Well, we’re two-thirds of the way through the Beethoven Festival here at the Oregon Symphony, and it’s been quite a ride so far. Normally, when we do a concerto, it’s the only one on the program. Usually it’s a nice break from the heavy lifting of the symphonic works on the program. But when you do two concertos on one program, with a tricky overture thrown in for good measure, it starts to be an entirely different animal. For most of a concerto the string players are spending a lot of time playing very softly, providing a soft blanket of sound upon which the pianist can feel free to play as softly as they would like. And soft playing is especially tiring for string players, as you’re holding the weight of your right arm in suspension, without being able to transfer much arm weight to the strings through the bow. In addition, rehearsal time has been at a premium, with six concertos and three overtures to rehearse in the time that we’d normally do one concerto and two other orchestral pieces.
The concerts thus far have been very well received by our audiences, who seem very into the idea of the festival, and developing a camaraderie from sitting together on consecutive nights.
Monday night promises to be the highlight of the festival, with Arnaldo playing his two strongest concertos, Nos. 3 and 5, along with the interesting Leonore Overture No. 2.