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A "Mystery" finally solved!

Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2011-09-24 16:21

Hi Aldo & All:

I emailed my old friend, Ron Rueben, about your questions regarding your father, Aldo Bettelli. I've known Ron for many years and he was the great Bass Clarinetist in Philly during the Gigliotti years.
The answers to your "mystery question" were emailed to me by Ron, enjoy!

"Bettelli's son has been suffering a delusion about that audition for many years and for that I am sorry and I don't want to hurt his feelings about his father. I think I had heard that his dad was a good player but I can only wonder how such a story ever developed.

So, please make sure that he and everyone else understands that I am only kidding and wanted to make you laugh."

"Yeah, I still have a couple of the chairs they threw in protest of my getting the job. Fortunately they were made of a light- weight aluminum and it was east getting the dents out.

After winning the 1st clarinet position it took quite a while before Gigliotti would speak to me again and so I figured the only decent thing to do was to give him back his first chair position even though it made Ormandy mad as hell.

But, as you know life has a way of making these things work out and we all became friends in the end.

And Gigliotti I must say, was particularly gracious in insisting that Ormandy continue to pay my already established first chair salary until my retirement many years later.

I'm glad I could finally clear up the details behind this unfortunate and admittedly unfair conclusion to the audition.

My only remaining guilt is that I never returned the chairs."

Ron Reuben

Now some real answers from Ron Rueben:

"Hi John:

I don't have Bettelli's email address to answer him but perhaps you can tell him that no first clarinet auditions for Philly occurred for the 47 years that
Gigliotti occupied that position beginning in 1949.

I did not enter the orchestra until 1967 and that was for the bass clarinet
position.

I'd never heard of chairs being thrown in protest over any audition and the
whole story is a perfect example of a "bubba mynseh" (an old wives tale).

Ron Rueben"

So there it is Aldo, the mystery answered from the real source! I hope that offers you solice and peace after all these years of wondering what really went down in Philly.

Cheers,

JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist

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