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- From: dbarker@spang.Camosun.BC.CA (Deryk Barker)
- Subject: Re: Urban legends
- Message-ID: <1992Dec22.015144.25184@spang.Camosun.BC.CA>
- Organization: Camosun College, Victoria B.C, Canada
- X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
- References: <1992Dec21.094237.20283@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>
- Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 01:51:44 GMT
- Lines: 39
-
- jcm2w@kelvin.seas.Virginia.EDU (John Clarke Mccanless) writes:
- : In article <18746@mindlink.bc.ca> Mike_Quigley@mindlink.bc.ca (Mike Quigley) writes:
- : >I heard a story about Andre Previn when he was working in Hollywood. The
- : >musicians in the studio orchestra tuned up on B rather than A. But Previn had
- : >perfect pitch, so when the rehearsal started, he says "OK, let's transpose
- : >everything a tone up!" (Corrections to this story welcome if it is not
- : >exact.)
- :
- : It would be a tone down, to restore A=440, but good story! =-)
- :
- : I saw a PBS special of Solti's "new look" at Beethoven 5. In rehearsal,
- : he stopped at the oboe solo in the first movement, and told the CSO the
- : following (loosely):
- :
- : Dr. Mengelberg was conducting the 5th and stopped his orchestra at the
- : oboe solo. He then talked for several minutes about his conducting
- : teacher, who was a student of a student of Beethoven himself, and thus
- : the solo should always be played THIS way (insert hordes of adjectives
- : here). At the end of the speech, the oboist paused, then said,
- : "So, Dr. Mengelberg, should I play it forte or piano?"
-
- Willem Mengelberg was famous for talking for around 70% of a
- rehearsal, and frequently infuriated recording enmgineers by, right in
- the last bars of a 'final take' shouting "yes, *that's* the wasy it
- should go!" to the orchestra.
-
- Incidentally, Solti should prodeuce as fine an orchestra as WM's
- Concertgebouw....
-
- Another tonal incident: there is a story that an orchestra (no source
- to hand right now) once began a rehearsal of the Eroica on
- Furtwaengler's birthday in E major. After 10 or so bars, WF - who did
- not have perfect pitch - stopped them with 'something's not right
- today...'
-
- --
- Real: Deryk Barker, Computer Science Dept., Camosun College, Victoria B.C.
- Email: (dbarker@spang.camosun.bc.ca)
- Phone: +1 604 370 4452
-