Saturday 2 April 2016

Double-bluffing myself



The problem with April Fools' Day is that you can begin to hear 'April Fools' stories' everywhere. 

I was driving to work yesterday morning, listening to Today, and heard something about a viola player suing the Royal Opera House because his hearing had been damaged during performances of Wagner's Ring.

The music - especially the brass - was too loud, it seems.

The Today segment itself sounded quite convincing - but, then, all good April Fools' jokes should sound a bit convincing. But "a viola player" (the butt of most orchestral jokes)? And "being deafened by Wagner"? That all sounded a bit too 'April Foolish' to me. 

Unfortunately, however, it appears to be completely true. Everyone from Classic FM to the Mail to the Telegraph to Norman Lebrecht are reporting the BBC story now.   

Well, I never!

1 comment:

  1. I fell for one of yours, so don't feel bad. This is actually a serious problem for orchestral musicians who sit in front of the brass and percussion, as well as for the brass players themselves. Many orchestras will use plexiglass barriers (I like to call them 'blast shields') in front of the brass when in rehearsal spaces, and in some halls depending on set-up. If they're on risers, the sound goes over the heads of the strings, so not so much of a problem. Quite a few wear ear plugs, but that affects one's ability to hear oneself as well as the section, so it's problematic. Musicians have to take them out, put them in, take them out, etc., plus turn pages, plus put on and remove mutes if called for.

    In the pit it's much worse because there simply isn't room for barriers and everyone is packed much closer than on stage. If you're a back-bencher, it can be really loud. Some pits are tiered in a more helpful way. The ROH pit is not. You can see the problems here (second video half way down the page really shows it, although in this case it's the 2nd violins who are directly in front of the brass, not the violas):

    http://www.roh.org.uk/news/going-underground-a-day-in-the-life-of-the-orchestra-pit


    This was bound to happen eventually. Hopefully this won't cause a new trend of insurance requirements and lawsuits, placing yet another enormous financial burden on already strapped bands. Like the Royal Opera, I think.

    PS: Wagner built the Bayreuth pit specifically to allow the sound to rise up over everything. I think it was not to protect string players' hearing but so that the orchestra didn't cover up the singers. His music can do that very easily because of the orchestration and not every singer can handle the robust requirements of their parts.

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