Well, two weeks and three days into this year's Orpheus project, I think we are all ready for the concert on Friday! We have reached a point in rehearsals where we can all offer comments on interpretation, rather than worrying about whether we are together or are following the composer's indications. It's been trying at times, with so many different opinions being thrown around and so many brilliant musicians giving suggestions, but in the end, the experience is rewarding. It is really exciting to feel the fourth movement of Prokofiev's "Classical Symphony" chugging along at an unreal pace without a conductor on the podium who can take credit for the exciting sound! It is really thrilling to know that we put this all together by ourselves, and that each of us can take credit for something or another that will happen on Friday night.
Stravinsky's "Symphonies of Wind Instruments" proved much more difficult to put together than any of the other pieces on the program. The piece is riddled with changing meters and unexpected stops. The musicians involved in this project have had to be extremely patient with each other, and some have nearly come to blows! In the end, though, the piece feels fresh and lively when we play it, and our interpretation is much more like chamber music than one might hear in an orchestral performance! It has been an exciting three weeks and we can only hope that it will come to a thrilling finish on Friday at 7:30.
