Germany, Thanksgiving, & Strange Pug Behavior
I’m up here in Sun Valley, Idaho, with my family for Thanksgiving. Early morning is spent doing business — this morning I was listening to potential Beethoven 9 vocal candidates via mp3’s sent to me from my artistic administrator at the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. During the auditions I noticed that my parents’ dog
(a Pug named Ginger) 
howled whenever she heard a soprano or a mezzo, but remained silent when she heard a baritone or tenor. Hmm.
I enjoyed my time in Germany with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie. They really enjoyed making music, and the German approach to accents, rubato, and sound were different than what I’m used to, and quite interesting. I liked the roundness in the sound and the “whoomph” they brought to accents in this program of Scuhmann, Bruch, and Grieg. I hope to see them again soon … (also it was fun to be driven to concerts on the Autobahn at 100+ mph!)