JUST TOO FUNNY

A backstage view of the orchestra,
enjoyed by KELLY FERJUTZ

If you're an orchestra groupie as I am, (and have been for some 30+ years now) you'll surely enjoy this gossipy, if slight, backstage book. Certainly, Mr Locke usually remains a gentleman, and rarely names names, but the stories are funny, nonetheless. Frequently, the stories are accompanied by charming little disclaimers, such as this one on page 16: 'I wasn't there, so I can't say that this story really happened, but given my experience with professional orchestral musicians, I have no reason to disbelieve it either.' Some of them are just too funny not to have happened exactly as he reports them!

Some of these stories are part of orchestral lore; others haven't yet achieved that status, but surely will do so, soon.

He is careful about explaining some of the terms frequently used by musicians, and not readily understood by outsiders -- in fact, there's a glossary of some very unusual ones! In addition to the more common copyist, tacet and score.

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