Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Bad Performances
Re the 12-tone thing, to paraphrase Cage: I have nothing to say, and I’m not saying it, and that is poetry.
To answer one of Judith’s questions from last Thursday: I agree with Beth’s reply from Friday: I have a hard time justifying the cancellation of a performance after hearing the dress rehearsal. I’ve heard bad dress rehearsals lead to good performances, and vice versa.
I suppose we would all have to count ourselves lucky to get as many bad performances as Beethoven has on a daily basis.
I had a performance a few years back by a New York ensemble, for which I wasn’t able to meet with the musicians before the dress rehearsal. When I arrived, I was stunned to discover that they were playing the piece exactly half as fast as the indicated tempo. Despite the slow speed, they were still playing a lot of wrong notes.
It was a potent lesson, for which there is an unassailable axiom: At half tempo, every wrong note lasts twice as long.
I didn’t cancel the performance, but I left the hall and spent the evening in a nearby bar.
But Judith, what are your answers to your questions?
posted by Lawrence Dillon
4:00 AM
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