Guest conductor Hans Graf has been an entirely amiable presence about the hall this week. He greets everyone warmly. After rehearsal he asks a musician about a part and listens to what he or she has to say. When he wants a certain phrase accented, he throws his whole body into motion to express what he means. On an elevator ride I mentioned the Bruckner 8 next week. He shook his head, "That's a marvelous piece," and then talked about the great leap Bruckner takes from the Eight to the unfinished Ninth, and, alas, then the elevator reached the floor of the conductor's suite and he had to leave, but first said a few things about the 9th's final movement. Then, we all had other things to attend to.
The musicians seem to be taking delight in this weekend's
program, even with the challenges of Stravinsky's Scènes de ballet, there is a great spirit and energy that is
palpable. Speaking of Stravinsky, Peter Henderson was at the piano and said to
me, "Stravinsky must have had big hands" and then Peter showed me how wide he
had to spread his fingers to play a phrase. "Rachmaninoff had big hands
too, but, for the most part, he didn't make it has hard to play as Stravinsky,"
Peter added.
I'm also happy to say that the Rest Is Noise Reading Group has received the David Robertson seal
of approval. He gave it a hearty thumbs-up via e-mail recently, and I think he's
going to be able to show up on one of the Tuesday nights. I'll let you know
when.
