A few of my favorite things
Serenade for Strings, op.22
by Antonín Dvořák
I was introduced to this piece in 2002 when a classmate of mine assembled a small chamber orchestra for a performance. During my years at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, I was often “on call” as a violinist and horn player. There was even a time I played the flute in the University Band and the conductor needed an alto saxophone player so I volunteered. Ah, back to Dvořák. I listened to a recording of this work and immediately fell in love. The second movement, Tempo di Valse (ca. 4:43) is my favorite of the entire work although each movement is exquisite.
An den Mond, D. 259
by Franz Schubert and Johann Goethe
Although I was a student in the Music Education Department, I decided to audit a class during my senior year called “Song Repertoire.” It seemed like it would be interesting and I had no exposure to vocal repertoire so I figured, why not? One of the first songs I learned in the class was this song which became one of my favorite Schubert songs. This song checks all the boxes — it is in my favorite key, has a simple and beautiful tune and involves the moon.
Learning and performing this song was one of the most memorable experiences I had in this class. The singer actually gave me this version of An den Mond instead of the one we were actually supposed to perform.
Arabella, op. 79
by Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal
I adore this opera and I haven’t met many others who feel the same way. I have seen 4 different productions of this opera (Deutsche Oper am Rhein, San Francisco Opera, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden and Bayerisches Staatsoper) and of those four, I played two of those productions (Deutsche Oper am Rhein and San Francisco Opera). Well, I am not sure I would count the Bayerische Staatsoper production because I was very distracted at the performance. My seat was directly behind the conductor (Constantin Trinks) in the very first row so I barely watched the production (not much to see) and watched him conduct the entire opera. The famous duet (Aber der Richtige c. 5:00) is a lovely moment in the opera between the two sisters and really tugs at the heartstrings of the hopeless romantic.
Night Chorus from The Death of Klinghoffer by John Adams and Alice Goodman
My first experience with this opera was in 2009 when I worked with the composer himself for the Juilliard New Music Festival. Little did I know that this experience would change my life. More about that later.
I love the choruses in this work, especially this romping Night Chorus.
Violin Concerto in D minor, op. 47
by Jan Sibelius
According to my Top 25 Most Played on iTunes, this piece is in the Top 20. I love this violin concerto and never tire of hearing it. I heard Leonidas Kavakos play this live with the San Francisco Symphony in 2015 and immediately bought this recording. I was so captivated by his performance that I went to a second one a few days later.
Horn Trio in E♭ major, op. 40
by Johannes Brahms
During my undergraduate studies, I was a busy girl. As a member of the horn studio, I played in the horn ensemble, brass ensemble and in the concert band but I also played the violin in the university orchestra. There was once an orchestra concert in which we performed Gustav Holst’s The Planets. I was 5th horn on the piece and this particular horn part did not play on all the planets. So when I was not busy with the horn, I would walk over to the violin section and play the violin. Fun memory.
My horn teacher, Jack Masarie told me that there is a recording somewhere out there of the Brahms Horn Trio where a person recorded themselves on all 3 parts. I love all three instruments so this idea has always been on the back of my mind.
For the beauty of the earth
by John Ritter and Folliott S. Pierpoint
As a proud member of the All-County Chorus (Orange County, California) in 1980-something, we sang this song and it left such an impression that I can still along with it, 30-something years later.
To be continued…