David,
Thank you for pointing out at some of the weaknesses of the Tristan mockup! I’ll try to fix these points, and other similar to these ones.
May I ask you to elaborate on this? Do you mean they don’t blend well enough? I have to admit that I’ve tried to find a separation between 1st and 2nd violins, being advantaged, in this, but the default VSL setting of each section being positioned at the opposite sides of the stage.
The Tristan mockup was something that I did in my spare time for about two weeks, and then some other touches later. Before that there was the note entry phase, but I don’t remember how long it lasted.
As for the weakness in the strings attacks: I have been accustomed to more robust attacks in this piece. Then, a performance led by Robertson convinced me that this lack of contour can work better. And I went for sort of Debussesque freedom in time, with the goal to achieve a general sense of softness. It’s the only thing in this mockup I am, at the moment, convinced about.
Paolo