Tastefully Restrained?

Well, we had our first rehearsal today for the next orchestra concert. I must say, after the intensity of the last performance, I was still on fire for this rehearsal. However, it's Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 2, and we're looking at the possibility of scaling down our equipment to make it sound lighter. We'll see about that...

The concert was a huge success! Of course, there are always things that you wish could have gone better, but the reaction from the audience was one of great appreciation and support! Gene said that it was possibly one of the best orchestra concerts he had heard at the university since he was hired 30 years ago! Many were impressed, and we received a good number of compliments on our hard work. Sibelius No. 2 is certainly an endurance symphony... at least the way we did it. Not in terms of tempos, or the length overall, but the drive and intensity through the whole work really take it out of you. And then the Finale... wow, I don't think I've ever played that loud in my life!

Funny thing about playing loud... sometimes it's never loud enough. As I've said, I'm pretty sure I would have been putting my supper through my trombone if I was playing any louder at then end of the Sibelius on Friday night. However, everyone we talked to after the concert said that the brass were in a great balance to the rest of the orchestra. Didn't drown out a thing. I could have sworn the back desk viola (who I can hit with my slide if I reach out a little from my chair) was going to go deaf, or at least experience some sort of temporary hearing loss.

To add insult to injury, the brass got special mention by one of the critics who reviewed the performance. After complimenting the orchestra and the performance overall, the critic mentions the brass in passing, with the comment "tastefully restrained." I know for a fact that we were nowhere near restrained, and the volume on stage certainly not tasteful. The whole brass section broke down in laughter when this was read to us today. Just goes to show, you might be blowing your brains out in volume, but what the audience hears is completely different from what you hear on stage. Upon further investigation, even with newly installed seats, the hall we play in still sucks up the low brass sound, but at least the woodwinds now can be heard. One of the profs mentioned it was like having an oboe sitting in your lap. Cute... is it house trained?

Anyways, I've got a recording on the way, so I'll try and get those up sometime. If you want to read the whole review, it's posted here.