Whenever any musician is asked "Who is your favorite composer?" or "What's your favorite piece?" we instantly contort with fear that we are being asked to answer a question the answer to which changes sometimes hourly. Most of us would much prefer to be asked our top 5 or 10 of each (although that often changes as well). When I am asked this question (after freezing in horror at the prospect of what I'm being asked to decide), I often answer with something along the lines of "well...I love my Russians!" I spent this past week in East Lansing rehearsing and performing with the Lansing Symphony Orchestra and was reminded why this reply fits me so well.
Of my top five favorite composers, Tchakovsky is always in the first three names I think of. He's the master of melody and can take me on a journey to the furthest reaches of my emotions while always bringing me back to reality (weather I want to or not). We performed two of his ballet suites yesterday; Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Having never been given the opportunity to perform Swan Lake I was so excited that I was finally finishing a personnel "set" and am now proud to announce that I have performed all three Tchaikovsky Ballet suites at least once! The orchestra's energy was flowing and each of these pieces book ended the concert perfectly. I think the audience would agree as well!
One composer in general is almost always well received by audiences but feared and revered by piccoloists around the world. Shostakovich's Cello Concert no 1 in E-Flat hit the audience like a wave of dark water before intermission. The soloist played beautifully (although a bit slow for my taste) and was given three ovations by the standing and cheering audience. I was so happy that my intonation was doing well and almost all my high notes spoke with ease (except those damn high C's!). Having another Shostakovich piccolo part under my belt feels great and hopefully next year they program another of his pieces!
After intermission we performed the almost never played ballet suite to the "Fairy's Kiss" by Stravinsky. The piece is lovely and I have compliment the Principal of my section (Richard Sherman) for his wonderful story telling throughout the entire work. Hopefully I get to perform it again in the future. The music was written as an homage to Tchaikovsky and much of this influence can be heard throughout the piece. Why it is not more often performed is beyond me!
Over all I had an amazing week. It felt so good to be rehearsing and performing regularly again (even if it was just for the week) and it has revitalized my need to search harder for more gigs! Up next: Summer Festival auditions, possibly the Peoria Symphony audition and a few lessons here and there with hopeful colleagues.
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