fan letter

[calimac]

My editors printed this letter today:

Thanks for your generous and thorough review of the Symphony Silicon Valley's opening concert. Yours was the only review that mentioned, or indeed noticed, that the oboe cadenza in Beethoven's 5th was improvised by the Principal Oboist, as suggested by Beethoven himself. -- Patrick Flynn, Guest conductor, Symphony Silicon Valley.

That's my review here he's talking about. That Beethoven in fact intended this to happen I would dispute or at least query: another informed correspondent referred me to work that I have not read by musicologist Neal Zaslaw (I've read his work on Mozart symphonies, but that doesn't have anything equivalent to this). Still, at least I noticed this, though as I remarked at the time I'd have had to be asleep not to.

Comments

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

"I can't believe my ears! Is he out of his mind? He thinks this is an oboe concerto!" --Prof Peter Schickele, "Beethoven's 5th Sportscast"

[athenais.livejournal.com]

GET OUT OF MY MIND! I was just going to bring up the Schickele!

Calimac, that's a nifty fan letter.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Congratulations. Nice.

Your reviews are also a pleasure to read, even for one with an uninformed ear such as I.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

That's very cool, I think, and you should be proud. Yeah!

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

Very cool, both that you noticed and that he noticed you noticed!

And that was a great review. As I've said before, I really enjoy reading your reviews even if I don't comment specifically. I can't (or at least don't) analyze music the way you do, but I find it fascinating to read about.

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

Well, in your review, which Maestro Flynn seemed to appreciate so much, you called it "truly eccentric and surprising", and pointed out that he failed to warn the audience. Also, your comment "He seems to believe that this symphony hides a concerto for oboe" is not exactly an appreciation of Flynn's notion that this was suggested by Beethoven himself. But then, any press at all is good press, and your review is very positive about the performance overall. It's good for him to be gracious in return, even if it is mildly befuddling. This is turning out to be very funny, and it makes me wish I'd been there.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't surprise me if my remarks about Flynn's decision were taken as suggesting that he was totally out of his tree on the subject, but I certainly didn't want to say so. "Eccentric" has negative connotations but need not be taken that way, while "surprising" is neutral.

I read Flynn's own phrase, "as suggested by Beethoven himself," as a subtle way of getting his own opinion in under guise of praising the (otherwise very positive, as you note) review. I appreciate the subtlety of this, and don't mind the implied correction. He has the podium, but I have the forum, so letting him stick an oar in is only fair.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

He has the podium,
but I have the forum,
so letting him stick an oar in is only fair

What was that about Prof. Peter Schickele?