Lisa-Maree Amos: Flute Blog

This has been an interesting week for me - we started the week with a morning concert of the Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals and Harsayni's The little tailor, and the rest of the week has been a Ballet Triple Bill that includes Prokofiev Classical Symphony and a real finger twister by Glazunov.

Probably the hardest piece of the week has been the Glazunov, titled Birthday Celebration. I am not sure where this piece of music comes from, but I will be sure to copy some of the fiendish solos so that I am prepared for next time! This piece reads literally like an Anderson study.

Carnival of the Animals Voliere is a unique solo. Perhaps the most difficult part of performing the solo is the fact that you cannot control the orchestral intro before the flute even plays. We played it without conductor (actually this is the 2nd time with Orchestra Victoria for me, we also played it at the Port Fairy Music Festival back in 2008). So the strings start with a tremolo, and you are then relying on a perfectly co-ordinated cello and Bass to give you a firm quaver upbeat into bar two, again into bar three where you make your confident and secure entrance. I am grateful to my incredible colleagues Mellisa and Dennis who were 100% When playing the piece without a conductor, you really need to understand who is playing when - at times it is essential to be locked into the lower strings, then other times listening to the interjections from the piano. One thing is for sure - you cannot wait to respond to these musical interactions with the other instruments or you will most certainly be behind the beat. Rather, take the lead and spring over the quaver rests to actively indicate with your body and your phrasing to the other musicians. I find that it is not necessary to worry about projection in this solo. Forcing the sound never works, it may sound full up close but it won't carry very far. I always spend lots of practice time on this solo playing it up to tempo but slurred, attempting to get even sound within a mp to mf dynamic. Because the range is so extreme in the solo, you do not want the low notes to sound weak, or the high notes forced, so slurring helps to even the dynamic out. Ideally this extreme range of pitch should not really be obvious to the listener! It is an amazing solo and I just love playing it.

Playing Classical Symphony in a ballet is a surreal experience, not unlike the feeling I had when playing Debussy L'apres midi d'une faun a few years ago. It too was part of a triple bill, one that required a striking of the pit in the intermission. Under normal 'concert' performance circumstances one would have the luxury of being able to warm up, get stand and seat organized, feel comfortable before playing either one of these major flute works. In this setting, you just have time to get into the pit, adjust your chair which by the way must have been previously occupied by a giant as my feet don't even touch the ground, then the stand is too high, don't forget the sconce light is in the way of you being able to turn the pages of the music, tune up then... in the case of Classical Symphony...wait for about 3 minutes as a DVD is being played! And again wait up to 4 minutes inbetween movements as silent action takes place on stage. When you play in the pit, anything goes and it is up to the performers to make the music work regardless. A couple of tips when playing Classical Symphony -

1. First movement: in the marked solos, be absolutely sure of the rhythm of the two quavers, then the quaver triplets. I can't tell you how often I have heard players rush through both and it really affects the playfulness of the solos.

2. Second movement: keep the triplets in the solo very clearly on the beat, with not accent on the second notes. It is so easy for the second notes in those triplets to sound on rather than off the beat.

3. Fourth movement: It is very fast, not very loud. The loud sections are more flashes of brilliance within a transparent, light, fluttering race. The flute duet 'chatter' should be very much in the background as there are  some amazing solos in the strings and bassoons that will be missed if the flutes decide that they want the world to hear how quickly they can play. Safety in numbers - don't panic about sections that are doubled anyway!

I adore playing this piece, so so much fun and it puts a smile on your face.