Aida - Acts 1 & 2

Just got in from the band call for tomorrow's Northern Wagner Orchestra's rendition of Aida.  I'm not going to be able to practise this myself, but I need to keep an eye on the following bits, 'cos they're nasty...

Act 1.

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This bit is awkward, fast, and generally unpleasant.  And, to make matters worse, you turn the page, and the whole passage is repeated with a minor change - the penultimate note is the high E rather than the low one.  Gah.

(We've got a big cut missing the semiquaver runs in the Danza Sacra delle Sacerdotesse... indeed, we're cutting that whole number.  But, looking at them, they don't look too bad.)

Act 2.
This is a cut-down version in orchestral terms, so I was slightly surprised to find myself playing a solo with one of the big tunes:

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A double bass tune? Yeah!

Then we cut the ballet, and, before you know it, we're looking at this frankly gratuitous arpeggio:

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I'll write up some bits from Acts 3 & 4, including some double-stopping (hey - I am, after all, the Lone Double Bass!), in the morning.