Classical Music Currently

[Blackduck59]

7 minutes ago, Destiny0315 said:

 

No stretch at all. The instruments are one in the same and only the setting in which they are used changes the name. In fact I use neither term in my description of the instruments.

https://www.dictionary.com/e/fiddle-vs-violin/

I prefer to think the term violin is more appropriate for classical or jazz.

The "fiddle" in Sydney us more in tune with the down home music as played in the kitchen caelies ( spelling) that happen around there.

[Destiny0315]

7 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

I prefer to think the term violin is more appropriate for classical or jazz.

The "fiddle" in Sydney us more in tune with the down home music as played in the kitchen caelies ( spelling) that happen around there.

So you, me, and the article all agree, essentially the same instrument that is visually indistinguishable whose name changes only based on where it is played and what music is being played on it.

[Blackduck59]

3 minutes ago, Destiny0315 said:

So you, me, and the article all agree, essentially the same instrument that is visually indistinguishable whose name changes only based on where it is played and what music is being played on it.

Pretty much; that being said the thread is about "classical" music on HAL. The instrument prominently displayed in Sydney is "the world's largest fiddle" suggesting a different type of music. 

[timbom]

no classical on Nieuw Statendam last week 

 

Cantare is a Holland created group there are three of these companies and they travel from one ship to another/  All three groups sing the same songs and can do two differant shows.

 

Problem with holland is they repeat the same shows on every ship.  They need to break it up with some new shows but suspect this costs money which is the reason why their after hour activities are so poorly attended.

 

ON the NS only shows that were well attended were the traveling acts/  Few people want to see the caned productions of the no step dancers without a live band for the tenth time.

 

What I really miss is america's test kitchen.  Thought they were going to replace this with a cheaper program  What happened to that idea.

[YXU AC*SE]

On 6/1/2023 at 7:06 PM, RMLincoln said:

 LC arranged, advertised and auditioned. 

 

Actually it was a licensing arrangement w/ Lincoln Centre.  Programming was admin'd by RWS Entertainment Group -- the same ppl who do programming for the Main Stage (think Step One dance group)  and the Music Walk.  https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=639980517152176 

 

In case you'd like to audition?   🙂 

https://www.rwsglobal.com/auditions-gigs

 

Scott. 

[melspar]

I worked for a symphony orchestra for several years…in marketing. The string musicians said you call the instrument a fiddle when you’re buying it, and a violin when your selling it😀.   I really enjoyed the classical music played by piano and string quartet on Lincoln Center stage twice daily when we sailed on Neiuw Statendam last Oct. ( until we were quarantined w Covid, but that’s another story). Hope they will still be performing on our NS cruise next month. 

[Petronillus]

On 6/1/2023 at 4:04 AM, dalesyang said:

No Classical Music on the Rotterdam for our May 20 cruise.     I complained and they basically told me to piss off.    

 

Then I asked them,   don't you think it's odd to name your decks after classical music composers when there's no classical music onboard?       

Well said! DW & I have just gotten home from a 15-day Land of the Midnight Sun cruise on the Rotterdam deep into the fiords of Norway (with a taste of the Shetland Islands thrown in for good measure). We were unpleasantly surprised to learn of the demise of Lincoln Center Stage. Oddly, there are enough vestiges remaining that its absence becomes all the more glaring.

Our CD, Carlijn, did not make herself readily available for one-on-one conversations but I did manage to buttonhole her at the end of a sit-down discussion with the Rolling Stone group, and while she tut-tutted and nodded with concern, the basic message was indeed to piss off.

Switching to a new and different format is okay in principle BUT to my mind it's a major blunder for HAL to abolish the old format before introducing the new. I lamented the loss for the entire duration of our cruise.

At the beginning, when the Adagio Strings gave way to the much higher caliber LCS, the new ensemble consisted of 5 members: piano, first violin, second violin, viola, and cello. That meant that 5 cabins were set aside for the duration for single-purpose personnel (meaning they had no additional duties to perform beyond their musical performances). So, the players got cut back to four. Plus, each LCS venue was equipped with a Steinway concert grand. The LCS/BBKing performance space had to be physically re-shaped to improve the acoustics. All these measures, I'm sure, required a substantial budget that the central office bean-counters no doubt found lamentable. 

Whatever satisfaction the bean-counters gained must have been at the cost of passenger loyalty. For many HAL pax the LCS performances were their first exposure to chamber music, and I observed over and over again that attendance grew over the course of the cruise, until frequently it became SRO.

[Petronillus]

On 6/2/2023 at 10:29 AM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

How many years ago was Cantare announced? I have yet to be on a cruise where they performed. I fear that will be my luck with Lincoln Center, too. 

One man's opinion: Cantare are over-hyped. I'd give them a B minus.

[Petronillus]

On 6/3/2023 at 10:34 AM, rajkr74 said:

On the Zuiderdam now and were told HAL is revamping the Lincoln Center group, going to the World Stage and increasing the players  to 5. When....not known yet.

Cantrell was also on board for 3-4 shows and is headed to the Osterdam.  Will be back on the Zuiderdam on 6-12-23.  We enjoyed  them, good singers. 

Five was the original number when Lincoln Center Stage was first unveiled as the new, improved replacement for the Adagio Strings.

An ensemble of 5 is fine, very fine, for chamber music. Chamber music, however, is performed in chambers, not in grand concert halls like the World Stage. It's a matter of intimacy and scale, If they are bent on "upgrading" to the World Stage, they should be looking to field a bigger ensemble that includes brass, winds, and percussion.

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, Petronillus said:

Five was the original number when Lincoln Center Stage was first unveiled as the new, improved replacement for the Adagio Strings.

An ensemble of 5 is fine, very fine, for chamber music. Chamber music, however, is performed in chambers, not in grand concert halls like the World Stage. It's a matter of intimacy and scale, If they are bent on "upgrading" to the World Stage, they should be looking to field a bigger ensemble that includes brass, winds, and percussion.

 

Yes, the first two times I saw LC on K'dam, there were five musicians. This past winter in Eurodam, I was surprised that they had cut down to four. 

 

I agree that chamber music is not best enjoyed in a large space like the World Stage. But LC had some non-classical sets, like movie music and Beatles that would have been good in World Stage, if seating was restricted/encouraged to be near the musicians.

 

But if HAL puts them in World Stage and amplifies them, I'm out. One of the worst musical acts I've heard on a cruise was electric violin. No, no, no, that's just wrong. Whatever it was, it didn't sound like a violin. I've also heard a grand piano amplified to the point of sounding tinny, like a child's toy. I wouldn't have thought it possible to destroy the sound of a good piano if I hadn't heard it for myself.