I also got to play Mendelssohn's 3rd Symphony once again at this concert. Last time I played this was as assistant 1st with the Festival City Orchestra in Milwaukee, WI. It was...kind of fun to play. This time, though, I played the 3rd horn part, which was an absolute thrill. Now, I'm normally the principal horn for this orchestra, so I was destined to play horn 1, which is a great part to play. But, I requested to play horn 3 on this piece, for several reasons: 1) I really like the 3rd horn part on this one, particularly for the 2nd movement, the 3rd horn soli with the cello in Mvt. 3, and the start of the glorious ending in Mvt. 4; 2) with my current slump (yes, I'm still not 100% still) I really wouldn't have been able to play the ending of Mvt. 4 on 1st horn (or even 2nd horn); 3) the very talented girl playing 3rd horn on the other pieces is a young music student at CWU that I wanted to give an opportunity to play principal to.
So yes, playing the 3rd horn part was one of my dreams that got fulfilled; it was sooooo fun. But more than that, as I played this symphony I remember how I view this symphony: to me it's a piece that is brilliant from the first note to the last note, with no lapses in its brilliance throughout the entire piece. It's not like Mahler's 5th symphony where you kind of go in and out of sleep in the 4th movement, or Shostakovich's 5th Symphony, which has some rally dull moments in it. Even Tchaikovsky's 6th Symphony is somewhat hard to stay intrigued in during the 2nd movement. But every moment of every movement of Mendelssohn 3 is so great, and I'm constantly intrigued by it. I just love this symphony, and if you haven't heard it before, definitely go listen to it. I'm really digging the recording by Staatskapelle Dresden with Sir Colin Davis conducting.
Take care and value music.