Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Rotary vs Pistons in Germany(and Europe)


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Posted by Klaus on January 19, 2003 at 18:47:10:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Rotary vs Pistons in Germany(and Europe) posted by JoeS on January 19, 2003 at 17:37:26:

"An American Principal Trumpet friend of mine plays a best-made orchestra-owned rotary trumpet on some stuff (Brahms, etc.). He quipped, "If I forget to bring the rotary, all I have to do is play out-of-tune and miss a few notes"."

Do you imply, that the VPO and the BPO have out of tune and fluffing trumpet sections, as they never use piston instruments?

The joke was good, but hardly realistic.

"The Vienna Philharmonic seems to be THE orchestra in Europe that, unless one plays "funny" instruments (oboes, horns, etc.), one is not a member. Of
course, it also seems that one must also be Viennese as well."

Actually neither townsmanship nor nationality is a decisive factor. A Danish cello player had brought his instrument on a vacation in Czechoslovakia many years ago. There he heard of an upcoming audition in the VPO. The next week he went there and won the spot. He still sits there, but he had to change his instrument. The VPO cello section prefers Tyrolean made instruments, that are much lighter and brighter in sound, than are the Italian and French cellos, that are in favour almost anywhere else.

However there is one immense hurdle before one can even consider being a member of the VPO (the WW and horn matters left aside). It is the one of gender. For many years they had a female harpist. I don't think she ever made it to get tenure.

The cameramen of the recent transmission of the VPO New Years concert were very eager to highlight a player sitting in the back end of the viola section. She is the first female, that I remember having seen in that orchestra.

"I would bet that most European Music Directors know approximately the same
amount about tubas, the mechanics of their valves, and their lengths, as the
average American Music Director.

Joe "Who suspects that European Music Directors don't know much of anything
about tuba mechanics nor g.a.s. about it." S."

Actually there has been a major "almost" scandal about equipment/sound, that made it to the headlines, even in Newsweek. Even if the matter was misinterpreted as a matter of gender.

Germany has an outstanding clarinet soloist, Sabine Meyer, who was liked so much by Karajan, that he wanted her as one of the two solo players in the BPO. But neither the section, nor the orchestra would accept her as a member, whereas she was very welcome as a soloist. I think the BPO back then still was all male, so the gender discussion flamed up on all levels including the political one. Karajan was reported to be ready to resign from his lifetime tenure as musical director, if he did not have it his way. After long time they settled one the solution of Meyer as soloist only. But the relations between Karajan and the BPO never were the same again.

I happened to see a TV feature on the BPO some time later, where their then solo trumpet declared the matter from the view of the orchestra:

The BPO for decades had strived for the outmost homogenity within all of its sections. They were not ready to sell out on that point even for the sake of a world level name. Their clarinets had a very dark and very well blending sound, that would have been scattered by the inclusion of an even so outstanding player, who had a bright sound, and who had no orchestral experience. They wanted, and got, the leader of the clarinet section in a German provincial orchestra.

Sabine Meyer still lives happily as a soloist. The BPO is allowing female members now. One of the first was a Russian lady. The BPO for many years had, maybe still has, a Japanese concert master.

Despite the outmost seriousness of this thread please allow for an anecdote.

The BPO for many years had an unofficial deputy-conductor. I don't remember his name, but he normally was a section 1st violin player. Whenever the planned conductor was late, that guy was asked to the podium by the orchestra. He had one special gift: he could imitate the conducting styles of all the big names. Furtwängler, Böhm, Klemperer, and so on.

One day Karajan was late and entered the hall very discretely while Böhm was cloned at the podium. When the orchestra came to a halt, Karajan exclaimed: "Amazing! Can you also do me?"

The "deputy" replied: "No problem at all Maestro, but I only do that, when I expect Böhm to sneak in on me!"

Klaus


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