… so the bass oboe behaved, and I think I played fine. I suspect that I could learn to love the beast, but after tomorrow I send it back to Forrests and odds are I’ll never play it again. This is only the second time it’s been used in anything I’ve been involved in (last time someone else played it) since I began with San Jose Symphony back in 1975. Seems unlikely that it’ll pop back up before I retire, yes?

The encore tonight made me cry it was so beautiful. I don’t play in that work, so I sit on stage and enjoy. I do believe I have the best seat in the house!

And now off to bed with me. I’m entirely beat. I think I need a week of recovery time, really, but there’s no possibility of that until sometime later. Maybe the week after Christmas, actually. This musician’s life … it’s feast or famine when it comes to work. So I’m attempting to enjoy this feast!