I was so lucky! Wednesday evening, someone gave me a free ticket for 2 people to go to an Open Rehearsal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A friend and I went downtown the next day to see the orchestra rehearsing with the renowned conductor/composer Pierre Boulez, now 82 years old and going strong! We had box seats so we were practically on top of the orchestra! The rehearsal began with Berio's Quatre dédicaces. The main element in this modern composition for a very large orchestra (6 trumpets and 6 horn, for example) is Tone Color! From the sharp sounding piccolos to the groaning basses, our ears were soaked in colors!! Every moment produced a new aural experience with accompanying mental images and feelings. It was extremely exciting and wonderful!
P.S.: This is what the reviewer, John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune said about the concert, which took place that very evening, the same day as the rehearsal:
Berio compresses an amazing amount of gnarly invention in only 12 minutes of music. In Boulez's hands, the spiky jolts of massed brasses and percussion, fractured rhythms, nervous shifts of meter and Ivesian clashes of sound made for an engrossing aural adventure.
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