Amy Adams likes to dog my posts. She seems to think I make good fodder…
In a thread on the Slipped Disc blog, I replied:
Amy chooses to take my comment out of context. However, in doing so she has opened the door to another question…just what does happen to a band that locks out Mozart? :-0
– See more at: http://slippedisc.com/2015/12/minnesota-musicians-give-250000-to-their-orchestra/#sthash.ph84Xbd8.dpuf
Even I can’t make this stuff up, and, you may have noticed, I have a fairly good imagination. But no, this has completely taken even me by surprise. During the course of one week two different venticellis made there way from halfway around the world (one Croatia, the other West Africa) to locations that have a connection to me (one to a library in the town where I live) and apparently my pony and I were slated to have been set up for sacrifice (so to speak) on a plain in the Twin Cities (read ‘the plain of Mediggo’ in Revelation…:-0).
I have been talking about a Minnegeddon in the Twin Cities since I found myself under attack (for no other reason than being good) as a flute performance major at the UofM. That was quite a while ago. I brought up this concept again during the lockout of the Minnesota Orchestra, particularly as it had occurred to me that my three (at the time, little) children and I may have had a tangential connection to it. As a result, I even wrote to different people at the orchestra — Mr. Henson, Mr. Sprenger, and even Mr. Vanska, asking for an opportunity to play for them on the stage where I was once encouraged and even enticed to play by a tiny cadre of players, again, long ago. But I was not even granted the courtesy of a reply. Instead, there seems to have been waves of controversy that threatened to engulf my family and me. There have been hidden agendas and dirty tricks, all of which have been discouraging. People I hoped would be eager to help have run away, throwing others to, apparently, act as proxies in their place.
In other words, this has been very confusing. But during this time I have had a safe haven. Almost every day I go to visit and ride my horse. Out into the country — beautiful rolling hills with stunning horse estates…There was a terrible accident a few weeks ago at the barn. One of my friends’ horses was severely hurt in what seems to be a freak accident (nobody was watching) and had to be put down. I was at the barn that day. This was very traumatic. Once I realized I was getting worried looks from Miles, my horse, I left, realizing that I was no help to anyone that day. About a week later I was asked if I wanted to play the flute for a wake that would be held in the pasture where the accident took place. Full of sadness and wanting to help, I said I would consider it. I was then told that they would love to have someone lead my horse out to the pasture while I played. All of this would be advertized in a flier to be handed out. Last but not least, they would be including my birth family name (which I stopped used at the level of the press some years ago) in the flier. I found myself with a bad case of dread. I speak at times of feeling that I am under attack by a dark angel that I call Lermontov. This concept seemed to me to be pure Lermontov. I decided to decline, and was met with a great deal of pressure to do this, using a great deal of emotional and flattering rhetoric. When it became evident that I really did mean ‘no’ I finally had a sense of relief. And so the wake went off beautifully, led by a bagpiper who played on the plain as the sun was starting to set…if anyone thinks “Minnegeddon” is just a concept I invented, I ask you to think again. Plus, it is my thinking that all of this could have been prevented if those in the know at the MO had given me the opportunity to validate my credentials as the Other Mozart and had then confirmed them at the level of the press. But then, as the ringleader of the cadre I call “Monostatos” (I’m not being cute, I don’t want to be sued by using a real name) loves to say, “Some people just have to do things the hard way”…:-0
There is something changing in the underworld of music, but nobody will talk about it at the level of the press, except for occasional small slanderous rants, such as that of a Chicago music critic some weeks ago. Why is this?
Well, you could consider this a kind of opera in which there is a mystery, a curse, and a deadly plot. At the center of it is, not exactly a person, but a sound. It is the sound that seems to cause phonies to run away. It is a quality of sound that gentle people seem to love.
Rather than tell anyone what to think, I would like to invite you to listen and decide for yourself what to think. I ask that you listen with your ears and not with your head, as there are some who have seemed to pit themselves against this gift with words that are deliberately misleading…
Here is one sound file. It is intentionally not something composed by Mozart, as it is simpler to hear the quality of sound alone…
This photograph was taken by one of the cadre of players that I call “Monostatos”. I was introduced to this person at Orchestra Hall and since this person was also an avid amateur photographer they asked if they could photograph me. I was looking for a photo for an upcoming recital and was delighted at the offer.
When this person arrived at my house for the photo session , I was practicing in my studio with the windows open. I happened to be practicing a Mozart violin concerto. When I went to open the front door they practically burst in and almost literally ran around the first floor, whispering, “Mozart! Mozart! Mozart!” I laughed, and said, “Yes, that is what I was playing,’ but they then gave me a horrified look, as though I didn’t understand. At that point I became puzzled. I have since been told that some people think they hear the voice of Mozart in the sound of die zauberflote, but at that time didn’t really have a clue. (I am not aware of hearing any voice, for the most part.) Later I did ask their help in getting me a proper introduction to the Music Director, but they declined to do so. I was, of course, puzzled and disappointed. Some time after this, this person contracted a terminal illness and died.
