So they played last night. I read a few good things, I read a few “meh” posts. And I read the Times review. It included this:

Subtlety? Well, that takes more rehearsal time. The orchestra had basically two days to work. Monday they rehearsed from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., which is what a conductor can do when freed from union work rules with an ensemble of unpaid players.

Which then made me wonder: would a union member be allowed to participate? (Would we want to is another question!) Hmmm. I guess it would be against the union rules. And is the hall a union hall? Did they get special permission for this unique event? I didn’t read the rules; did it say no professional musicians? (I thought I heard that one professional one a spot, but maybe I’m making that up.)

But yikes … that’s one long rehearsal. Let’s say they took breaks every 3 hours or so. That’s nine hours of rehearsal. For a symphony set here we get four rehearsals of 1 1/2 hours each but a rehearsal has breaks, so we don’t even have nine hours of rehearsal. (Side note: I heard that SFS had three rehearsals for the concert Dan and I attended at Flint.) It’s not entirely the rehearsal time that one needs, but familiarity with the group, to really gel.

Tommasini also wrote:

The project is worthy, and in ways inspiring. Still, I wish the concert had been less gimmicky and more substantive.

Well, the thing really was a gimmick, right? Many who are suggesting that the classical music world has to change in order to survive think we need some gimmicks.

Okay, enough of that. It’s latté time. Then off to our final dress of Carmen. The rehearsal begins at 11:30 AM and the hall will be full of school kids. Hmmm. I wonder how this opera works for children. It does have a rather unpleasant end.

Oh yeah, that’s opera nearly all the time. Duh.