Christopher DeLaurenti spent seven years secretly recording symphony orchestras with a specially constructed vest. Only he didn’t turn the vest on for the first downbeat. He waited until intermission to capture the sounds of an orchestra and its hall in repose. Those 50 hours of recorded downtime have been mined for a CD of his favorites, titled “Favorite Intermissions: Music Before and Between Beethoven, Stravinsky, Holst.” Amongst the audience murmurs are the warm-up exercises, last minute runs through difficult passages, and instrument tuning that are meant to be ignored but combine into improvisational pieces. I played in a pit orchestra once where we were told not to play any of the score within audience earshot before the show itself began. The music director wanted the audience’s ears to be fresh for the very recognizable melodies. (via NY Times)