Klarinet Archive - Posting 000044.txt from 2002/07

From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Stage manners
Date: Mon, 1 Jul 2002 17:51:29 -0400

In Philadelphia, some orchestra members can be heard noodling, frequently on
their parts for that night's concert, as much as an hour before the
performance begins. Occasionally, a percussionist or one of the harpists
comes out to set up some equipment in street clothes before he or she goes
off to change into concert dress. For some of them who have not been home
all day for one reason or another, this is a part of their daily practice
ritual. That they can do some of their practicing in the acoustic
environment they perform in is for many of these players an advantage. The
curtain was never down at the Academy of Music before a concert, and there
is no curtain at Verizon Hall in the new Kimmel Center. As the performance
hour draws closer, more and more players come onto the stage, all now in
formal dress. The wind (wood and brass) players tend to be out earlier than
the string players, although there are exceptions in both directions. Much
of the playing involves passage work from the concert. Like Dan, I always
find this an enjoyable, sometimes even inspiring, part of the evening.
Sometimes I can hear individuals playing passages quite clearly who would
not be so prominent in the orchestral texture during the performance.

I've always felt more comfortable during a performance if I've had a chance
during the minutes before we start to review critical passages - solos,
difficult passage work, etc.... It certainly isn't a matter of learning them
in those final minutes. It just helps me to focus on them if I've had a
chance to play them a few times before we start.

I've played in orchestras that were asked not to play passages from the
concert during our warm-up. Most of the time no one makes a point of it one
way or the other.

FWIW

Karl Krelove

> -----Original Message-----
> From: William Wright [mailto:w7wright@-----.net]
> Sent: Monday, July 01, 2002 11:56 AM
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> Subject: [kl] Stage manners
>
>
> I attend concerts in my own town, but not in neighboring towns. I'm
> beginning to wonder whether 'stage manners' in my town have drifted from
> the norm, perhaps the result of 'inbreeding'?
>
> When orchestras assemble on an open stage with no curtain, the chit chat
> between performers sometimes is quite informal.... calling to each other
> across the stage, bursts of laughter, entering and then leaving the
> stage again, much talk and little tuning/warmup.
>
> Is there a (perhaps alleged?) protocol for assembling on a stage when
> there's no curtain? For that matter, do classical orchestras every
> assemble behind a curtain as they do in (say) Broadway-style musicals or
> operas?
>
> Thank you,
> Bill
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>

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