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