Conductor Howard Mitchell of Washington's National Symphony Orchestra decided to give his open-air concert audience a noisy treat last summer by playing the 1812 Overture as Tchaikovsky had scored it, with real cannon blasting away in the finale. The cannon-tutti, performed by soldiers from nearby Fort Myer on four 75-mm. howitzers, went off without a hitch, was a big success with capital concertgoers.
Last week, amid clouds of red smoke, Mitchell's shots were still echoing on the Danube. According to the Budapest trade union daily Nepszava, "Composer" Howard Mitchell had provided "rhapsodic variations" for 16 cannon and orchestra at the urgent request...
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