Will Take the Conductor s Podium Again

"What Could be More Embarrassing?"

Madonna

Recently, Madonna fell backwards downwardly a staircase tripping on her Matador cape during a live operation on the BRIT Awards. Beyoncé and Lady Gaga too have taken embarrassing tumbles while performing.

Classical musicians are non immune. Even conductors such as the legendary sometime director of the New York Philharmonic, Kurt Masur, lost his residual during a movement of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 when he was conducting the National Orchestra of France. Leonard Bernstein, in 1982, fell off the podium in Houston while conducting Tchaikovsky, (peradventure Tchaikovsky is the culprit?) and two years later he plunged again while leading the Vienna Philharmonic in Chicago. And the Metropolitan Opera'due south conductor, James Levine, took a bad spill off the stage, trigger-happy his rotator at Boston's Symphony Hall in March of 2006. Thankfully the singers and conductors were able to make comebacks.

One has to wonder if perhaps there is a reason with conductors at to the lowest degree. Fritz Reiner, the irascible usher of the Chicago Symphony in the 1950'south is purported to accept said, "Podiums, are expressly designed as a conspiracy to get rid of conductors."

Musicians of grade are in terror of falling with precious instruments. Whenever I have fallen with my cello I've pulled the cello onto my body to cushion the accident, never mind breaking an arm.

There are equally embarrassing simply non as dangerous moments among orchestral players such as:

—When you are principal viola of the Minnesota Orchestra and you've played both the Bartók Viola Concerto and Strauss' Don Quixote solo on two separate occasions with your fly open.

Leonard Bernstein

—When you lot go far domicile and hang up your concert apparel later on a operation of Mozart'due south sublime Requiem at a Cosmic Church building only to discover that there is a huge rip in the buttock area of your pants. Nobody said anything. Is this what you'd telephone call a "holier than thou" experience?

—When you are trying on a skirt as a cellist. Sheepishly you explain to the sales person that you play the cello while you slash immodestly between your legs to see if you have enough room to spread wide to accommodate the cello. (Sweeping, flamboyant dresses are preferred.)

— When yous are in such a hurry that y'all throw on black shoes not realizing that they are from ii different pairs: the left and right are slightly dissimilar in height.

—When yous find out after the functioning that due to the backlighting onstage your skirt was totally see-through.

—When daydreams strike during the umpteenth fourth dimension you've played Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5. (Tchaikovsky again) You milk shake yourself from your reveries. Desperately trying to detect your identify in the music, you lot really think you've washed a great job of faking your function but when the plan is repeated the next mean solar day, when that very spot in the music is reached, the conductor is staring and grimacing at yous.

—When you lot miss the railroad tracks sign— // that you lot yourself wrote in the part as a reminder of an upcoming orchestral grand interruption, a G.P., or stop, and despite the sign you come in all by yourself.

—When it is the outset time ever that you are non involved in the opening piece on the programme in your position every bit associate principal cello. Your conversation is and so engrossing that you miss the applause and telephone call to come onstage for the 2nd slice. (Yes, I admit it was I.)

Kurt Masur

— When there is that awkward realization that you lot are reading in the wrong key AND the wrong clef. But you don't experience quite so bad because the conductor is conducting in 4/4 (four beats to a bar) and the slice is in iii/four (three beats to a bar.) This actually happened when flute soloist James Galway performed with us, Neville Marriner was conducting. The orchestra had to stop in performance. Galway quipped, "Oh Neville! Give me a break!"

—When yous are late for a rehearsal (horrors) and after climbing through the bass and viola sections and over the music stands to get to your seat while trying to concur your cello overhead so it won't bang into anything, the conductor invariably stops the music to inquire if you lot had a adept "rest." He adds that in that location are no "rests" written in the music where you fabricated your archway.

—When y'all are the cello soloist and your endpin—the metal spike that holds the cello—careens forward virtually out of your hands making a horrible scraping noise. But you manage to take hold of it with your knees without missing a crush. Once your heart calms downward yous notice that every eye in the audience has been on yous.

Ah the life of a performer! All this and more goes on behind the scenes while we play elegant, glorious music.

Don Quixote viola solo

Conductor falls off podium

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Source: https://interlude.hk/performance-problems/

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