My page-turning stories

[IcedNote]

He's playing with Kathryn Stott. Should be fun! And I certainly can't complain about having the best seat in the house.

Stravinsky Suite Italienne
Villa-Lobos "Alma Brasileira"
Piazzolla "Oblivion"
Guarneri "Dansa Negra"
Falla 7 Popular Spanish Songs
Messiaen Praise to the Eternity of Jesus from Quartet for the End of Time
Brahms Cello Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108

-G

[IcedNote]

Well. Just got asked to turn pages for Itzhak Perlman and Rohan DeSilva in a couple of weeks! Not bad.

Beethoven: Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in D Major, Op. 12, No. 1
Franck: Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major
Tartini: Sonata in G Minor, “Devil’s Trill”

-G

[jbuck919]

Well. Just got asked to turn pages for Itzhak Perlman and Rohan DeSilva in a couple of weeks! Not bad.

If you can handle both of them at the same time, I can see why you're in demand.

Congratulations. I am impressed.

[IcedNote]

Congratulations. I am impressed.

Haha, I was just in the right place at the right time to get this particular ball rolling. And I've kept my job by the very simple fact that I don't have panic attacks on stage...which, apparently, their previous page turner had!

-G

[jbuck919]

Congratulations. I am impressed.

Haha, I was just in the right place at the right time to get this particular ball rolling. And I've kept my job by the very simple fact that I don't have panic attacks on stage...which, apparently, their previous page turner had!

-G

I have several page turning stories, starting with the time I was a mere paid chorister at a church in Baltimore turning pages for the organist, who was playing a big Bach prelude and fugue. I turned one page so enthusiastically that the old barely-holding-together music went sliding off the stand headed into a pew. Always a klutz except when a quick emergency reflex is needed, I reached around with my left hand in a split second and shoved it back on the stand, all without jostling the organist or causing him to lose his place.

A few years I encountered exactly the opposite problem. I was the organist for another church and they were (ill-advisedly) performing Denn alles Fleisch from the Brahms Requiem for some occasion I won't go into. It was a gigantic, impossible organ reduction which I had been faking my way through. At the last minute before the actual performance, I was assigned a page turner, a pleasant young woman who smiled every time she took what seemed like thirty seconds to turn one of those wide pages. I have no memory at all, and measures were just lost as she took her leisurely time.

[barney]

I take it you are turning pages for the pianist, not the cellist? So not actually for Ma? Still impressed, mind you.

[Teresa B]

Very cool! One thing about turning pages for these great players, it may be a little nerve-wracking, but you can usually follow them well! I had the (dis)pleasure of turning pages last summer at the chamber music workshop in Virginia for a god-awful pianist who was playing something, but it didn't appear to be anything close to what was on the page (and it was not improvisatory jazz). So figuring out when to turn was--er, possibly more challenging than playing my own piece that evening, the Dvorak Piano Quintet 1st movement!

Teresa

[IcedNote]

Both good stories, John!

And yes, Barney...for the pianist.

Actually, when I turned for the Hilary Hahn & Valentina Lisitsa recital last year, the manager specifically requested that I "turn pages" for Hilary's solo Bach piece. I was obviously *very* confused. So when I met Hilary beforehand, I asked her about it and she just laughed; she had it memorized.

-G

[Lance]

B-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l! What a nice memory you will have, I'm sure, as long as all the pages turn properly. I have great admiration for Kathryn Stott and have many of her recordings. After hearing her solo recordings, it was good to discover that she is equally adept at working in chamber music. And Yo-Yo ... did you have good conversation. I used to see him in Cambridge, Mass. walking around Harvard Square. Such a down-to-earth gentleman and superb artist. By the way, have they raised page turners fees yet?

[John F]

Congratulations! But I imagine it might have been tricky turning pages for Brahms's Sonata #3 for cello, as he never wrote one. It's a transcription of his last violin sonata - perhaps more appealing music than the actual cello sonatas, but for a cellist to play it instead of one of them seems to me kind of, well, disrespectful.

[diegobueno]

He probably didn't even have to take that violin sonata down an octave.

[IcedNote]

Congratulations! But I imagine it might have been tricky turning pages for Brahms's Sonata #3 for cello, as he never wrote one. It's a transcription of his last violin sonata - perhaps more appealing music than the actual cello sonatas, but for a cellist to play it instead of one of them seems to me kind of, well, disrespectful.

It was an extraordinary performance...both that piece and the rest. He's in a class by himself to these ears. And yes, Kathy was exceptional as well! Pleasure "working" with the both of them.

I chatted with them for a little bit before the concert. Couldn't ask for nicer people. Yo Yo (we're on a first-name basis ) came right up to me an introduced himself. We joked around for a bit. I told him I was really looking forward to such a program, and he made a nervous face and said, "Oh, I don't know...wait until you've heard it!" Haha.

