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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000037.txt from 2006/02
From: "Wai Kit Leung" <wkleung11@-----.com>
Subj: [DR-L] Re: Ray Still/Heinz Holliger... Favorites?
Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2006 17:31:10 -0500
I think I should weigh in with my opinion:
I am not sure if it is correct to say that at the beginning of the century
orchestras played only repertoire of their own country. Wagner was played
in France; Vivaldi was NEVER played in Italy (or elsewhere) until much later
in the century; the Germans never limit themselves to the German repertoire.
Tabuteau changed his reed style not because he had to play all styles of
music (which he did of course), but to blend with the German bassoons. In
France he played with bassoonists on the French system, and a change for a
darker tone was required when he wanted to blend with his German bassoon
colleagues in the Philadelphia Orchestra.
I have heard many oboists from different countries live and have also played
reeds from different schools, and in my opinion (just my opinion based on my
sampling) European players get heard much better at the back of concert
halls -- they have better projections.
We have all been told by our teachers (or political leaders) certain things,
but we should always question them, whether those are facts or opinions. If
one, for example, tune in to a different station for the world news (say on
the war in Iraq), you will get a very different picture. To me, it is very
parochial to call the sound of Europeans "wrong" -- that means the world
never had the "right" oboe sound until the advent of Tabuteau in the US?
Sincerely,
Wai Kit Leung
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Date: Fri, 03 Feb 2006 09:26:05 -0500
>To: doublereed@-----.org
>From: barbara trautwein <mzeztee@-----.edu>
>Subject: Re: [DR-L] RE: Ray Still/Heinz Holliger... Favorites?
>Message-ID: <43E367FD.2080804@-----.edu>
>
>Parochial is the word! In my isolation, I have never heard OF, let
>alone heard the playing of, many of the players listed below (except, of
>course, Allan Vogel and Elaine Douvas who both are wonderful).
>
>Shame on me!
>
>Stephen, not meaning to be picky but what do you mean when you say Allan
>Vogel's "dark quality gets in the way"? In the way of what? His
>musicality? Do you have trouble hearing that because his sound detracts
>you? That was the problem I had when listening to the European players
>from the mid - 20th Century. I just couldn't get past what I had been
>taught as being the "wrong" sound to even be able to sense musicality.
>
>I believe that the Americans felt that the depth of the dark sound
>enabled a player to reach an intensity of musical expression which
>didn't ring true with a lighter sound or one permeated with a buzzy
>vibrato.
>
>I think that at the beginning of the 20th Century, the European
>orchestras played repertoire related to their home bases: Parisian
>groups played French music, Italian orchestras played Rossini and
>Vivaldi, Germanic groups played Brahms. American orchestras, on the
>other hand, having virually NO repertoire of their own, had to play
>everything, French, German, Italian, Czech etc., and in bigger halls.
>That, supposedly, was why Tabuteau devised the reed style and tone
>concept that he did. . .so that he could address the entire repertoire
>and have it heard in all dynamic ranges in the the back of the big
>auditoriums.
>
>I realize that this is pretty simplistic but I think this is what many
>of us were taught. . . to make a reed with a core that would enable the
>tone to project with the richness needed in Brahms and Schumann but to
>be flexible enough to deal with Daphnis and Chloe and La Scala di Seta
>and be responsive enough so that one would still be alive at the end of
> a 10 to 13 service week.
>
>I'm . . .uh. . . .still working on it. . . .
>
>And I'd better get going. . . .
>
>Barbara
>
>Stephen Kaupiko wrote:
>
> > Just so my liking of Heinz isn't taking too out of
> > context these are my favorite oboists... in order of
> > how I'm feeling right now.
> >
> > I wonder what everyone else likes. It would be nice to
> > hear some new things.
> >
> > The list:
> >
> > Lajos Lences - Beautiful "singing" quality
> >
> > Ruth Bolister - Absolutley lovely "regal" sound.
> >
> > Pierre Pierlot - Simply floats on air with occaisional
> > unexpected breezes of heavenly bliss.
> >
> > Hansjorg Schellenberger - Sweet and lilting
> >
> > Christian Hommel - Like butter!
> >
> > Cynthia DeAlmeida - She's has a bit of reedy character
> > with a smidgen bit of that darkness. Very lovely
> > playing.
> >
> > Allan Vogel - Absolutley phenomenal, but sometimes
> > that dark quality gets in the way.
> >
> > Elaine Douvas - Very exressive and lyrical, but a bit
> > submerged (I think it's the recording though)
> >
> > Burkhard Glaetzner - Sweet, if a bit submerged.
> >
> > Heinz Holliger - Baroque personified. Paired with a
> > harpsichord his tone color rises to the occaision.
> >
> > ...left off the ones I didn't like, for lack of space.
> > (Kidding!) >;)
> >
> > Regards,
> > Stephen
> >
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