A New Feature!

I'm really excited today to introduce a new feature to Back Row Perspectives! About 6 months after I came to Vienna, I had the idea that it might be cool to keep a running tally of how many performances I've done in the Staatsoper and in the Philharmonic. So I went back through my calendar dating back to my very first performance (Verdi's Simone Boccanegra on September 5th, 2007), and established 3 separate spreadsheets that kept track of various things. I have kept up with it ever since then, and now with the advent of Google Docs I have published them all to the web so that anyone interested can view them. It's still a work in progress as I convert all my info into Google's format, but let me explain the 3 documents.

- Opera Performance Tally: This is just what it sounds like... a list of all the operas and ballets I've performed in the Vienna State Opera, and how many times I've done each one. You'll see a column for 1st trombone, 2nd trombone, and then the total number. As you can see, the current performance count is at 380 and my most-performed opera is The Magic Flute (no surprise there).

- Philharmonic Concert Blocks: This sheet has the most info on it. It is a record of my Philharmonic performances by concert block, divided by conductor and arranged in reverse chronological order. With this sheet I keep track of how many concerts I've played in the Philharmonic, what the repertoire was, where I toured, and with which colleagues I played. You'll notice I'm approaching 200 VPO concerts! Won't hit it until January, though.

- Philharmonic Works Performed: This one is just which pieces I've played with the Philharmonic, and how many times on 1st, 2nd, and "other" (i.e. euphonium, bass trumpet). I've got it listed alphabetically by composer. My most-performed work is Beethoven's 6th with 15 performances, most of which are on 1st bone. That's thanks to the big European tour with Maazel back in February. But coming up rapidly is Dvorak's 9th, mainly due to the last month!

The links for all 3 sheets will be permanently on the right side of the blog, in the "Orchestra Repertoire Lists" section. They will be updated regularly, probably about once a month. Check back often to see the tallies climb! And as always, I would love your feedback & suggestions.