As promised (but a bit late) here are the photos that show how different my positions on stage are during this weekend’s concerts. Here is where I normally am (and where I spend the first half of the concert)
You can see our stand on the left side of the frame, the concertmaster’s stand right in the center, and the conductor’s stand (made of fancy wood) on the right side of the frame.
Now here’s where I sit for the Dutilleux Symphony No. 2:
[click photo to enlarge]
Can’t really see the concertmaster from here, since there are several soloists between me and that stand during the performance. I can see the wind and brass sections, however. It’s not too helpful to me, though.
Finally, here’s how the viola section is chopped in half by the solo timpani, which is left in place to make a shorter stage change between the Dutilleux and the Berlioz that closes the program:
See those lonely four chairs in the very back – that’s the unfortunate back half of the viola section, or as we call them for this piece, the Second Violas. Makes life tricky as there are a lot of intricate and fast runs that need to be together with the rest of the strings, not to mention the rest of the violas.
So there you have it, a short illustrated guide to the viola section in flux during this concert run.
4 replies on “the view from here”
Oh my, that looks incredibly awkward. I’ll hear how it sounds tonight. Thanks for making the effort to take the photos and also to play in such an unusual setting.
Back in North Carolina I was the Stage Manager for the Durham Symphony, and man-oh-man did I ever get grief from the orchestra members when we’d leave the spacious rehearsal hall for the smaller concert stage. In my experience, the string players were far more accommodating than the winds… :^)
hi chrsita,
durham, eh? my old composition teacher, robert ward, lives in durham. have you ever met him? he just turned 92.
cheers,
bob priest
Never had the opportunity to meet him, Bob, but he certainly made his artistic presence known about town!