The following was excerpted from a review of a performance of Shostakovich's 7th Symphony by one the Juilliard School's orchestras (presumably their A-team, though this is not specified):
This anonymous percussionist toiled away in the middle of the back row, with one timpanist on either side for punctuation. But at one point, when the strings had achieved close to maximum crescendo, a set of four previously hidden battery mates stood with the precision of an Air Force drill team. Like the horns standing at the end of Mahler's First Symphony, this was a thrilling effect. For once, a critic (Fred Kirshnit) gets it. It's all visual and it is exciting (I would use a different adjective - unnerving, most prominently - from my perspective as a player remembering numerous times that I have played the piece [Mahler, that is]) though there is no discernible difference from perspective of audibility. I have been thinking a lot lately about my relationship with music, performance, recordings and concerts and how they relate to each other and this little example is further food for thought. Peter Hirsch _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
