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It depends on the rep. You're playing Don Juan? No problem, know it like the back of my hand, just tell me when to show up and I'll watch for the tempo changes in all the usual places.

We're doing Boheme? No way I'm doing that without a dress rehearsal. Every opera singer screws things up in their own special way and I need to know what to expect.

We're doing anything by Stravinsky? I'll take every rehearsal I can get.

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Except, real talk, we only know the parts of Don Juan that show up on auditions. The rest we sorta fake.

Meh, there's no point worrying about getting all the notes when the brass is drowning us out anyway. As long as the violin section looks busy we're fine... ;-)

When I played it as concertmaster I felt that it was my duty to ensure that at least one person was hitting all the notes though. Never practiced so much for a concert as that one... and that's why even many years later I feel ready to show up and play it on a moment's notice.

You're one of the good ones, then. (Though there is something to, "If I can't hear me, they can't hear me.")

Cool, I'll have to ask him next time I see him.

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