. I also saw several palm trees in the town.

Sunset in Montecatini. (Photo by a friend)

Then some of us went with the travel guide to the funicular station to take the funicular (cable car) into the higher part of the town (Montecatini Alto) that was on a hill. We had a spectacular view of the nighttime city lights in Montecatini and surrounding areas. We wandered around the village there. We saw some people sculptures made from plants, and we saw a cat. I think the coolest thing in Montecatini Alto was the castle courtyard. Some of us came across a building that looked like a castle. An opening in the wall led to some stairs, which led to a big unlit courtyard. The view of the stard from there was amazing. I ran out of the courtyard, found some of my friends, and told them to go into the courtyard. I ran back into the courtyard before them, and when they arrived there, I jumped out and shouted "Boo!" and scared them!

Back in the hotel that night, I was telling my roommates that I'd had a silly idea. I said that it was so warm outside, I wanted to sleep on the balcony. So, my roommates and another orchestra member helped me move my mattress outside to the balcony! They were worried about me getting cold, but I didn't get cold once all night.

Monday, July 7

We spent most of the day in Florence. It took about an hour to drive there in the bus.

In the morning, we had a tour of Florence. We got to see the Duomo, which I'd learned about in art class! We also went inside the church where Rossini and other famous Italians were buried. We saw lots of sculptures, including a copy of Michelangelo's David and some lions that an orchestra member thought were scary.

The Tevere river in Florence. Photo by a friend.

We could go wherever we wanted for lunch. A bunch of us went to a pizza restaurant that our travel guide recommended. The pizza was great! Some people had pizza with pine nuts on it, but I stuck to the salami pizza. After lunch, we went shopping and wandered around. Most of the museums were closed on Mondays, unfortunately. A lot of people bought leather things. We saw some screevers (pavement artists.) I bought some postcards and bookmarks. A friend made up a song about pay toilets in Italy. All the tourist shops and stands had numerous things with Michelangelo's David's penis on them -- bookmarks, boxer shorts, magnets, etc.

A screever (pavement artist). Photo by a friend.

Later on that afternoon we had a rehearsal in a church. I was so tired that I kept falling asleep during rehearsal. After rehearsal we had dinner in a restaurant, and after dinner we played a concert (which was part of a youth orchestra festival) in the same church. It was an extrememly successful concert and the audience loved us and we played two encores, but I was extremely tired and had an incredibly difficult time staying awake for the whole thing. I fell asleep in the bus on the way back to Montecatini. So did a lot of people.

Tuesday, July 8

We visited two cities on this day, Lucca and Pisa.

Lucca (where Puccini was born) is a charming town with a wall that goes all the way around the city. The wall has a road on it that you can walk or ride a bike on.

Lucca seen from the wall. Photo by a friend.

The wall around Lucca. (my own photo)

When we arrived there, many of us decided to rent bicycles. I was a bit nervous riding a bike, since it had been so long since the last time I'd ridden one. But Davide, the guy from the youth orchestra festival who was staying with my orchestra for our time in Tuscany, encouraged me. I lost the rest of the group of orchestra members that I'd started out with, because I was so slow, but I stayed with Davide. I had a great time. We stopped off at a pizza restaurant for lunch, and talked for a while. It turned out that he used to go to a university in Montreal.

Davide at the pizza place. My mom says he's good-looking :)

After that, we all went in the bus to Pisa. It was rather nice, but a very touristy place. I bought some souvenirs and took some pictures.

Building in Pisa.

Orchestra members doing touristy things.

After our short stay in Pisa, we rode the bus back to the Tuscany Inn. After supper, we walked to the place where we'd play in that night's concert, a hotel/spa thing I think, called Terme Tettuccio. I have never played in a more fascinating and beautiful concert place! I'll post some photos of it here. (We played in a sort-of outdoor place/courtyard , so it was a sort-of outdoor concert, I guess.)

(photo by a friend)

We played a concert there with a youth orchestra from Spain. We each played some music on our own, and then we teamed up and played some pieces together. After the concert, the Spanish orchestra musicians had a crazy jam session where they played Spanish music, and people danced. Everyone was excited, and everyone really enjoyed it!

People dancing to the Spanish orchestra's music session. Photo by a friend.

We went back to the hotel, and then a bunch of us walked to a disco. I danced there for a while, but I was very tired. Fun times!

