I went to Saratov on 30 January; the first orchestral rehearsal took place two days before, on the 28th. This was, I think, for me the most interesting moment of the opera's production. I sat with Aslanov and followed the music with passionate attention from the second copy of the score. Everything had come off! This was wonderful! It meant that I had developed real skill at orchestrating, and the next step on the ladder would be the achievement of total mastery. It was no longer enough to see that something had 'come off', I wanted to single out those moments that were particularly vivid or appetising. Some of the 'grotesque' sound images were very good, especially in the second act, which was as far as the rehearsal got. The orchestra's reaction was somewhat mistrustful, and they did not seem to understand what the music was about. Coates conducted with total commitment.