Blistering Brahms!

The Brahms concert on Sunday was hilarious. Five minutes before people started streaming in, Akiko and Yuji were frantically penciling in bowings. When it came to the concert, we were playing everything differently because the section leader suddenly decided to change bowings. So I ended up poking my bow into Toshiko many times. And halfway through I heard these two people sitting in front audibly whispering

"The cellos are not together"

Yuji later said he felt like turning to them and saying

"I know we're not together!"

It was so funny. Interval came quickly, thankfully, but not thankfully. I left my cello on a chair and it dropped and all the strings sprung loose. The section leader was adjusting his bridge when he heard a clunk and realised to his horror that his soundpost had collapsed. And to top it off, the A string burst. He changed another, and that burst too. So even after everyone in the orchestra and audience were peacefully seated, half the cello section was pulling hair backstage and scurrying around looking for spare strings. And when we were finally settled to play, we screwed up the whole symphony, came in wrongly, messed up bowing etc etc. It was, in short, a joke. Though of course it wasn't supposed to end up that way.

When the audience was finally spared from the traumatising experience of seeing Brahms murdered on stage, they clapped very loudly.

The concert mistress smiled, then rolled her eyes.