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Re: Cleveland orchestra principal or did we miss something

Author: echi85
Date: 2017-03-31 05:08

In response to David Spiegelthal,

It's an interesting comment. I believe the question you are asking is if audiences are really that sensitive towards differences in wind timbre. I would like to believe that most people who go to concerts are not one-timers, that they go frequently and listen to a variety of different orchestras. I would think that anyone who spends a few hours a week listening to an orchestra can hear a tonal difference between players of the same instrument and appreciate their individuality.

To say that an orchestra like Cleveland should pick a clarinetist that will please most audiences is to cheapen the artistic experience in my opinion. I think there's a reason why it's considered a world-class orchestra and it's not just because of how much they pay their musicians. Just because it's good enough for us doesn't mean it's good enough for them.

To GBK,

In many ways, I agree with you. The conductor shapes the sound of the orchestra primarily by who he/she hires. I don't think there is a guest conductor in the world who goes to the UK expecting it to sound like a german or american orchestra. A conductor can uniquely balance the sound but they cannot change the actual timbre of the wind section.

It would be hard for me to imagine an Ormandy recording with anyone other than Gigliotti playing clarinet or John de Lancie on oboe for that matter. From stories I have heard, Ormandy really didn't care for Gigliotti's sound but that was what he had and it certainly shaped how Ormandy is remembered. I think you can make the same argument with Szell/Marcellus/Mack and Solti/Combs/Still.

Many orchestras nowadays are afraid of losing their identity. The wind and brass sections are major components of that. For example, the Boston Symphony wind section is very french leaning. I don't think they would hire a principal player who was not of a similar tradition even if they played a perfect audition.

I will point to this following blog post and the second bassoon audition a few years ago. I find the passage about how people played the Mozart Concerto illuminating as I know there are orchestras that would prefer that kind of extroverted playing.

http://steesbassoon.blogspot.com/2012/01/second-bassoon-audition.html

It's easy to point to snobbery and personal issues but I really don't think it's completely one sided. Perhaps elements of my argument and the opposition are equally responsible for this problem.

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