Ethernet cables are a thing of the past,
which is why I am only now able to tell you about the activities of the past
two days. To say it is a whirlwind is unfair – both to the hurricane that is 8
hours of rehearsal a day, and to the parting of clouds and choir-heralded
emerging sunshine that is the progress we’ve made already. Our first tutti
(full orchestra, for my non-musician readers) rehearsal was last night, and we
just got out of 3 more hours of work on the Shostakovich. That reminds me! Our repertoire is as follows: Shostakovich 10,
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with Joshua Bell (who will arrive next week, as
will Maestro Gergiev) and Magiya, a
piece commissioned by Carnegie Hall and BBC Radio 3 (on which our Proms concert
from Royal Albert Hall will be broadcast) for NYO by Sean Shepard, who we will
also meet and discuss the piece with later this week. Ahhh, the opening of the Shostakovich…the low strings, resonant, full and woody
yet clean and clear...I think that DSCH is permanently engraved into my heart (and my ear drums).
Shostakovich may have lost his identity, but he can tell you his name. (For
those who don’t know much Shostakovich, the motif “D-S-C-H” using German
notation translates to the notes D-Eb-C-B, and stand for Demetri Schostakovich.
Mind blown? You’re welcome!)
Maestro
James Ross is preparing us for Maestro Gergiev’s arrival, and has dubbed
himself our “surrogate daddy” for the next week. His extremely kind and
friendly manner combined with deep experience and knowledge of the music make
rehearsals engaging and outstandingly productive; I’d say that’s what I’ve been
most amazed by: not just the baseline level of playing, but the leaps and
bounds everyone is ready and willing to take to bring ourselves together as an
orchestra. Most of us have never experienced a conducting style like Maestro
Gergiev’s, and all the musical faculty have that in mind in preparing us;
everything we do is looking forward. And not just to this tour, but for a
future of playing music. Over the past 48 hours I’ve constantly had invaluable
insight and knowledge just handed to me by the faculty and by my peers; it’s
impossible to walk into a rehearsal, whether sectional or tutti, and not be
inspired. We spent yesterday afternoon in a brass sectional coached by the
principal horn of the Houston Symphony, the Principal Trombone of the Minnesota
Orchestra, and the Principal Trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Today, we played with them in tutti, along with all the other section coaches.
They’ve taught us tricks and rules of the trade, of orchestral playing, and of
our instruments, on top of helping us build our musicianship. I have to admit,
with the thermostat stuck at 55 and a neighbor practicing the room above until
1:30, Sunday night didn’t seem too promising. Still, Madison and I were up at 6
for our run, and saw enough baby bunnies and deer to wake me up from a night of
Shosti 10 lullabies.
When
I catch a moment, usually before bed, I’ve been chipping away at my reading
list, which includes "The Icon
and the Axe: An
Interpretative History of Russian Culture" by James H. Billingham, a tome my dad
suggested to me in preparation for the tour to Russia. Not only is it is a deep
source of information and perspective, but it was written in ’66, so the maps
and commentary provide a contemporary look at the USSR at that point. I’m also
reading “The Remains of the Day” and then “The Unconsoled”, two novels by Kazuo
Ishiguro, whose works I’ll be reading for my Senior Thesis.
We’re headed soon into a workshop on
our repertoire; I’m excited to go beyond “DSCH” and “Elmira” (another code in the music, read on!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._10_(Shostakovich)
and learn some more about the music. Lecture’s about to start, let’s hand over
the stage to Dr. David Wallace!
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