The motley program the YouTube Symphony Orchestra will play at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday evening was devised partly to ensure every section a place or two in the sun. So after full-orchestral rehearsals at the Juilliard School on Monday \u2014 led by Michael Tilson Thomas, its artistic adviser and conductor, and Tan Dun, who composed a piece for the occasion \u2014 the orchestra split up starting at mid-afternoon for smaller sessions.<\/p>\n
Stephen Paulson, a mentor, took a dozen players \u2014 mostly winds, a cellist and a bassist \u2014 next door to the Kaplan Penthouse to rehearse Dvorak\u2019s wonderful Serenade for Winds, or part of it: a conflation of the first movement and the finale.<\/p>\n
If the players thought they were doing well to get away from the painstakingly \u2014 make that painfully \u2014 detailed work Mr. Thomas had just been subjecting them to in a patch of the scherzo from Brahms\u2019s Fourth Symphony, they may have had second thoughts. As principal bassoonist of the San Francisco Symphony, Mr. Paulson plays regularly under Mr. Thomas\u2019s direction, and he evidently shares his work ethic.<\/p>\n
Playing first bassoon here, Mr. Paulson led the mostly young players haltingly through the piece, shaping lines and sharpening rhythms everywhere and tending to the piece\u2019s overall contour. Some laggard attacks suggested that a certain weariness might be setting in. (\u201cI seem to be always the first person playing the second beat,\u201d Mr. Paulson said. \u201cSee if you can play it right with me.\u201d) If the players weren\u2019t tired then, they probably were by the time the session ended, 10 minutes late.<\/p>\n
And there was more for everyone to do on Monday evening. Seven youngish musicians \u2014 mostly percussionists, a guitarist and an okarina player \u2014 gathered in Juilliard\u2019s Willson Theater to rehearse Lou Harrison\u2019s \u201cCanticle No. 3,\u201d with Edwin Outwater, a Thomas prot\u00e9g\u00e9, conducting.<\/p>\n
Or rather, increasingly, not conducting. First he had to win the confidence of the players. \u201cIf I don\u2019t give you a cue, it\u2019s better to hold up,\u201d he told an overeager percussionist. \u201cI usually don\u2019t miss.\u201d (On the other hand, you can appreciate the nervousness of a young player clanging on brake drums with metal hammers; it\u2019s hard to paper over a false entry.)<\/p>\n
But as the piece went on, with its extended stretches of tricky rhythms, Mr. Outwater found that things fell into place more quickly when he conducted minimally and had the players listen more closely to one another. \u201cIf I feel you guys are together,\u201d he said, \u201cI\u2019m not going to interfere.\u201d In the end he was offering little more than those all-important cues.<\/p>\n
Many conductors entreat orchestra players to emulate chamber musicians, and listen to one another. Mr. Outwater put the matter into a formula, asking the players to listen 80 percent and watch 20 percent. \u201cNo conductor wants you to watch 80 percent,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Ted Atkatz \u2014 a former principal percussionist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who popped in and out as mentor \u2014 concurred with Mr. Outwater. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get where we can just sit in the audience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Well, he can, at least.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The motley program the YouTube Symphony Orchestra will play at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday evening was devised partly to ensure every section a place or two in the sun. So after full-orchestral rehearsals at the Juilliard School on Monday \u2014 led by Michael Tilson Thomas, its artistic adviser and conductor, and Tan Dun, who composed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,123],"tags":[337],"yoast_head":"\n