When You're Trying To Prank Your Violinist And He Casually Decides To Turn The Tables On You

If you've got a moment, take a look at this video clip of a (recent?) rehearsal featuring violinist Daishin Kashimoto, conductor Sir Simon Rattle, and the members of the Berlin Philharmonic. On the surface, it seems pretty straight-forward, but the backstory detailed in this Classic FM blog post reveal that there's more going on here than meets the eye (and it's fantastic).

As Sir Simon Rattle raises his baton, Mr. Kashimoto is expecting to hear the orchestral underpinnings of Prokofiev's Violin Concerto #1, but what he hears instead is the emphatically unProkofievian lead-in to Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto #1.

PSYCHE!

...except he wasn't pranked. Instead, he pulled a little prank of his own, heading merrily into the Mendelssohn without missing a single beat. His orchestra mates were clearly amused, and I detect a definite hint of admiration in their laughter.

Bravo, sir; bravo!

Attribution(s): "Ancient Orchestral Pranking" comes from Internet Archive Book Images via Visual hunt (Usage).