Music that I'm currently working on.

I really play a couple of instruments for real.
Here are examples of classical pieces I'm working on.

Piano
All kinds of Chopin. lol Yea Last semester, I only played Chopin's pieces the whole semester. People probably getting tired of it.  6 or 7 Waltz, all memorized. Yet, more Chopin.
During the summer, my instructor suggested that I should start working on advanced pieces.
So here are few of fairly advanced pieces.

Chopin- Scherzo #2  B flat minor
Bach Well-tempered Klavier book 2 Prelude No24 in B minor  (BWV893)
Liszt Liebestraume #3  (memorized and pretty much done)

I like this last prelude from Well-Tempered Klavier. Really catchy and happy, although it is written in minor key. Come to think of it,Tetris people could have used this prelude instead of Menuet from French Suite.

In my applied music class (performance study), there are few people who had performed game music pieces last semester. (i.e. Super Mario, Pokemon Final Fantasy... etc.) So, I'm sure, playing French suite could get some chuckles out of my classmates without offending my professor. LMAO  He is not really stickler about the genre of the piece, so, game music isn't the problem. But many students just play it without putting any thought or effort to preparing the piece. That's what it gets him.

... 

The plan that I made at the end of last semester was totally different. LOL  However, I wasn't really motivated enough to learn Shostakovich  nor Beethoven Sonatas. I hope my applied music professor wasn't paying attention to the foot notes I added on my practice journal I turned in last semester.  Good thing, there are tons of classical music pieces out there for me to learn, so I should be all right, even if the plan has changed a bit. 

For Violin

Bach - Partita #2 Allemande
Fritz Kreisler - Schoen Rosmarin
Again, my crappy bow doesn't bounce, so I can't really play this piece. For this piece, definitely needing a better bow. My current violin is totally fine for playing this piece.
I know for a fact that better bow would help me tremendously both for the technical aspect of playing and a projection of the sound.  (Cha-ching! 700$)

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Heh, this doesn't make me look like I"m depressed. I guess I'm not.

How the classical music should be...

So I talked about David Garrett yesterday. If you search his name on you tube, there are tons of MJ covers  which I really don't care for.
But here is what you should watch, if you want to check him out  He plays virtuoso piece by Pablo Sarasate. However, not in tux, and all of the audience are T-shirts and shorts. THIS is how the classical music should be. Forget the stupid protocol and dress code.

Zigeunerweisen is in style of gypsy music. You have to understand where this music coming from. It was solely for the enjoyment of his family and his extended clans who travel together all over Europe. Gypsies play anything you want to hear. It could be Sinatra, it could be Foster's Camptown races. It well could be Brahms.

After arriving at some strange town, somewhere in the middle of Europe, entertaining the townspeople all day, earning the pocket change and a scraps by playing tricks, and reading their fortune, coming back to the edge of that town. Families, young and old, gathered around a fire with the first modest meal after the weeks of wandering. 

... then the man with violin starts with three dramatic sustaining broken chord... watch the video for the rest.

Heh, I just realized he plays the *lassan-slow part of Gypsy music* very slowly, taking more than 6 minutes!. lolol Friska (fast part) breathtaking.   Funny, audience applauded in between the lassan and friska, which is usually a big no-no in classical music, and it usually never happens in anywhere. But here is what I think, and this is the reason for this entry's title. You should be able to express your joy and approval freely. Let the musician know we are loving his performance.
It is obvious, Garrett is also drawing energy from audience. Such basic  give and take of emotions rarely happens in formal settings of classical music concert. This is the moment when many of the musicians describe the experience  as "better than sex".  There is no other way to explain to other people.

Classical music hunks...

As you know, I already have a blog link to *Barihunk* sites, which specialize in Baritone opera singers coverage.  I love this site because they don't go into snobby concert critique. Their posts are solely based on pretty stage pictures!

I am not going to establish blog about classical music, because they are just part of me. So I decided to cover whatever I run into, when ever.

Erwin Schrott, who is among the favorites of Barihunk site, already had been covered in here as well. His performance in La Scala last year has been somewhat unfavorable among opera fans, but if they want fat ugly baritone, thats their thing. They need to grew out of that snobby mentality.

Here are my two favorites from Strings division.

David Garrett, violin (Germany) Ah.... yea. I didn't know he had tattoo... *fans self*.  The violin he is holding, isn't some cheap violin shaped object. That is REAL Stradivarius . He appeared in Banana Republic ad. He is doing some crossover stuff that I really could care less, but he can play. I totally understand, he couldn't make nearly anything, if he was in traditional classical circuit, so more power to him. His prettiness should be exploited while its hot. lol Hey, there were Franz Liszt back in 19th century. Why he shouldn't be?

Gautier Capuçon, Cello (France)
He is from France, very talented family. (his brother is also a virtuoso violinist)  I first encountered his performance through video performance with famous virtuosa pianist Martha Argerich. Their performance of Chopin's rarely performed Polonaise Op.3 gives me goosebumps still to this day.  Not to mention, his French accent on top of his cello. (I am pondering about buying a cello myself. lol)


There have been a lot of pretty female classical performers before, not to mention barrage of  beautiful opera divas, but some strange reason, male classical musicians always neglected their stage presentation. lol 
I can understand person like David Garrett don't see any future in traditional stage. He can reach broader audience if he is able to sell sex with his Strad.  Worn out sneaker and Strad? Why not?  I'm all for it, if it could attract more people to classical music. 

I feel nauseous and light headed... from textbook price......

I think I can justify making a rant on this particular subject.

It is just fucking outrageous. Can anyone explain that to me?

I had to shop around for over 8 outlets, both online and physical stores.

12 textbooks. About half of them used. 2 books are semester rental.  I paid for my English textbook only 3.79$ from used textbook store, which my college bookstore sells the same book for 52 $.
Grand total of 471$..........

Let's put that into perspective, shall we?
The grand total of tuitions and fees for this semester is 476 $ Of which, 442$ is for myself. My son's account only needs to be paid 34$ (He receives grants for tuitions.)

So, textbooks cost more than the education itself...
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It doesn't include any of  my music lesson related costs, either. Many of the sheet music costs anywhere from 12$ up to 55$ average, (many are imported editions from Germany or other Euro country) so I'm no stranger to paying a lot of money for books. Even so...
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At least, I can honestly say that my son nor myself would drop out or withdraw from any of the class. But I feel for the parents of those students who do drop out from classes for the reason of sheer laziness.

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Speaking of my college...
I'm happy to announce that I will be officially a tutor for my college music department. It should pay for my coffee cost. lol  Yea. it's a paid position, and I get to have individual music lab. Hey, part-time adjunct faculty don't even have their own office, so I am not complaining.  Music lab has iMac and a piano. I can practice my piano if I'm not busy.