Mrs. C and I have been subscribers to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for more than forty years. Once a year they have an evening open rehearsal (they are usually during the day) for subscribers and donors. They asked people to call if they were coming; when my wife did so she was told there would be a cash bar and "heavy oeuvres" [sic.]. The staffer said that meant more than little finger food but not enough for dinner. A new term has been coined.
Our marvelous new music director, Stéphane Denève, is blowing out all the stops with the Beethoven 9th this weekend. Before the rehearsal started, he told us that the metronome was invented around this time by a friend of L v B and that he loved it. The work is full of these timing marks but few conductors follow them. Denève intended to do so and at times the result sounded quite odd, often quite fast and a little stiff. But if the master says so... We will hear the final outcome at the performance tonight.
Above, a fuzzy low-light phone cam shot of our principal cello, Daniel Lee, starting to warm up.
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