Klarinet Archive - Posting 000489.txt from 1998/03

From: Kenneth M Caputo <kcaputo1@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: LAUGHING DURING A CONCERT
Date: Sat, 7 Mar 1998 23:49:51 -0500

I can imagine the situation. I heve been there myself. At a concert I was
playing in with the Georgtowm Symphony a very similar thing happened to
me.
The group was playing a new work by a local composer. During the third
mvt. Brass players in the balcony start to play. The composer turned
around to conduct the choral. as his back was turned the oboe (i think)
started laughing. Well the giggles spread as quickly as the flu. Now the
problem was that I was playing first and I had a solo. After the brass
choral a solo clarinet with string pizz. starts the main theme. A fugue.
The conductor turns around to see his entire wood wind sec in tears. Well,
I was laughing soooooooo hard I actually had tears in my eyes. The
solo(aprox.3 lines) was the hardest thing to play. Very soft and sweet.
The joke after the concert was if I had played a wrong note, would
the rest of the orchestra played the same thing? Nobody in the audience
seemed to notice anything but, one of the asst. mngrs saw. We all had a
talk at the next rehersal and actually had a great laugh about the whole
thing.
Ken
On Sat, 7 Mar 1998, avrahm galper wrote:

> Laughing during playing a concert
>
> Massey Hall, where the Toronto Symphony performed, had a new musician's
> lobby refurbished by the TSO women's committee. There were couches and
> chairs to sit on. The orchestra members supplied reading , old
> magazines and books that no one wanted.
> One day, the room was flooded with nudie book magazines. So what's new?
>
> At one concert the orchestra played the overture to Tannhauser. The
> first three lines are for two Clarinets, two Bassoons and Horns. We
> started playing when suddenly the first flutist, who wasn't playing at
> the time, whipped out one of the nudie magazines and started flipping
> the pages.
>
> The flutist turned the pages in such a way as to make us, the clarinet
> players behind, laugh at the antics.
> So imagine playing: TA TAA (snicker) TA TAA( snicker). We couldn't stop
> laughing at the turning antics.
> Fortunately for us, the conductor didn't look at us but into the
> audience. If there wouldn't have been horns playing and carrying the
> tune, the snickering and laughter would have been noticed.
> Those were three excruciating lines to play. I decided to get even with
> the flute player.
>
> In Massey Hall, the upper balcony extends over the stage, so anyone up
> there could see what was going on on the stage.
> I got a pupil of mine to write the conductor a letter.
> He read it to the orchestra a week later.
>
> "Dear Sir, I sit in the top balcony and love watching the members of the
> orchestra. Imagine when at the opening of the Tannhauser overture, I saw
> an unoccupied member of the orchestra, perusing a magazine with
> pictures of ladies in various modes of attire! I love the concerts."
> Mrs. C. Wilson
>
> The flute player swiveled around saying, "You did that!".
> "Did what"? I asked
> Later, the flute player went up to the upper balcony to satisfy his
> curiosity, came down and said "Yes, it is possible to see what is going
> on the stage."
>
> So if you have to laugh, hope and pray that the conductor isn't looking!
> (Life wasn't that funny all the time!)
> Avrahm Galper
>
>
> http://www.sneezy.org/avrahm_galper/index.html
>

   
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