The first full day of ‘real’ rehearsals is done, and it was a pretty good day. The bulk of the rehearsal time was spent on the Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2, which is a sprawling, romantic work which was the orchestra’s calling card piece under former music director James DePriest. In this coming weekend’s performances, the piece is restored to its full, uncut version. This was one of those times when we revisited a piece that we’d only done in the pre-Kalmar era, and it was revelatory to hear the orchestra play this piece in its current incarnation. Any comparisons to the orchestra’s past glory are simply not applicable, since more than half of the personnel are changed from the recording of the symphony made in 1988. The orchestra is now a virtuoso instrument, quite a change from an orchestra that was scarcely able to garner a lukewarm review of its Hollywood Bowl debut performance back in 1992, where it was described as “merely playing well”.
The brass and wind sections sound amazing, which the well should, being as they play with numbers that suit the acoustical conditions of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, whereas the strings – particularly the lower strings – struggle to make adequate volume without forcing, due to the low complement of the sections due to contract concessions. Seven cellos! Huzzah! If we had Carnegie as our regular hall, we’d be able to get a great bass response from our excellent cello and bass sections, but we don’t play there, not even close, and these guys are blasting their arms off to make the balances work, and at some point there will be some playing injuries as a result, I fear.
Enough belly-aching! It was a fun day of rehearsal, even if it was hard work, and I’m looking forward to returning to this program on Thursday.