Whos up for a little inside baseball regarding tonights show? A trumpet section is made up of four people who have distinct jobs. Chuck Lazarus is our 4th and utility guy and goes pretty much wherever we need him. Hes literally played every position. Doug Carlsen sits in the 3rd and assistant chair and is the guy who has to have a killer low register and also high register because he will play the lead book fairly often as part of his job. Bob Dorer, as 2nd trumpet, has to be my shadow and find me wherever I am rhythmically and in terms of intonation and everything I do. It just so happens its usually an octave lower unless were playing Mahler symphonies that have very high 2nd trumpet parts. Well, this week i took a gander at this piece Doug was playing for me, the concerto for cello by Samuel Barber. I didnt even know Barber had written a cello concerto, much less ever heard it. It has some tricky stuff in it and a final solo that really requires a small trumpet like a Bb piccolo to pull off with any taste. My usual comment when I see a part like that is Sucks to be you, pal. When I have a big piece like the Mahler 2nd symphony to play, Im even more appreciative of Dougs willingness to play the concertos. Its where Twin Cities audiences have seen him do a lot of his work: playing in a supportive role to some of the greatest artists in the world. He handles his job with aplomb and I never have to worry. In fact, many has been the time Ive received compliments for my playing to have to say, Thanks but thats my buddy D.C. doing the heavy lifting. When he told me he had taken ill and wouldnt be able to play tonight I thought, at first, he was joking but then could see he wasnt. Not only would we have to make a quick phone call to replace him for the Mahler but I was going to have to play the Barber without benefit of rehearsal. For years I have been telling my MYSers that sight reading is a very important skill. Its why we make them read new music they havent seen almost every week. I tell them anything can happen and you might have to jump into the hot seat. It means you may have to play a piece you know but without knowing what a conductor is going to do. It also means possibly having to play you dont know from a piece of wallpaper. Thats what I had to do. It meant I had to get my section together and have them talk me through the entire concerto so that i would know anything I needed to know. Where are the little solos, unexpected mute changes, tempo changes, unbeaten portions where the cellist would be going off on her own... like that. We caucused for a while and I was as ready as I was ever going to be. Oh, did I mention this would be a live broadcast? Silly me. I left that out. Fortunately, because my section took the time to show me what to expect, I was able to go into it fairly well prepared and it went okay (except for the panic that ensued when 1) I couldnt remove my mute AND turn the page as quickly as I wanted... what a scramble, Holy Smokes... and 2) when I miscounted and didnt have A CLUE where I only to have Bob hoarsely whisper Were at the 3/8!... By the time I found the 3/8 I had one bar left before a solo I had to play... almost knocked a tooth out getting the horn to my lips). The good news was I found I wasnt at all uptight about playing the Mahler after that experience. The theory of relativity lives!
Posted on: Sat, 27 Sep 2014 05:30:48 +0000
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