NY Phil Concert

[Bill Troiano]

It's a little late to post this in upcoming events, but last night I had the pleasure to see the NY Phil perform Pictures. Al Baer had previously told me that they were not perfroming the Ravel version, but a version by Gorchakov, that was Mazur's favorite. Although my seats were awful and I couldn't see half of the stage, the performance was excellent. The opening Promenade was played by all 3 tpts., which was surprise No. 1. Bydlo was played by the hns. and the tbns. I actually liked it, as it was very powerful making me think that playing it on a large CC tuba would approach that color and power rather than on a euphonium, but that's a different story that's been discussed before. I don't wish anybody to have to do it that way - just an observation. The C sax solo in The Old Castle was played by a muted tpt., but the famous tpt. solo in Samuel Goldberg was played by sop. sax. That was a major dissappointment, as I was looking foward to hearing Phil Smith play it. The greatest musical difference, in my opinion, was the use of 2 tuba parts. Morris Kainuma played the other part, and together with Al, they sounded amazing together on their 1291's!! With the 2 parts, Catacombs blew me away and right there, made the whole concert!! Bravo to Al and Morris!! So, if you're in the NYC area, tonight is the final performance! Happy New Year to all of you and your loved ones!