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Pardcore_horn t1_j6xj8me wrote

Good morning, I have always wondered what conductors do if someone who is to perform a solo has a some sort of issue with their instrument before the solo. Is there a backup soloist or a signal for someone else to take over? Are there spare instruments in case something goes wrong with an instrument during a performance?

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sandiegoopera OP t1_j6xkrjd wrote

Good question. At the big opera houses, there are always "cover singers" who are ready to take over if someone feels ill. It’s happened to me that we have had to fly someone in who knows the opera role, but not the staging. So you sometimes have the situation in which the singer is singing from the side of the stage and someone in the production acts the part on stage.

in symphony concerts, if a violin soloist breaks a string, it’s common for the concertmaster to hand over his violin to the performer.

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frozenbobo t1_j71k0dh wrote

Here are some examples:

String break

Oboe soloist breaks his reed (check the video description for details)

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Pardcore_horn t1_j72tz5f wrote

I'd never seen that happen before. That's really cool. It would definitely take a lot of practice to be able to just pick up where you should be in the piece after a gap like that... Just goes to show the true talent of the musicians who do that

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