We focussed almost entirely on Berlioz yesterday, and I finally was able to get to the third movement English horn solos at around 8:15. That was one long wait to see how I would feel about the solos! (We rehearsaled—yes, I wrote “rehearsaled” and yes, I could fix that, but I’ve decided it is too funny and must stay—from 3:30-6:00 and then from 7:30 until 10:00). The reed that I’m hoping will be a happy reed worked okay. Not great. But okay. If it were great, I’m not sure it would be great for Saturday and Sunday.
You see reeds have this “thing” about having only a short time of true greatness. Before that you can tell they are on their way to greatness, and after that you can sometimes tell that they had greatness but sometime you wonder how the heck they could ever have played at all! Reeds are funny that way. (And funny in so many other ways.)
I haven’t played Berlioz Symphonie fantastique for ages. I had forgotten about how it feels to play it. Certain works do have certain “feels” to them. This one … well … it’s an odd baby, if you ask me. Berlioz was a bit twisted. Drugs can do that to a person. But I do love the work!
Today is a one-rehearsal day, and the orchestra begins with Piazzolla, so I don’t need to arrive until around 8:30. Then we go past 10:00 with a 45 minute rehearsal of Beethoven’s fifth, which is for a special concert that will follow the Sunday matinee. It will be interesting to see how Sunday goes; Berlioz is taxing, and to put Beethoven on top of that will be … um … interesting!
Gee … now you know how I’ll be spending my Mother’s Day. But better busy than bored. Better employed than not. Better music than silence. 🙂
This Makes Me (just a little bit) Sad
When I parked my car in the lot symphony provides for us on certain days it had no dents. When I returned it had one. Only a slight dent … but still. Sigh. This means that whoever parked next to me—a colleague, no less!—dented my car. And said nothing. I’m not all that obsessive about cars, and I’ve never owned anything especially wonderful. This is only a Honda Civic. But it’s just that someone I know dented my little car. Isn’t that sad? Ah well. It had to happen eventually.
Tickets!
The past few concerts have sold out. This one hasn’t yet reached that point. So if you are interested in hearing Symphony Silicon Valley you should order your tickets! If you don’t, you’ll have to wait until next September. This is our final concert. The Debussy is charming. The Piazzolla is a sexier type of Four Seasons. The Berlioz … well … the Berlioz is a wild ride! So do try to attend if you are able. You could always take mom. 🙂
