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The run-up to the concert did not bode well: many of the musicians in theatre’s house orchestra had “conflicting commitments” with a better-paying gig across town at the ''Burgtheater'', and even the solo soprano dropped out at the last minute, to be replaced by an unknown teenager— “[[I have to hop]]” is no modern excuse — and the composer, an irascible fellow, kept changing the music right up to the last minute. So poor were his relations with his musicians that, on some accounts, they refused his baton, and another conductor was drafted in to lead the orchestra on the day of the concert. | The run-up to the concert did not bode well: many of the musicians in theatre’s house orchestra had “conflicting commitments” with a better-paying gig across town at the ''Burgtheater'', and even the solo soprano dropped out at the last minute, to be replaced by an unknown teenager— “[[I have to hop]]” is no modern excuse — and the composer, an irascible fellow, kept changing the music right up to the last minute. So poor were his relations with his musicians that, on some accounts, they refused his baton, and another conductor was drafted in to lead the orchestra on the day of the concert. | ||
The concert was a disaster. | The concert was a disaster. What orchestra he could scrape together was under-rehearsed — “lacking in all respects”, according to one reviewer — the poor young soprano suffered stage fright, the hall was freezing and the show badly overran. During one work, the orchestra fell apart completely and had to restart the piece altogether. | ||
So why, two hundred years later, is there even a record of this concert — most of [[Supercheese]]’s concerts were like that, and there’s no record of any of ''them'' — and how has it found its way onto a [[Jolly Contrarian]] article about hindsight? You will not be surprised to hear there is a punchline. | So why, two hundred years later, is there even a record of this concert — most of [[Supercheese]]’s concerts were like that, and there’s no record of any of ''them'' — and how has it found its way onto a [[Jolly Contrarian]] article about hindsight? You will not be surprised to hear there is a punchline. | ||
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Okay, so, hindsight? | Okay, so, hindsight? | ||
If the [[JC]] could travel back in time for one night only, throughout all of human history, this is the | If the [[JC]] could travel back in time for one night only, throughout all of human history, this is the time and place he’d choose. He’d take thermals and a cushion. ''Imagine being one of those lucky 1,500 who heard the fifth symphony for the first time in history''. There are few profound watershed in the cultural history of our civilisation, but that is surely one. But it would be imbued with such significance ''only'' because of the two hundred years of subsequent history from which we now benefit. Those lucky 1,500 probably found it quite tiresome. They may well have — most probably did — come in later life to freight that experience with more meaning than they could apprehend at the time. | ||
This is the human condition, summarised. Only ''once it has happened'' — [[past tense]] — and often, only months or years after that, can we ''possibly'' apprehend the significance of unexpected events. | This is the human condition, summarised. Only ''once it has happened'' — [[past tense]] — and often, only months or years after that, can we ''possibly'' apprehend the significance of unexpected events. | ||