Reviews are in, and they are fairly positive. No mention of yours truly, but I only had one true “solo-solo” so I’m not at all surprised. I still think I played well, but you know me and those doubts! I’ll always have ’em. It’s in the blood.
I do think the program worked. When I saw Ellington on the program I wasn’t thrilled, but this work is, in my little opinion, really wonderful. It was new to me, and I loved sitting there enjoying the first three movements before playing the only one with English horn in it. (And even in that movement I played less than I expected; there was one solo that the maestro said shouldn’t be in my part, so I sat there watching it go by. No one else played the line, so I’m not sure what that was about. It certainly wasn’t in his own score, though, which he used rather than the rental score.) My part is actually in the second oboe part, but we “split the book” which saves symphony a doubling fee. (Aren’t we nice to save them money? I think so!) Then, following the fourth movement, I sat through three more movements. In some ways I feel like such a fool just sitting there, but I do have one of the best seats in the house!
