hats

[calimac]

The first hat I had to wear on Thursday was that of academic journal editor, for a long phone conference with my fellow editors and our publisher. Much talking. The rest of them were all in the path of Sandy, so it got rather wet out there.

Next hat, that of concerned pet owner, as Pandora went grumbling in for another medical exam. We are in the "adjust dose of medicine, then have another blood test" phase of diagnosis.

Third, my social hat, because it was time for one of those approximately biennial confabs of writers and editors for the classical reviewing website. Up in the city, but naturally. And in a wine bar. Recognized immediately the editor I almost never encounter in person, managed at first to overlook the one I see more often. Hovering waiter asked what I wanted to drink; a request for white wine, not too dry, produced something which nursed perfectly for the hour-plus that I was there. Editor mused: she'd had beer and champagne, what should she drink next? Suggestion that she proceed down the alphabet and have a wee dram kind of passed everyone by.

Lastly, my reviewer's hat, for it had been lately suggested to me by competent authority that, as I would be coming up to the city for the confab anyway, I proceed a few blocks further to the symphony hall for the evening's concert. The funny thing was that, not having known they were going to say that, I'd come up for an overlapping but not identical concert the evening before. So they got a review of two concerts for the price of one.

Only a few times earlier had I gone to two performances in the same set of one work, and this was the first such occasion where I could really hear a distinct difference in the two renditions. As for the part of the program that changed, as far as I'm concerned there's not that much to choose from between Lou Harrison and Henry Cowell - they're both great - or between Prokofiev's Second and Third Piano Concertos.

Between the pianists, however, young and Chinese though they both were, a huge gulf lay. Yuja Wang is great stuff. Her playing is powerful but clean, and she knows how to hold back and drop pearly notes. But then there's Lang Lang. I'd heard of him, of course, but never in person and I'd never really listened to him before. What is this guy, a put-on? My first thought was "musical quackery, like practicing medicine without a license." Comic pianists of yore like Victor Borge and Jonathan Edwards (oh, probably nobody remembers him) should look to their laurels.

Comments

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

There are moments in Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto that Iike. I love all of the Second. The third movement of it, an almost hypnotic, hallucinogenic unfolding stream of variation on a minimal motif, is one of my favorite movements in the five piano concertos. They're like night and day to me, and the Third is completely overexposed, over-recorded, and over-represented at concerts.

Jonathan Edwards forgotten? That's a darn shame. I should listen to him play "Dizzy Fingers" again, then practice it myself, very slowly. Jo — I mean, Darlene — came out of apparent retirement to record "Stayin' Alive," and it's another terrifying classic. I don't remember if Paul — I mean, Jonathan — was still alive at that point.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I can see that distinction, but my early imprinting on the Third is too strong to break. Interestingly, Lang² was originally scheduled to play the Bartok Second, which would have absorbed his style, like carbon rods absorbing neutrons, even better.

[irontongue.livejournal.com]

You and JK are entirely in agreement and Bang Bang, er, Lang Lang and Yuja Wang's respective capabilities.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

Oh, "Bang Bang" isn't the mot juste. Frederic Chiu might be Bang Bang, but he's good at it. I'm not sure exactly what this guy is trying to accomplish, but banging doesn't quite describe it.

Much of my phrasing was shaped during a post-musical conversation with Jeff, standing in the neutral zone in the middle of the BART platform sadly shaking our heads. Susan rather liked it.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

Blessings on you for using the correct latinate word for "every other year."

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

By the way, the older composer spelled his name "Rachmaninoff" on all documents after coming to the U.S., and his label always spelled it that way too. If he was a Russian living in Russia, it would be currently correct to spell it with a vee, but he expressed his choice and stuck to it. (I wouldn't be surprised to find that your paper changes it on you.)

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

House style. I don't like it either. They also write Khatchaturian with an extra t, which I find just strange.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

I'll go comment at the paper. Maybe somebody there will think once about it.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

I've been trying since I posted that to put a comment at the site. I've reset my password twice, because it plays dumb about that. I keep getting a message that something's vaguely wrong and I should try later. It is annoying. I'm trying to say this:

Great review! I say this because it confirms what I already believe about Wang and Lang, though there's always the possibility LL will mature.

By the way, Sergei Rachmaninoff was a US citizen (naturalized a few weeks before his death) who spelled his name "Rachmaninoff" on documents, and his record label always spelled it that way too. If he was a Russian living in Russia, the currently correct transliteration would be appropriate, but he was an American living in California. His grave stone says "Rachmaninoff."

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I'm more concerned about your inability to post a comment than about the spelling of Rachmaninoff. If you want to contact the operations manager directly in charge of the website design, his name is Eric Freeman and he's at eric@sfcv.org. Tell him I sent you.

But he'd have nothing to do with house editorial style. I'm not sure who would. The content editors who enforce the house style are not the ones who set it; it predates them and goes back to the primeval age, and I doubt they have the authority to change it, or who would. That's why you'd be better off posting a comment about it, which will be seen by the editors, even though at the risk of publicly blaming me for the solecism.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

I wrote to him. Thanks for the contact info.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

He gave me a new login, and I got the same results. Then I tried another browser and it worked. Nobody likes SeaMonkey, but it has features I hate to do without.