 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2006-07-25 15:18
John Mack, the great principal oboist of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1965 to 2001, has died of brain cancer at the age of 78. He was by all accounts as fine a teacher as a player.
An obituary from the Cleveland Plain Dealer is at this link.
The obituary has a couple of illuminating quotes about orchestral playing:
"Mack believed his own playing was marked by a 'tone of complexity and completion.' The tone has to have enough gumption. Szell wanted the tone to be heard, even if it sounded false to you [onstage]."
"If you were a player who had a solo passage, Szell would direct his attention during that solo to you so single-mindedly that it was a rejection of the rest of the orchestra, and they psychologically accepted that, fell back and let their concentration go toward you. It was as though the light had been turned on you and all other lights had been turned out."
He will be sorely misssed.
Ken Shaw
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Hank Lehrer
Date: 2006-07-25 15:53
Hi Ken,
As a resident of N. OH, I have heard Mack as well as the Cleveland play many times. He was a giant.
Thanks for the link. However, the obituary and picture of John on the golf course with a Big Bertha driver on his shoulder and an oboe in his golf bag have gone missing.
HRL
Post Edited (2006-07-26 01:19)
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: ChrisArcand
Date: 2006-07-25 23:17
I do play with an oboist who had only one lesson with John Mack - she followed Mr. Mack's health issues throughout the past weeks. Although I myself do not know a great deal about John Mack, my friend made it clear to me that even those people that only met him once (or at all!) truly appreciated him and his work, and thought of him as a true friend. He must have been quite a man to leave such an impression upon these people.
God Bless you, Mr. Mack
"Never take no for an answer from an inanimate object" -Mr. John Mack
Chris Arcand
Clarinetist
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
