There were times, with a former orchestra in which I played, when I was so fearful about a concert I felt might fall apart. When I’d get home Dan would ask, “How did it go?” My response was often, “Well, we didn’t have to stop.”
Of course that was the best thing I could say about the concert sometimes!
So just now I read this:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that all seemed to be going well when suddenly things fell apart and Welser-Möst said, “Sorry.” He directed the ensemble to begin a few bars back, but the performance derailed a second time.
“You see how difficult this is,” Welser-Möst said to the audience. “It worked this morning.”
Yikes! They really DID have to stop. How painful.
Whenever I’ve thought that might happen, I have one of those “heart falling on the floor” moments. You know how that feels, right? Not. Fun. At. All.
Sounds like Welser-Möst handled it well, though. What can you do but make a little joke?
We aren’t brain surgeons. So we can have a “do over” if we need one … can’t we?
In the same article we read that Bronfman had a piano problem. (Not his fault, but a sticking key.)
Stuff happens. Reeds break. Water gets in keys. Pads fall out. (I played a concert once where the clarinet player lost a pad in the middle of a performance and it went rolling away. I couldn’t help but laugh.) Strings break. And brass players fall asleep.
Oh … that last one isn’t okay … is it? 😉
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