That Thursday, March 18 th 1976 was my second audition on the stage of Fisher Hall. That evening, I had a concert with the Philharmonic. Pierre Boulez was conducting Schubert 9 th .
It was not a good audition. My main problem was that I got nervous didn’t do my best. How nervous was I? When I played the first movement of the Schubert Arpeggione Sonata my hands were sweating so much that my left hand kept popping off the finger board on to the body of the instrument. I have absolutely no recollection of what happened next. By the time I got back to my apartment, I knew that I didn’t stand a chance. When Chambers told me the results that evening, I took it like a 2 year old! I sat right down on the steps by the bass lockers and started to cry out loud like a baby. Then when it was time to play Schubert’s 9th with the orchestra, I mouthed obscenities at Boulez, when he looked appraisingly at me from the podium. He must have been able to read lips because he abruptly looked away. The personnel manager told me that I could finish the season if I wanted to. I opted not to.
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