Hi, I have a friend who played in a major Russian orchestra during communist times. He was 3rd horn and has spoken of the fairly treacherous climb through the hierarchy there. Finally on one tour he was asked to play principal, with the sneering expectation that he would fall on his face (shosty cello concerto) and then he went on to do a great job. He was quite possibly on his way towards becoming principal horn when the state kind of fell apart and he got a job playing in a different country... where the government once again fell apart and he had to get a job playing in a different country.... Really amazing player, this guy. One gets the feeling that under other circumstances he might have been a worldwide name.
Anyway the point is that the normal roles were very much in place and perhaps even more firmly segregated than usual. Looking forward to hearing about the violist's experience! Cheers, Marc _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
