Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas Erickson
What he said... except -
Unless a piece has some very odd or difficult segments, I'd rather not listen to a recording of it. That's assuming it is something I haven't heard/played before; I kind of prefer to play it "by the book" as much as possible, at first, and see how it's going to come together with the orchestra. A better known piece obviously I'd like to hear as many interpretations as possible so as to be prepared for whatever bizarre mangling might be asked... 
That said, what I do like to do is get ahold of the complete score if I can and not only read it through several times ahead, but have it on the stand as well. That way I don't have to be wondering WTF is going on with other sections or rely on them to be getting things straight, at least as they may relate to me or the bass section as a whole. |
In the main Orchestra I play in we get the music about a month in advance of the first rehearsal. Then about a month later we rehears on Monday, Thursday, Friday and perform the Concert on Saturday.
With so little time to hear what's happening with the Orchestra or section I use YouTube or CD recordings to practice with before the first rehearsal. If something is way off on that first Monday it may be difficult to fix by Thursday. It's best to know what you are getting into by the Monday downbeat.
On occasion we get only 2 rehearsals and maybe once a year or two we get 4 rehearsals if it's in the budget for a major works.
This is NOT a Community Orchestra where they play once a week for a month or two before. This is a Regional local Orchestra that works only for the week of each concert. Practice and learning (or knowing) what to play is expected to be under the fingers by the the first rehearsal.
If you mess up, you will loose the Job for what ever that's worth.