John Deacon writes:

>May I suggest that the opening of Janacek's Sinfonietta is one of the most
>irritating of introductions to a major piece of music.  It's not that I
>dislike the whole work, just the opening.

I had the good fortune of seeing this piece performed live with MTT/San
Francisco.  The section you are referring to, (the brass fanfares, I take
it), are performed antiphonally--3 sets of 3 brass--left, right, and
center.  Absolute Heaven live.

Your annoyance may stem from the congestion of the recorded perfomance,
though the Mackerras/VPO recording has never bothered me!

John Smyth