Monday 7 December 2009

Walking the tightrope

which is having the success of a concert depending on one final chance to nail a piece, I found myself having one of my very specific anxiety dreams.

Thus I am shouting, 'But what's the RV number?' at a trumpet player expecting to play that Vivaldi Concerto for two trumpets even though we do not have the orchestral parts. Antonio, we all remember, wrote the same concerto four hundred times... before I phone up the local very helpful music shop to get the parts. I like them, you have but to say, 'Barenreiter, Urtext,' and they respond, 'Of course.' Then some random Russian turns up in the rehearsal and starts barking instructions at the strings.

The reality was that we got through the whole of the Corelli Christmas Concerto in forty minutes. The soloists are fine. The ripieni will be for the concert. The organ continuo boy was good. One Violin I forgot to come and I may just cut him... That way, he won't forget again and I won't have the worry of him messing something up and yes there will be plenty of musicians in the audience who will notice every little thing. He'll get to play in the other piece. I just have to time our arrival on foot at the venue at the same time as the minibus with the Cellos, Basses, stands and other bits arrives, so the school doesn't get a parking ticket. Last time we did a lunchtime concert, the building opposite the school caught fire, the road got closed and my HoD was left outside the place in the rain with the boys and the gear. He was not happy. ;-(

Anyway, I like Corelli. Good, honest music. Plays itself, if you can play it. Just those scary moments of doing an upbeat in a new tempo and feeling that only a quarter of the players are really with you. On the fix it list for Thurs. Sigh.

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