Doublereed - 2006 08 000003

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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000003.txt from 2006/08

From: Chleo Jet <chleojet@-----.com>
Subj: [DR-L] Fresh memories from the steamed Apple...
Date: Wed, 02 Aug 2006 10:36:12 -0400

While memories of the IDRS Conference are still in my
head, thought I would put pen to cyberspace and
mention a few "highlights" for those who didn't make
the conference this year and are interested in
purchasing future tapes of same (Ron Klimko, we missed
you!!). Obviously, I wasn't able to attend everything,
and will not be able to mention ALL the wonderful
performances, masterclasses that happened, but here's
what sticks in the mind a few days from the event (I
already posted an earlier note regarding the marvelous
performances of Yoshi, Harold Emert, Lenny Hindell &
Francois Leleux)...

First off, _major_ kudos to Keith Sweger & Timothy
Clinch for hosting a terrific, well-run conference!
Ball State had excellent facilities for all
performances and masterclasses, and our hosts did a
tremendous job.

What immediately comes to mind is the fine
masterclass Frank Morelli gave, where he expounded on
his teacher Stephen Maxym's maxims, regarding breath
and support; this was marked by some wonderful
examples of the singing of Fritz Wunderlich! Frank
would play excerpts of various arias of Wunderlich,
and relate them to what the bassoon students were
playing - the slow mvt. of Mozart's concerto, etc. -
the incredible support of Wunderlich was quite
obvious, and seemed to help the students grasp Maxym's
concepts. I also thoroughly enjoyed Stephane Levesque,
Emily Pailthorpe, Martin Shuring and Mark Romatz'
(contra-better than the usual cello/bass!) rendition
of Zelenka's Sonata #5. Ariana Ghez and Frank
Rosenwein "tore up the stage" with Jeffrey Rathbun's
"3 Diversions for 2 Oboes," along with Barrick Stees'
rendition of Stanley Weiner's "Suite for Bassoon &
Piano."

After hearing bassoonist Janet Grice's fine
performance with her Trio Vento (of Brazilian Chamber
Music), I purchased the "Trio No. 2 Para Sopros for
Bassoon, Clar., Flute" by Cesar Peixe, and then heard
4 of the 5 finalists for the Gillet-Fox Bassoon
Competition. Once again, the standard of playing was
so elevated for these young bassoonists! Bence Boganyi
(Hungarian?) from Germany was the winner, but these
were impressive performances from all. (I was
impressed that Harrison Hollingsworth, from Texas,
performed everything for memory!)

Bassoonist Marc Vallon impressed with his rendition of
Phillipe Hersant's "Hopi" for solo bassoon (I give him
great credit - there was a "little old lady" seated
behind me, and in front of Chuck Holdeman, in Surza
Hall, who began snoring at the beginning of Hopi, and
continued throughout the piece, literally making
crescendos, when Marc played same! Chuck and I were
afraid to wake her, as a sudden snort could disrupt
the proceedings even more than her static
accompaniment! Later, Marc told a friend that he
indeed heard this not so subtle accompaniment - he
still played the piece with real panache!)

Jeffrey Lyman and Nancy Ambrose King wowed us with
Paganini's "Duo No. 2", and it was a joy to once again
hear the flutist Amy Porter, who I worked with
(freelance) here in NYC years ago, play the "Duo for
Flute & Oboe" by Ginastera (with Nancy A. King). It
was very nice to hear bassoonist Theodore Soluri play
opera arias by Puccini & Saint-Saens, as well as
Mahler's "Songs of a Wayfarer" - it reminded one that
great singers are not all coloraturas - the simple,
beautiful line has MUCH to recommend, amongst all the
pyrotechnical virtuosity exhibited at the conference
(not to take away from said virtuosity)!

The Del'Arte Wind Quintet impressed with a really fun
piece - "Aria & Quodlibet" by Arne Running - with
"Peter & the Wolf" excerpts and other "quotes" in this
piece ably played by Grandpa Jon Gaarder! The Circle
City Winds featured Ravel's "Mother Goose Suite for W.
Quintet" (Mark Ortwein was a neat beast in the contra
solo, and it was nice to again hear/see oboist Pam
French, who also freelanced in NYC a few years ago!
Her husband arranged the Ravel for quintet.) They
ended with a fun rendition of Villa-Lobos' "Three
Brazilian Choros," which Frank Morelli arranged for
quintet.

Another highlight for me, was hearing the Russian
bassoonist Arnold Irchai, who presented a recital of
works by Florida State U. composers Paul Richards,
Chan Ji Kim and Tim Reed. Arnold's phrasing and very
clear, beautiful sound were quite impressive. Always
very self-effacing and quiet, one would not know that
Arnold had been principal bassoonist for the Moscow
Philharmonic for many years!! An exceptional human,
and terrific bassoonist - glad I finally got to hear
him perform.

These are just a few highlights, for me - again, I'm
sorry it was not possible to see/hear EVERYTHING at
this very memorable conference (perhaps someone else
can fill in the gaps/impressions!?)...on to Ithaca!

Alles Gute - Jim

************************
James Jeter, D.M.A.
NYC Bassoonist
http://www.westfieldnj.com/wso/jeter.htm

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that
you do it."� Mahatma Gandhi
"Mach' es kurz!� Am Juengsten Tag ist's nur ein Furz!"� Goethe

http://mail.yahoo.com

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