I attended a wonderful concert in Durban tonight.

The concert started with Grieg's Lyric pieces, followed by his piano
concerto.  Then there was a piece called Paradise Regained by James.
This piece sounded a bit like Stravinsky, only not Str's quality.  It
was nice to see the four percussionists going through their pieces,
but otherwise it was just noise.  THEN followed Ravel's Bolero!! 
Some observations from watching as opposed to just listening:

* The harp plays a prominent part, but does not play continuously.

* The violinists hold their instruments like guitars.

* The celesta which comes in in the ninth repeat, was an electronic
instrument in this case. Yet there was a celesta on the stage.

* High points for me were the two saxophones, the trombone, the
entrance of the strings, and the key change near the end.

* Ravel uses two snare drums, but no. 2 only joins in later.  It is
interesting to see how little movement there is in the drummer's
arms initially.

*  At one point the double basses play pizzicato while the cellos
stroke the beat.

* My favourite tympanist thoroughly enjoyed her prominent score
towards the end.

Regards
Gerhard
http://skoongrappies.com

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