This morning I met Tom Drake, assistant principal trumpet, at the refreshingly timeless Spencer’s Grill in Kirkwood. Although all that surrounds Spencer’s has been new-urbanized, the diner stubbornly maintains its old-town character. Tom and I talked orchestra over an excellent BLT and a turkey club.
With Petrushka on the horizon for opening weekend, and Leonard Slatkin returning, in October, to conduct the orchestra he led for 17 years, Tom had an anecdote for the last time the SLSO did Stravinsky’s 1911 version of Petrushka, which was with Slatkin at the podium in 1988. Tom played the part written for piccolo trumpet, “but being the young, not-so-intelligent trumpet player I was, I played it on a bigger trumpet than I should of.
“It went fine here,” at the Powell Hall concerts, Tom told me, “but on tour it didn’t go so well the first night, and then it didn’t go so well on the second night. Leonard saw the pattern and called me in. I thought, ‘Oh no, I’ve lost my job.’ But he gave me a pep talk. Told me he loved my sound. Have fun. Just play.
“Then Susan [Slaughter, principal trumpet] pulled me aside and gave me a higher trumpet -- much easier to play. Thank you!
“Leonard didn’t punish me or tell me I was doing a bad job or play mind games. Or maybe he did play mind games, but in a positive way. That’s what he did with the players here. He trusted them.”
