Minnesota Orchestra on Tour

MannyLaureano · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 1:50 pm Post subject:

Hello, everyone.

This is to give fair warning to my European brother and sister trumpeters that the orchestra of the American Great White North will very soon be visiting you or at least be in striking distance.

It would be an extreme pleasure to see some of the faces, if not all, behind the posts I have read. The correct itinerary is posted at the Minnesota Orchestra website:

http://www.mnorchestra.org

Basically:

We'll start in New York city Feb. 9th and travel for two concerts in Vienna, the 12th and 13th.

Germany is next.

Frankfurt -15
Berlin-16
Dusseldorf-17
Cologne-18 where I may be teaching a two hour master class at Urban Agnas's Hochschule
Stuttgart-19

On to the U.K. where I hope to run into Trumpet Mike:

Leeds-21
London-22
Birmingham-24
Glasgow-25

And to the Finnish line...

Lahti-26

The 27th brings me home...what souvenirs portend? I hope good memories of meeting fellow TH'ers.

Oh, the programs?

Stravinsky,Symphonie of Winds
Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet
Beethoven 4th (Manny playing a rotary...unbelievable)
Kernis, Color Wheel (Huge blow...have to bring the Eb for that one)
and Bluebeard's Castle by Bartok...what phenomenal piece of music...playing it this week...great tune.

Josh Bell will play Tchaikovsky...doesn't get much better than that.

Anyway...enough. Hope to see you at one of the shows in your area.
_________________
Liviu Librescu-1930-2007- Holocaust survivor and hero during VA Tech massacre

trumpetmike · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 2:10 pm Post subject:

Manny - I hate to tell you stuff you already know, but that website doesn't seem to work.

http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/new_hp/index.cfm

That one seemed to for me though.

I wanted to find out where you were playing.
London is a fairly busy place concert wise, now that I know it is the Barbican I can go about getting a ticket!

I had a nasty feeling that I might have a gig of my own, but having just checked the diary, it looks like a clear day.

The Prokofiev is at the top of the list of pieces I would love to hear you play. I am currently having major problems with Paul Archibald's symphonic brass arrangement of it - Surrey Brass are playing it very soon and the piccolo part is an absolute swine!

With luck I will catch up with you on the 22nd, it would be great to hear (and meet) a fellow THer, especially one of your calibre.
I suddenly get the urge for rediscovering the joys of the Barbican bar (or, more likely, the pub round the corner!!).

Vin DiBona · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 2:39 pm Post subject:

Wow. That is a lot of work.
I remember the first time I heard Bluebeard's Castle. I was stunned. Bartok was indeed a genius. When those doors open, Bartok created incredible atmosphere for each one. That is opera I hope to see someday.

pedaltonekid · Heavyweight Member Joined: 15 Nov 2001 Posts: 1711

Makes me wish a had a business trip scheduled across the pond so that I could attend the concert. How about making a swing through Knoxville, TN on the way back? Good Orchestra here, but they don't generally play such a good lineup of pieces.
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Best Regards, Play Well!!

PC · Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2004 1:08 am Post subject:

Hi,

What a waste to go to Lahti instead of Trondheim!!!

We do not get a lot of visiting orchestras around here, people seem more interested in ski world championships!!

I will be in London, but too late (March 5 - 7) to hope get a glimpse of what will certainly be a brilliant experience.

Pierre

MannyLaureano · Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2004 5:30 am Post subject:

Yo, Pierre...

Stand by...it wouldn't surprise me in the least if we tour Norway in the future. Minnesota has a HUGE Norwegian populaton as well as Swedish, Finnish, and German. In the middle and late 1800's, many Scandanavians came to this part of America because it was so similar in climate to what they knew back home but in an American setting. In contrast, the city of St. Paul just to the east across the Mississippi River later became home to a very large Irish Catholic population. Many Italians settled alongside them in an area called "The Levee". The French were already here as fur trappers and traders. Really like a small Europe!

So far, the only exposure to Scandanavia for me was a tour when I was with the Seattle Symphony where I took a day trip to Denmark and I was able to see the tip of Sweden from across the water. I hope that we will remedy that in the near future!

Warm greetings from the cold country,
Manny
_________________
Liviu Librescu-1930-2007- Holocaust survivor and hero during VA Tech massacre

PC · Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2004 5:28 am Post subject:

Hello Manny!

