The Burden

This past Thursday I was in rehearsal for a performance of Mahler's epic 5th Symphony. Prior to beginning rehearsal, the maestro commended us for how well we were learning the piece. He also spoke to us in regard to the magnitude of what responsibility we had assumed.

Responsibility? Interesting.

This is a community orchestra, not a massive major orchestra that is seen by many thousands of people throughout the world. However, with the industry in such a slump (Cleveland Orchestra strike in 2008, the near-death experience of the Columbus Symphony, and the recent Detroit Symphony strike), many of these orchestras cannot afford to perform the massive and beloved masterworks like Mahler's 5th, Mahler's 2nd, Wagner's Operas, and the many other works we know and love. The burden of performing these works and continually introducing the public to these fantastic works falls on the shoulders of the community orchestras and may continue to fall on their shoulders.

This is quite interesting. We may now see many more of these community orchestra playing massive works to the community and exposing more people to the magnificent masterpieces that they not get to see played by major orchestras in the next few years.