That noisy part of a symphony orchestra where big men thump, rumble, tinkle and crash away at drums, gongs, cymbals and triangles is known as the battery, or percussion section. Orchestra players call it the "kitchen." Like pepper in soup, the kitchen's function is usually to supply seasoning for the climaxes of a symphony. Only once in a blue moon, as in the cannon shots of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, does the kitchen get a chance to put on a solo.
Last week at Manhattan's Town Hall, the kitchen strayed into the parlor. For days,...
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