Klarinet Archive - Posting 000543.txt from 2001/03

From: Frank Garcia <fgarcia@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Performance horror stories (was: embouchure woes)
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 22:34:50 -0500

I have a funny story, but it wasn't funny at the time. I was playing
2nd/bass with the San Diego Opera. We were performing Verdi's Simon
Boccanegra (sp?) with Sherrill Milnes singing the main role. There is a
small bass cl. solo which is repeated by the singer, in this case Sherrill
Milnes. I had a quick cl change, picked my borrowed bass cl, and started to
play the solo (A C B A G# A E over the break). When I played (or attempted
to play) the C, the key fell off onto the carpet below. So all Sherrill got
was the A. Fortunately he knew what to do, and the Principal covered my
part in the correct octave. I was only 18 or 19 yrs old at the time and
felt certain that they would ever hire me again after my opening night
screw up. But fortunately, for my sake, they cut me some slack. But to this
day, I detest playing bass because of that single traumatic episode! Moral
of the story: check your screws on a regular basis.
________________
Frank Garcia
fgarcia@-----.edu
http://www.d.umn.edu/music/faculty/fgarcia.html

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