From Scratch to Stage ~ Beethoven's 'Symphony No. 7'

For this most recent concert, I sat in on a few rehearsals for Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, performed on October 22 in Civic Hall. I'm a big fan of Beethoven's 7^th (as was Beethoven, who considered it one of his best works), so I was really looking forward to watching Conductor Guy Bordo craft a fresh interpretation.

In the first rehearsal, I sit in the back of the Richmond High School band room, behind the players. The initial read-through of each movement can be a little rough. Then Guy returns to the beginning, starting and stopping frequently to tweak a note here, a crescendo there, the phrasing everywhere. Sometimes they get it right the first time, and Guy nods, smiles, and continues on. Sometimes they don't, and he stops them, makes the correction, and tries again – and sometimes again – until he's satisfied. He places a great deal of importance on non-verbal communication, not just between him and each player, but among the players themselves. “I need to see eight sets of eyes on every entrance,” he warned the second violin section while working through the first movement, after having repeatedly reminded them to watch him. At another point he cautioned the orchestra as a whole to listen better to one another, as some parts of the third movement weren't quite together. After two and a half hours, they broke for dinner. Guy looked rather pleased, if not sweaty as hell.

I came back for the final dress rehearsal on Saturday afternoon before the concert. The orchestra had also rehearsed the night before. Now I sit at Guy's back, able to see the players' faces. Yes, they're now looking at Guy and watching each other. They're clearly listening to each other, not just themselves, and the minor timing issues are negligible. There are still some stops and starts, but very few, and the players have started to master the nuances in the score, some included by Beethoven, others added by Guy. I left really looking forward to the evening's performance.

Sure enough, the RSO's performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 did not disappoint its audience. I am fortunate enough to sit where I can many of the players' faces, and sometimes Guy's. They're all intensely focused, clearly feeling the music together - connected. The experience of hearing it performed live was greatly enhanced by having watched Guy shape this masterpiece from a rough draft of individual musicians playing their individual parts to one orchestral body - musicians playing different yet connected parts - performing one symphony, four distinct yet connected movements.

These guys are good.