‘What I will remember longest, though, is the sublime anarchy of “Orchestra Finalists.” The musicians dangled in ski-lift-like chairs while listeners lay on their backs. On the ground, kids scampered this way and that, paper airplanes were tossed, bewhiskered gentlemen strode about with steam issuing from their top hats. During the trombone solo—heroically executed by Andrew Connington—a children’s wading pool was pushed down the length of the hall on a wheeled platform, a boy splashing inside. When the pool arrived beneath him, Connington plunged in, glissandoing all the while. (Stockhausen doesn’t actually ask for such a thing to happen, but it seemed apt.) You’d think that Connington’s feat couldn’t be upstaged, but Jeremy Watt nearly outdid him with a manically dancing, shouting double-bass solo, at one point falling flat on his back with his instrument on top of him. This was in strict accordance with the score.’
Alex Ross, The New Yorker Sept 10, 2012 (click for full review)