Lance, I don't take cash for my "work." Instead, I get a pair of tickets to any other show at the Mondavi Center I choose. And they give me Best Available, so it's quite a deal. (Not to mention that there's not a bad seat in the place!) And as mentioned above, I get the best seat in the house for the recitals I "work." I told them I'll do this gig as long as I'm in the area.

-G

[maestrob]

Garrett:

What lovely memories you'll have from this first-class work. Congratulations!

[IcedNote]

Thought I'd share this hilarious screen capture of an article in the local paper.





-G

[IcedNote]

Well, last night was the Perlman recital. Twas fun! Had an "oh no!" moment directly after going onstage after intermission. Rohan Da Silva (pianist) turned to me and said, "Where's [Perlman's] music!?" I had no idea, so I had to immediately exit the stage and grab it. I came back out and handed it to him. Then Perlman, with perfect timing, said to the audience, "These are just props anyway." Got a huge laugh.

The program was Beethoven in D, Franck, and Tartini's "Devil's Trill." Then they played five encores: two Kreisler arrangements, Heifetz arrangement of Gershwin, a "Melody" by a Belgian composer I'd never heard of, and that virtuosic "Dance of the Goblins" by Bazzini. Crowd loved it, of course. I did, too.

-G

[jbuck919]

The program was Beethoven in D, Franck, and Tartini's "Devil's Trill." Then they played five encores: two Kreisler arrangements, Heifetz arrangement of Gershwin, a "Melody" by a Belgian composer I'd never heard of,

Was it Jean-Baptiste Accolay?

[IcedNote]

The program was Beethoven in D, Franck, and Tartini's "Devil's Trill." Then they played five encores: two Kreisler arrangements, Heifetz arrangement of Gershwin, a "Melody" by a Belgian composer I'd never heard of,

Was it Jean-Baptiste Accolay?

Nah, something like Taeye.

-G

[jbuck919]

The program was Beethoven in D, Franck, and Tartini's "Devil's Trill." Then they played five encores: two Kreisler arrangements, Heifetz arrangement of Gershwin, a "Melody" by a Belgian composer I'd never heard of,

Was it Jean-Baptiste Accolay?

Nah, something like Taeye.

The weird thing is if you Google "Belgian violin composers," you come up with at least three unfamiliar names (none of them Franck, obviously). Makes me want to try "Estonian violin composers" or some such thing.

[IcedNote]

The weird thing is if you Google "Belgian violin composers," you come up with at least three unfamiliar names (none of them Franck, obviously). Makes me want to try "Estonian violin composers" or some such thing.

Sounds like you should curate a concert series.

-G

[jbuck919]

The weird thing is if you Google "Belgian violin composers," you come up with at least three unfamiliar names (none of them Franck, obviously). Makes me want to try "Estonian violin composers" or some such thing.

Sounds like you should curate a concert series.

Somebody once told me if you do that, they will Estonia, because you have no Tallinn. (All right, out of here.)

[IcedNote]

I should also note that Yo Yo Ma sold out. Perlman, on the other hand, looked to have 100+ empty seats in the 1801-person hall.

-G

[IcedNote]

I've been called upon for the Sarah Chang & Ashley Wass recital next week. Woo!

Paganini: Cantabile in D Major, MS 109
attr. Vitali: Chaconne in G Minor
Bernstein: West Side Story Suite for Violin and Piano (arr. D. Newman)
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in D Major, Op. 94a


-G

[jbuck919]

I've been called upon for the Sarah Chang & Ashley Wass recital next week. Woo!

Paganini: Cantabile in D Major, MS 109
attr. Vitali: Chaconne in G Minor
Bernstein: West Side Story Suite for Violin and Piano (arr. D. Newman)
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano in D Major, Op. 94a

Enjoy. I know I would enjoy hearing the Prokofiev.

[IcedNote]

I've also been asked to "play a few percussion cues" in the West Side Story Suite.

-G

[IcedNote]

So last night with Sarah Chang and Ashley Wass was fun! I had to do two finger-snapping cues and four wood block solos! Truth be told, I missed one of the wood block cues because the damn mallet slipped in my hand as I went to hit it, so I opted not to play at all rather than come in late and disrupt the flow of the piece. Oh well...

My new bio will read: "Besides his conducting and composing careers, Shatzer has also been featured as a solo percussionist in concert with Sarah Chang and Ashley Wass."

(Actually, you'd be surprised at the number of musicians who do such things in their bios. Or maybe you wouldn't...)

-G

[Guitarist]

Thought I'd share this hilarious screen capture of an article in the local paper.





-G

Such a picture is usually accompanied by a black rectangular object with white letters and numbers printed on it.

Congrats on all your cool experiences. Did they give you grief for missing the percussion cue?

[IcedNote]

Gag gift from the UCD Chorus to assist me in my page-turning endeavors.

-G