Cleveland Orchestra in Vienna

Last night we performed our first concert in the famous Musikvereinsaal, the home of the Vienna Philharmonic and the site of the famous New Year's Day concert with Walter Cronkite. With it's beautiful decorations, history, and fantastic acoustics, it's always a treat for musicians to play there. Last night's program was Mozart Symphony #28, Debussy's "Iberia", and Beethoven's 7th Seventh symphony. We had curtain after curtain call and the normally reserved Viennese audience was very extroverted! Tonight is Ligeti's "Lontano" ( a very beautiful modern work) and the Bruckner Ninth Symphony. Since both our conductor and Bruckner are Austrian, the Viennese audience should love it. Tonight's concert is also being taped and will be made into a commercial DVD.

Today I rested but tomorrow we have most of the day off so I hope to going hiking in the Vienna woods. Vienna is an incredibly beautiful city with a rich history, great museum, fantastic shopping, and great food. I highly recommend it! I hope you have a nice week! NOW GO SELL HOUSES!!!!

Cleveland Orchestra- Luxembourg & Cologne

We just finished 1 concert in Luxembourg and 2 in Cologne. Luxembourg is a very nice banking city which obviously has lots of wealth. There are large pedestrian malls with beautiful shops. On our free day some of us rented cars to get out of the city and visit some castles. We enjoyed the rebuilt castle at Vianden and the partially-rebuilt castle in La Brouchette. I would highly recommend visiting both if you are in the area. The concert hall in Luxembourg, which we opened two years ago, has excellent acoustics but is a little boomy because of the extremely high ceiling. Nevertheless, the hall has lots of wood in it and has the classic "shoebox" shape, which is so important for a good concert hall. The concerts in Cologne were extremely well received, although the hall is not that great. It's a little dry-sounding and you really have to work to get a great sound. Last night the local presenter treated us to dinner at a restaurant specializing in German cuisine, and it was tasty! The beer was flowing quite freely during dinner and everyone had a great time.

Tonight's performance of the Mahler 2nd symphony was the best so far and the audience loved it...MANY curtain calls and lots of ovations. They seem to like us here so I know we'll be back in 2 years. Tomorrow we fly to Friedrichshafen for a concert at 3pm and them on to Vienna, which is the holy grail for symphony musicians. I write again from there. Have a great weekend!

Visit my sites: www.realtyone.com/scott.haigh http://www.scotthaigh.com/

Cleveland Orchestra on tour part 2

We’ve been on tour for 9 days and everyone is beginning to get into the rhythm of touring. The tour started out in Washington D.C. with a concert at the Kennedy Center and the program was Mozart Symphony #28, John Adams A Guide to Strange Places, and Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony (the “Pathetique). Despite the mediocre acoustics the audience seemed to enjoy it very much. Next was New York City, with 3 concerts at Carnegie Hall. I usually enjoy running around the city to see museums, etc. but I was hit with a nasty cold that kept me confined to the hotel napping while I didn’t have a rehearsal or concert. I even had to cancel a visit to see my family north of the city because of those little germs. The highlight of the New York concerts was the Mahler Symphony #2 (the “Resurrection Symphony), which never fails to elicit standing ovations. The guest chorus, The Westminster Symphonic Choir, was excellent but I’m sure Cleveland Orchestra Chorus members were NOT pleased to not be singing with us in Carnegie Hall. After New York we jumped over the puddle to Birmingham, England. Birmingham has an excellent hall built in 1990. The local orchestra achieved fame under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, who spent many years there and is now the music director of the Berlin Philharmonic. We did the Mahler again with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Chorus, which was also excellent. Birmingham is a big city with lots of night life next to our hotel (READ PUBS WITH LOTS OF ENEBRIATED YOUNG PEOPE WATCHING THE WORLD RUGBY FINALS, WHICH ENGLAND LOST!!) Cardiff, Wales was next, on last Monday. The famous city castle was right in front of the hotel and there’s a neat pedestrian mall near the hotel. It’s a neat city and well worth the visit. I had dinner there with a bass-playing friend who used to play in the Hong Kong Philharmonic. She’s married to a free-lance trombonist who works in London and they’re expecting their 2nd child. That brings us to Brussels, Belgium, where we played at the Palais des Beaux-Arts last night. The house was packed and we rocked it on Beethoven 7th symphony. Brussels is a beautiful city but we were there such a short time I decided to skip the sight-seeing and rest up before the concert. Pacing is very important on tour, especially as you get older! Some of the younger folks in the orchestra went out partying after the concert last night and got in at 5am. Needless to say they are sleeping on this morning’s bus ride to Luxembourg, and trying to get rid of headaches!
Have a profitable day and I’ll report more in a few days.

Best, Scott Haigh

www.realtyone.com/scott.haigh www.scotthaigh.com

First Concert on Tour-Cleveland Orchestra

We started our tour today in Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center. The program was an early Mozart symphony, a piece by minimalist composer John Adams, called "A Guide to Strange Places" ( It should have been called a "Guide to a Strange Piece!) Anyway, the audience loved it. The concert ended with Tchaikovsky's famous Symphony #6, the "Pathetique) Kennedy Center's acoustics are not the greatest but it was a good concert and the audience was pleased. Tomorrow we head to the holy grail of concert halls, Carnegie Hall in New York, where we have 3 concerts. I'll report on that in a few days. Ohio senator Sherrod Brown arranged a tour for orchestra members of the Capitol Building, which was really interesting. We saw the senate in session, where a bill extending the "No call list" legislation was presented, which of course is of interest to realtors. The rotunda was particularly impressive, where JFK lay in state so long ago. I would highly recommend visiting it. Have a good day tommorow!

Turning over listings for music!

So next week I'm leaving to go on a concert tour with the Cleveland Orchestra, with whom I've played since 1978. I'll be gone for 3 weeks and although I'll have my laptop with me and therefore email, I won't have international cell phone service so I feel like I'll be really out of touch. Why am telling you this? Only this week did the seller of my first listing decide that maybe painting and new carpet is what's needed to sell the house. (It's been on the market since March and the home is tired and needs work) So....I'm going crazy trying to get that arranged before I leave and preparing all my files to turn over to another agent before I leave. Sound familiar? Any sympathy would help but I'm sure I won't get it! In case you are interested in following the Cleveland Orchestra European Tour online, click on www.clevelandorchestra.com, or go my website, www.realtyone.com/scott.haigh
I hope things go well for you this week...