In the next entry, we enter a land of ancient ruins, modern-day tourists, pines, wines, and fascination.

Europe, part 5 (Salzburg)

Friday, July 4

Our hotel in Salzburg. Photo by a friend.

We had breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast, we got into our bus for the Sound of Music Tour. We drove around in the mountains near Salzburg and saw many places where the Sound of Music was filmed. Some orchestra members sang songs from the movie and re-enacted movie scenes. We saw lots of beautiful mountains and lakes. We also passed by the Red Bull mansion.

The guy who invented Red Bull lives here. (Photo by a friend)

The Alps near Salzburg, on the tour.

Me and Jordan

The Sound of Music was filmed near here.

All of us, in front of the thingy that appeared in the Sound of Music film. (Photo by a friend)

We had lunch in the little town of Mondsee. I think the wedding in the film took place in the church there. We went inside the church, and then went wherever we wnated for lunch. I found a supermarket and bought some more Kaiser rolls. Maybe some Kinder chocolate too.

Mondsee

Heading toward the church at Mondsee

After lunch we had a rehearsal with everyone in the Cantus Festival. All the choirs gathered together to sing a song called "Song of Peace", and our orchestra played the orchestral accompaniment part. The orchestra part didn't require many musicians, so some orchestra members sang with the choirs instead. I was one of the singing people.

No orchestra member I talked to actually liked the "Song of Peace". The music was kind of dull and commonplace and cliched. An orchestra member described it as "Pachelbel's Canon meets the Beatles" (and when I told this to my conductor, he said, "But the Beatles are good!" He does have a point there.) And the lyrics were stupid and didn't always fit the music well. As well, it had the word "floading" in it (a typo for "flooding", I guess. But whenever I came across it when I was singing the song, I had to try hard not to laugh.) Everyone in the orchestra enjoyed making fun of the song. After rehearsal, we were standing outside and singing the song and making fun of it. Even though we were just joking around, I was grateful for this impromptu chance to rehearse the song. :P

We went back to the hotel. In the hotel room I was in, our mirror broke. But it wasn't anyone's fault, so we decided that the mirror had committed suicide and that nobody was going to get bad luck. We had dinner at the hotel. Some musicians tried to play tunes by hitting the dinner glasses.

Then we went out to perform in the big concert that night. Each group performed some pieces on their own (I think we played some Smetana and other things), and then we all got together to play and sing the Song of Peace. They were selling chocolate, so I bought some Alps chocolate. Afterwards, we went to a cafe for dessert. Most people got ice cream. I got beer. Then we went back to the hotel. I fooled around with some friends in my hotel room for a while before going to bed.

Saturday, July 5

After breakfast, we went to Salzburg Cathedral. Mozart used to play the organ there. We played Handel's Hallelujah Chorus in a Mass service, and some choirs sang songs. The acoustics were unbelievable. The echo in that church is the longest echo I ever heard. I swear, it lasted a full five seconds!

In Salzburg cathedral. (Photos by friends)

We had an amazing lunch (kaiser roll sandwiches!) that had been packed for us by our hotel, and then we performed in a concert at Mirabell Gardens, where some more of the Sound of Music was filmed. We weren't originally planning to play "Jumba Jambala", the piece written by our conductor, but the orchestra insisted, so we did. :) I play maracas in that piece.

Mirabell Gardens

Then we had a bit of free time, then we had a walking tour. My feet hurt because I was still wearing my concert shoes. On the upside, I saw a cute cat. A friend got a photo of me petting the cat. After the tour, a bunch of us saw a busker playing Vivaldi on musical wine glasses!

Glass playing. (Photo by a friend)

That night, we had a Cantus Festival dinner party. They had a little Austrian band playing various instruments, one of which was a cimbasso! I was amazed, and so happy! The dinner was great. During the dinner, Harry, our trumpet player, was making up songs about mushrooms, involving the word "floading", and I laughed so much I almost choked! After the dinner, there was dancing. I didn't want to dance at first, but one of the trip leaders got me into it. Once or twice, a conga line formed. We all had great fun.

The band. (photo by a friend)

At the dinner party.

What a great way to spend our last night in Salzburg!

The next entry contains palm trees, gelato, leather, and a certain part of Michelangelo's David's anatomy.