I was sitting near the front, and to me, it looked like the first violinists were nearly falling asleep sometimes. Ok maybe I’m stupid, but it seems like, if you’re playing a heartbreaking Brahms melody, your body language shouldn’t say “Just another day at the office….”
My apologies if I’m out of place here! Just a thought!
No, this isn’t about an orchestra I play in. It’s not even about one in California. It’s a comment from another professional orchestra’s blog, and it’s a good reminder; the audience is watching us. They want to believe we care. Sometimes we don’t look like we do. While I don’t believe we should have to smile while playing (yes, I was asked to do that once), and we are having to concentrate very hard so we might look awfully serious sometimes, if we look like we are snoozing something is wrong. Sometimes — dare I say this — we even have to become actors; there is music I really dislike (say, for instance, the Franck d minor), but when I’m performing it is my job to “sell” the work, no matter what I think about it.
