The DVDs of the Master Course in Bulgaria arrived a few days ago. The organisers of the course had rushed through a copy for me to take away but I left them in the car that took me from Ruse to Sofia, I was very cross with myself. I have been looking forward to receiving the replacement disks for a while and since they arrived I have taken a good deal of time studying them.
The session that I was looking forward to watching the most was the twenty minutes I spent running through the finale of Mahler’s third symphony. As I wrote in this blog I have almost no recollection of this rehearsal. I do remember the first few minutes, the moment when Panula makes some remarks about some ties missing in the first violins, and a missed subito piano in the wind.
I went into the session with the wrong idea, I wanted to prove that I had the orchestral control to do rubato. I had not at that point got my head around what could be achieved at the master course and was still looking for a sense of direction. I did not get my thoughts clear until well into the third set of rehearsals and I owe a lot to my colleagues for helping me to realize that the course was about learning, not proving myself.
Even so, I count this session as one of my most successful at the course. When I stepped up to the podium I had already established myself as the conductor with the loud voice, I didn’t need to prove that any more! I made a few opening remarks, which I think were ignored! I waited for the chat let to subside by raising my arms into the ready position, and looking at the chatters until they stopped. The first rubato took the orchestra by surprise, but they caught on quickly and were soon prepared for the music to be pulled about.
From then on, with the exceptions noted earlier, I remember nothing until the end of the movement and the crashing tympani blows. Watching the video has been especially interesting and a great pleasure. I now realize that the orchestra pulled out all the stops for this rehearsal and made a huge effort. The dynamic contrasts are fabulous and the music really sings out. I had been worried about the brass players getting tired, so was keen to give them an easy time, but they play with great feeling and power. The wind play beautifully and the string tone is lush and full. I take the brass restatement of the theme fairly quickly, again I think this must have been because I was concerned not to tax them unduly, but I can’t remember doing so at the time. The final chords are played with great power.
If and when I do that movement again I will do several passages differently, but that is to be expected. I have now played the video several times, and in many of the passages the orchestral playing is superb, bravo!
One of my colleagues mentioned after the rehearsal that he didn’t like the way I shake my hands and arms during long sustained chords. Many conductors do this to encourage the orchestra to sustain a chord fortissimo and I consider it to be an acceptable technique. What I didn’t realise is that this can look a little odd when someone a bit overweight such as myself does it. I posted a remark on this blog a while ago saying that I was going to have to lose some weight, and two dear friends (both ladies, both singers, both mezzo-sopranos!) said that I was perfect as I was and didn’t need to change a bit.
Well ladies, take a look at the last few seconds of the Mahler 3 finale Part 2 video. It’s not the arms that are shaking! The music may be sublime, but I look ridiculous.
The session that I was looking forward to watching the most was the twenty minutes I spent running through the finale of Mahler’s third symphony. As I wrote in this blog I have almost no recollection of this rehearsal. I do remember the first few minutes, the moment when Panula makes some remarks about some ties missing in the first violins, and a missed subito piano in the wind.
I went into the session with the wrong idea, I wanted to prove that I had the orchestral control to do rubato. I had not at that point got my head around what could be achieved at the master course and was still looking for a sense of direction. I did not get my thoughts clear until well into the third set of rehearsals and I owe a lot to my colleagues for helping me to realize that the course was about learning, not proving myself.
Even so, I count this session as one of my most successful at the course. When I stepped up to the podium I had already established myself as the conductor with the loud voice, I didn’t need to prove that any more! I made a few opening remarks, which I think were ignored! I waited for the chat let to subside by raising my arms into the ready position, and looking at the chatters until they stopped. The first rubato took the orchestra by surprise, but they caught on quickly and were soon prepared for the music to be pulled about.
From then on, with the exceptions noted earlier, I remember nothing until the end of the movement and the crashing tympani blows. Watching the video has been especially interesting and a great pleasure. I now realize that the orchestra pulled out all the stops for this rehearsal and made a huge effort. The dynamic contrasts are fabulous and the music really sings out. I had been worried about the brass players getting tired, so was keen to give them an easy time, but they play with great feeling and power. The wind play beautifully and the string tone is lush and full. I take the brass restatement of the theme fairly quickly, again I think this must have been because I was concerned not to tax them unduly, but I can’t remember doing so at the time. The final chords are played with great power.
If and when I do that movement again I will do several passages differently, but that is to be expected. I have now played the video several times, and in many of the passages the orchestral playing is superb, bravo!
One of my colleagues mentioned after the rehearsal that he didn’t like the way I shake my hands and arms during long sustained chords. Many conductors do this to encourage the orchestra to sustain a chord fortissimo and I consider it to be an acceptable technique. What I didn’t realise is that this can look a little odd when someone a bit overweight such as myself does it. I posted a remark on this blog a while ago saying that I was going to have to lose some weight, and two dear friends (both ladies, both singers, both mezzo-sopranos!) said that I was perfect as I was and didn’t need to change a bit.
Well ladies, take a look at the last few seconds of the Mahler 3 finale Part 2 video. It’s not the arms that are shaking! The music may be sublime, but I look ridiculous.
