I'm sorry I do not have a photo of cellist Danny Lee
reclining in a seat in the
auditorium reading a GQ with Johnny
Depp on the cover during rehearsal
break.
I do have this story from timpanist Richard Holmes, who was
waiting patiently for rehearsal to begin, seated at his instrument, a bucket of
water and sponges nearby to help counter the
dryness of the Hall during these winter days. Dry timpani are not musical
timpani.
He told me of an all-Beethoven program with Jerzy Semkow.
The maestro came on stage for rehearsal, spoke graciously to various members of
the orchestra, then stepped to the
podium. "Beethoven," he said, and gave the
downbeat. The musicians responded with a cacophony of sound.
Semkow halted them:
"The symphony! The symphony!"
