LA Phil Rehearsal

On Thursday, neighbor John and I went to a rehearsal at the Hollywood Bowl.  Michael Tilson Thomas conducted the Phil and had very definite ideas on the sound he wanted to achieve...many stops and redo's.  Gil Shaham performed Sibelius' Violin Concerto and was amazing.  When Sibelius first wrote this piece, it was too difficult and wore out his soloist.  He himself was a wanna be solo violinist and perhaps he was talking out his frustration on this piece. Shaham mastered this one.  

The highlight was Tchaikovsky's "fateful" Fourth Symphony.  He wrote a lot of emotion in this one and it was felt on this gray....sometimes drizzly....Thursday morning...even with many stops and corrections by the conductor. Tchaikovsky "drew on his Russian roots to produce the impression of a folk celebration....to take joy in others' joy...go among the people...see how they can enjoy themselves, surrender themselves wholeheartedly to joyful feelings."  It seems that was a message to himself as he had difficulty holding on to the feeling of joy due to inner conflicts...fate.

The opening program was Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Dubinushka...a patriotic piece that dated to the Russian surf uprising in the 1860's.  This was written in 1905, also a time of uprising in Russia.  Dubinushka means "little oak stick." used to overthrow the oppressive masters.