Yes, indeed especially this part of Norway is very reminiscent of Minnesota, according to 3 guys who studied in Minneapolis! One of them said that because Trondheim has a very limited center with few large apartment blocks and a very extended suburbia with individual tree houses with gardens, it resembles more American northern state cities than other European towns.

Being in oil business related research, my possible trips to the New World are restricted to Houston (where we just established an office) or maybe Canada, if we get interest from a canadian company to join our multiclient projects. More interesting, climate-wise, are our clients in Venezuela and Brazil!

Anyway, I wish you an enjoyable time on this side of the pond.

Regards,
Pierre

oj · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 10:42 am Post subject:

Manny,

How did the concerts go?
What did you think of the accoustics in Berlin?
Did anyone from TH show up?

I arrived too late in Berlin to reach the Minnesota concert. But I went the next day.
It was Staatskapelle Berlin. They played Alexander Zemlinsky Lyrische Symphonie op. 18
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Symphonie Nr. 3 a-Moll op. 56 »Schottische«

I never heard Zemlinsky befor - interesting, and always great to hear something unknown.

The Berliner Philharmoniker opening concert that week was sold out. But Staatskapelle was a very good orchestra.

Best wishes,

Ole

[ This Message was edited by: oj on 2004-03-07 13:56 ]

MannyLaureano · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 12:12 pm Post subject:

OJ,

Thanks for writing...the tour was very well received and the critical press were most complimentary. I've been to Berlin before with the orchestra and I could fill a few pages with my impressions of that city. I will say that, candidly, I was not looking forward as much to the German part of the tour because of past experiences I have had in a variety of cities there...mostly it was about attitude. You can't know how happy I am to report that this trip was a 180 degree turnaround from my previous experiences. I couldn't have felt more at home and more welcomed by the many people I met there whether on the street or in the service industry.

I have always enjoyed playing that hall, the Philarmonie( forgive my spelling). I have become spoiled by the "concert hall-in-the-round" that is so much a part of the European experience. It's nice to feel surrounded by people instead of feeling like it's "us" and "them".

Of course, I have been to Checkpoint Charlie and was dumbfounded at the historical display at the museum there. To see the wall...my G-d, what a sight. Coincidentally, at the same time that the wall was declared null and void and was being torn down brick by brick by the citizens of Germany, I was playing a concert where the feature piece on the program was the Sonate of Hindemith. Can we presume that somewhere in the ether, Paul was smiling?

I didn't get to meet our fellow THers but I'm sure I will soon. The word on the street is that we will be the orchestra in residence for the 2006 Proms festival in London...there is also talk of Salzburg afterwards. I'll keep my ear to the ground and keep you all posted. The tour for next year will be domestic...Florida, actually, during February. YES!

I met three trumpet students at Koeln where Urban Agnas teaches. I came back to my hotel room and found a message from a fellow named David who wanted to know if I would come and give an impromptu to him and two other gentlemen studying there. I jumped at the chance to meet some students and had a marvelous time. We played things back and forth for each other and there was an enjoyable exchange of ideas about schools of playing and I learned a lot about the approach that is taught there. David is from Sweden, Juhana from Finland, and third fellow, rather quiet, Damir, I believe is from the middle east. I'm probably butchering their names but I'm sure corrections will be forthcoming...

Oh, and here's the punchline...I bought THREE rotary valve trumpets for the orchestra from Karl Schagerl while we were in Vienna and the three of us that went to get them are pictured at the website! Check out the hat I'm wearing...Ya-yo...'sup? Hangin' with my boys at the shop, na'mean? Hey, Pierre, from Trondheim, see? I can get with the program. So, now that means we have 4 rotary Cs and 2 Bbs. All set for Mahler 6 next year...woo-hoo!

Watch for the story forthcoming about the wrong way to beat jet lag...

Cheers,

Manny Laureano
_________________
Liviu Librescu-1930-2007- Holocaust survivor and hero during VA Tech massacre

oj · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2004 1:38 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the post, Manny!

The URL to the picture of you, Charles Lazarus and Robert Dorer is here:

http://www.schagerl.at/

Ole

ValveMaster · Heavyweight Member Joined: 08 Dec 2003 Posts: 546

Hey manny, I'm planning on going to see the minnesota orchestra play Carmina Burana. I'm inviting my friends, but it might be too expensive for them.