Janos Gereben ([log in to unmask]) wrote:

>>Oh, and concertmaster Jonathan Carney has it easy.  The orchestra is tuned
>>:by an associate, Gaby Lester, allowing the "leader" to enter to applause
>>:and take his seat without doing any "work."

That I've never seen before!

Deryk Barker wrote:

>Also I can't ever recall seeing the leader of a British orchestra "tune"
>the orchestra.

Really? The concertmaster doesn't stand and have the oboe sound the A?
Is it always the associate? Here in Spain many times the concertmaster
just comes out with the rest of the band, then stands to start the tuning,
without any grand entrance or applause.  Here, too, the orchestra comes on
all together (sometimes to applause), as opposed to the States, where I
believe the musicians come out when they want and noodle on the stage.

Every concertmaster, or leader, has a different style and form of tuning
the orchestra.  Here in Palma, the winds get an A, the brass get an A, then
the strings get one A just to tune the A strings, then everybody sort of
stops and then comes yet another to retune the A strings and then the other
three.  To me, it's rather a preponderance of A's, and it takes rather a
long time, but I'm not the concertmaster.

Dave Runnion
Mallorca