NOI, Day 25

Today was the first day of rehearsals for this week's program, Brahms Symphony No. 2 and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. Our conductor this week is Carlo Rizzi, whose Italian accent makes me smile. The morning rehearsal involved a run-through of each piece - with minimal stopping only as necessary - to get a big picture idea of what we're working on.

We spent all of the first violin sectional this afternoon working on the Stravinsky. I liked the faculty violinist coaching our sectionals, but he let the violins get away with noodling around and practicing their parts while he was talking - I hate that. At one point five or six players were quietly figuring out some high note passages at the same time during rehearsal. I thought I might have a seizure. Seriously, rehearsal is not your personal practice time, and by the time you're in your twenties, there's no excuse for not knowing that. Best case scenario, come to rehearsal prepared and knowing your part. Worse case scenario, fake the spots you can't play yet, but don't figure out your notes and fingerings during rehearsal.

This probably makes it sound like I'm in a terrible mood... I'm really not! If you haven't experienced hearing groups of violinists noodle around on high passages they really can't play yet, you may not have a fully appreciation for how annoying it can be.

After sectionals I took a two hour nap. It's a toss up as to which part of my day was better, the Brahms or the nap, but I'm kind of leaning towards the nap.