Phew! Tonight was the first concert of our last weekend of the season. And I was surprisingly fuzz-headed all evening. Bummer. It was one of those nights where I just couldn’t get the proper level of focus that I feel I should have being on the front desk. I wasn’t a very good support to Joël tonight – especially in the Britten – there’s a long set of rests (about 60 measures) which are tricky to count and keep track of, and the cue in our part is hard to hear and comes up very fast. I was not ready to come in, and that didn’t help Joël or the rest of the section out at all! Overall, however, the Britten went quite well, with a couple small mishaps here and there, but with superb playing by soloist Elina Vähälä (in her first performance of this piece, it turns out) who looked like Grace Kelly in her aubergine gown. It was a shame that the sublime end of the concerto was ruined by an ill-timed cough by someone in the front section of the orchestra level.
The Mahler went pretty well – it took a little bit of time for the orchestra to really gel, but the broad structures were in place, and the triumphant ending had the audience on their feet and screaming and yelling. A fitting end to a wonderful season!