Miami and peanut butter.

Miami in December is perfect. Miami in May is still beautiful, albeit with some humidity and lots of mosquitoes. Four mosquito bites and a sunburn are my mementos from my latest subbing experience with the New World Symphony.

While I'm clearly ambivalent about the climate, NWS is an incredible experience at any time of the year. (That's my opinion based on all two times I've subbed here, at least.) This past weekend's concert was rather cheesily titled "The Queen and the Emperor": Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, and Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. I reaffirmed my affinity to German music, though I'll admit that the second mvt of Scheherazade is good stuff. Love that bassoon!

From an experience like this, I always try to take away at least one thing to remember for the rest of my life. Maestro Peter Oundjian did not disappoint. Some interesting thoughts on vibrato: A true vibrato is not about the wiggling of the finger, but the vibrancy of the sound. Oundjian demonstrated to a violinist that even a "senza vib" finger actually vibrates in response to the string. He also demonstrated that a wiggling finger without musical intent behind it sounds no more vibrant than a pure sound. During rehearsals, I experimented with varying magnitudes of vibrato, from lots to "none", but always sympathetically with the strings. I guess I can say that this free trip down to Miami was worth it!

I also had a revelation regarding how to survive fridge-less without breaking the bank: peanut butter sandwiches! Bev, I'm looking at you.