I had always thought that Bernstein had selected his favorites for his (bizarre) recording of West Side Story. (And yes, I own it, as you can see if you check out the Mitchell CD Library.) At the moment, though, I’m watching the video clip on Jason Heath’s site. It sure doesn’t look like Bernstein’s favorite is José Carreras. (I wish I could put videos up at this site, but You Tube doesn’t work with Userland’s Manila I guess. Oh well.)

Watching it might is funny to some (I see that it is to Jason). To me it’s horribly painful, because it reminds me of many a rehearsal from some years ago. I can’t go into my experiences here. Not yet anyway. (Maybe someday?) But it hurts to watch the humiliation in progress on the video clip. I’ve seen this. I’ve witnessed even worse. I’ve been the target myself.

I also immediately feel some anxiety when I see the recording studio; there’s nothing worse than having to redo something because YOU are the one who blew it, so most everyone (at least in my limited experience in the studio situation) is uptight and worried that he or she will be “it” in a take. It’s a horrible feeling. Really.

But anyway, I do think that Bernstein, if he really was the one to choose the singers for the recording, made some major mistakes. Major embarrassing mistakes. I wonder if he ever felt any humiliation because of that. Do conductors ever get humiliated like we instrumentalists do?

Okay … reeds. They are calling. I can hear them. Adieu. Ciao. Adio. Tschüss. Hasta la vista, baby. Akkil arnkuluku nyanjarl.

(Wow … I could really waste a lot of time checking out different ways of saying goodbye and avoid reeds for a very long time!)
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