Recently, I attended a rehearsal programme at Duke Bluebeard's Castle by Bela Bartók, one of the many wonderful offers we get as friends of DR's choirs and orchestras. Compared to the other offers, the rehearsal programme is something very special. Over several days, you develop an intense relationship with a piece of music. If the piece is already familiar, you experience how the conductor models the piece according to your wishes and puts his own stamp on it. But if it's an unknown piece, like Duke Bluebeard's Castle was for me, the experience is even more wonderful. On the first day, I am presented with music that confuses me. Then it is practised piece by piece and as Judith unlocks door after door inside the castle, I enter the work step by step and the music opens up to me. A piece that initially irritates ends up becoming a much-loved piece of music. That's what rehearsal programmes can do. I cannot recommend the rehearsal programmes highly enough.
Thank you for offering them to friends.
Phili Klitfod