No. The guy in the white dinner jacket with the headphones is a musician with the Boston Pops. He’s following the score and cuing the officer on the rear right to give the command to fire.
I just absolutely love the fact that the US Army has been playing this part since the Cold War in a melody meant to celebrate the victory of the Russian army over the (by then) greatest army in the World.
I am from Uruguay. Some decades ago this famous '1812' piece was played outdoors at the Golf Club here in Montevideo, and the artillery parts were overwhelming ! The orchestra was our National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Piero Gamba. The soldiers wore the original uniforms !
We’ll, The last salvo isn’t actually in the score. It’s been added on in recent days for that last flourish because people love the cannons. So the timing of it is kinda up for interpretation.
Пётр Ильич Чайковский на американской земле. У них его очень хорошо знают, ибо на рождество самая популярная музыка, практически символ рождества, это танец феи Драже из Щелкунчика Чайковского. Опять же, хороший повод пострелять из пушек и порадовать народ))