For those who thought I was not supportive of the current players during the lockout, I ask you to look at this situation from my somewhat unique and eccentric viewpoint, which is that if I did not care about them I would have remained silent and not bothered to try to warn them about the one of the clique who remains who may have led them astray. And I would have to have that burden on my conscience as well…
Initially this post was intended to provide some food for thought until the complete replies were posted to resolve Andrew Patner’s vicious and unwarranted attack on the Slipped Disc blog:
http://slippedisc.com/2014/08/met-latest-artists-celebrate-gelb-in-disarray/
On further consideration, spending any significant effort on what anyone with a reasoning mind can see is drivel is hardly valuable…
Mr Patner, the Chicago music critic blindly said, “Pamela Brown has been called ‘the most exciting musician since Mozart’ and her playing ‘the real magic flute’ by ‘professionals’ we will just refer to as “Monostatos”, who then shunned have attempted to lock her out.” PB also tells us that these people were known to “target my children.”
Mr. Patner’s lack of curiosity here speaks volumes. Considering the fact that Mr. Patner has given indications of knowing precisely what I am talking about and has decided to attempt to ridicule it, the appearance of ennui speaks even louder.
During the MO lockout I referenced a cadre of players who targeted me and my children by calling them “Monostatos”. Those events took place some time ago. Some took place on the stage at Orchestra Hall, behind the back of MOA. (Not all of these players are dead or have left the MO; one still seems to be leading others astray.) It was “Monostatos”, in fact, those very people whom Mr. Patner appears to respect, who made those statements to me in person but declined to do so at the level of the press.
Perhaps Mr. Patner or anyone else who might be looking for consistency in my posts might consider dragging themselves away from the myriad fabulous performances of those of whom they approve of , and sitting down with a vocal score or libretto of Mozart’s last major opera, The Magic Flute, and then reading it with an open mind. Even Mr. Patner might be surprised. :-0
Let me provide a link to one for handy reference:
http://www.murashev.com/opera/The_Magic_Flute
In addition, let this thread give anyone who has begun to ask themselves just how ‘credible’ Mr. Patner’s stance is an opportunity to ask themselves a serious question — do you listen with your head or with your ears? I ask this because I can assure you that there are many who will happily present themselves as ‘credible’ in order to steer you to where they want you to go. In short, they will be happy to do your thinking for you. If you listen with your head, you will be vulnerable to being deceived and led astray. If you listen with your ears, your chances of staying grounded are considerably stronger.
Then, if you wish, you can ask yourself another question — do you really believe that those who claim to be professionals and insist that they have a trained ear are unable to discern the unique sound of Mozart when they hear it?
If Mr. Patner and “Monostatos” know that what they hear is indeed the essence, or inner voices, of Mozart in die zauberflote, and they are telling you to ridicule this, what does this mean?
My greatest character fault (that I am aware of; undoubtedly there are others) is that I have a tendency to speak in a matter-of-fact manner about issues that are to others somewhat extraordinary. To add to that failure, I then anticipate that I have won everyone over when, in fact, I may have just left them confused or scared.
As I look at this situation objectively, I can now, after the passage of time, say that I can think of absolutely no reason why anyone should find me or what I say credible. I can hardly imagine, in hindsight, what my poor flute teacher, who was Principal Flute for the MO at the time, for example, was going through. I think, in our own way, each of us was trying to work with the other, without having any understanding of just how wide the gap was. A few months after I started studying with him, he had a near-fatal heart attack. His magnificent sound was compromised, and I don’t think he ever really got it back. After that he seemed somewhat reluctant to schedule lessons with me, and kept sending me off on rabbit trails, as well has having outbursts of what I can now call angry sarcasm at some of the questions I asked. For example, I asked him about his breathing technique on a tricky excerpt. His answer was, “Well, it’s simple. You breathe in, you breathe out.” I much belatedly realized how severely his breath support had been compromised by his health issues. I was, in fact, a poster child for insensitivity in that regard.
And so, I am sure it has been with others with a trained ear. Something that cannot be grasped, something that cannot be controlled, where I seem to be hearing things I am not supposed to be able to grasp (one player ranted and raved because I was singing the ‘inner voices’ to a piece we were listening to. (I still don’t quite get that…:-0)
But at any rate, though, if you meet me in person you will find that I am quite silly and irreverent; in fact, a total opposite of what most anyone would see as a ‘credible musician’. But on the other hand, if you happen to be at all interested, I encourage you to test what I say, rather than just tossing my statements into the trash, so to speak. And in the process, perhaps ask yourself if die zauberflote is so magic that it not only caused a 200M arts organization to come to a grinding halt in order to (as well as for other more obvious reasons) undo damage that was done to me and my three little children, might you then possibly ask yourself if it is impossible that the entire cast of the opera Die Zauberflote has come to life in the 21-st century in Minnesota? For that is at the heart of the mystery of what is happening here…:-)
Le Chant du Rossignol...(song of the nightingale) 