Preparing for Beethoven 9

I spent a large part of the day preparing for the Beethoven 9 project that begins tomorrow.  It is (I think) my sixth time playing this symphony but today was the first time that I put in fingerings for the full first and last movements, the most difficult.  It's interesting how devotion can grow.  One might think that I would have become tired of the piece, too familiar to bother.  It's possible to play a part without planning all of the fingerings, it's the way I've spent most of my orchestral career.  But sitting next to Luigi earlier this year, who put a fingering over almost every note despite being a phenomenal cellist, influenced me.  It's becoming more worth it to me to choose how I play something, rather than rely on habit or impulse.  It's becoming more worth it to me to be more fully prepared.  But it takes a lot of time right now.  Eventually I hope my preferences become more solid, that I can implement them as quickly as I read.  I have a lot of respect for this symphony.  I'm still excited to play it again.  It awakens a devotion that spreads to other things, to my own playing, to my own eduction.