James Tobin wrote:
>I cannot recall the last time I attended a classical music concert which
>opened with an overture. The very first piece I ever heard in a concert
>hall, though, was Rossini's overture to La Gazza Ladra--followed by
>Brahms First Symphony. (Guido Catelli conducting.)
Guido Cantelli!
I was just discussing elsewhere that in Jerusalem, 1965 Steinberg preceded
the Mahler 7 with the Berlioz Benvenuto Cellini Overture. The intermission
was after the first mvt. of the Mahler. Since I don't get to that many
concerts I cannot say about general practice.
The Mahler 3 I attended several years ago at Princeton (the Princeton
University Orchestra, superb group of all non-major undergraduates---totally
amazing) had nothing else on the program.
Other fairly recent concerts preceded the symphony with some modern
noise. Cheers,
Yoel