 The Oboe BBoard
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Author: jamesoboe
Date: 2008-07-20 19:48
Hello Everyone,
just to let you know that the Henry Wood Promenade concerts began two days ago in London's The Royal Albert Hall. You can listen online to many of the world's great orchestras, and perhaps hear some of your favourite soloists/players. This year there are visits from the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Chicago symphony orchestras. Sure to be amazing. The link below brings up the Proms website and the BBC I-Player to listen online to all the concerts, as and when they are broadcast.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2008/
The first night of the proms included Nicholas Daniel performing the Mozart oboe concerto, while the second night had Nigel Kennedy, returning to the proms for the first time in 21 years, giving a stunning performance of the Elgar violin concerto.
You should be able to listen to most of the performances for upto seven days after the original broadcast. Enjoy! James
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-07-21 10:46
Are there going to be any live televised broadcasts on BBC4 this season?
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: jamesoboe
Date: 2008-07-21 17:22
Hi Chris
I can't really answer that for sure. The presumption is there must be some broadcasts earmarked for BBC 4 TV. Certainly, the first night of the Proms was on TV, but I can't remember if that was BBC 4 or BBC 2. Our prom, (BBC SSO), on August 3rd, is being broadcast on BBC 2, but that may be in Scotland only.
Oh! I just found this BBC Press Office statement:
The BBC today announces new primetime Saturday nights for the 2008 BBC Proms on BBC Two, regular live relays on BBC Four and that all televised Proms will be available on demand on the BBC iPlayer.
So the answer seems to be 'Yes'
James
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-07-21 20:34
Well at least some concerts will be televised - there was talk of them being axed a while back due to costs.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: jamesoboe
Date: 2008-09-09 16:49
Hi Everyone
just thought I'd repeat myself regarding the BBC Proms. In the last week or so, both the Berlin Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony orchestras have given some, or all, of their concerts at this year's Proms Festival. Below is the link to the BBC I player, from the Proms website, which gives you both the televised broadcasts of the above orchestras. It's very interesting to see so many close-ups of Eugene Izotov and Albrecht Mayer during the performances of their respective concerts. Both played very beautifully. I thought it might interest their fans on this board to watch these great players in these great orchestras being such wonderful exponents of the oboe. I hope the link works for you all over there in the USA. Fans of Eugene Izotov can hear him again today, and for 7 days afterwards, on the I-player, in tonight's Prom with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Mozart's C minor Piano Concerto, which is crammed with wonderful oboe solos and duets. I know Bobo, from this Oboe Bboard, is a fan and will appreciate the information.
Enjoy! James
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/tv/?q=BBC%20Proms&sort_by=broadcast_date
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-09-09 22:42
The Berlin Phil were forever great as always (Brahms 3rd and Shostakovich 10).
CSO's Mahler 6 was great, though I'm not a fan of American oboists playing style (without doubt they are still great players, it's their style I'm not a fan of). I gave the Mark-Anthony Turnage piece a miss.
I think that's the lot as far as televised Proms concerts goes (apart from the last night that I probably won't watch).
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: jamesoboe
Date: 2008-09-10 09:32
Hi Chris P
both concerts were great from these orchestras, and, sometimes, in very different ways. The Berlin Phil. made a glorious sound, full of warmth, intensity and commitment, but ignored the more intimate, quieter, dynamic range of the orchestral spectrum, while the Chicago Sypmh. produced those more intimate colours, and produced a tighter, more together performance. However, the debate over European and American oboe playing styles must surely have run its course by now! Is English superior to French, German, Italian, etc.? Of course not! It's just indicative of geography and early influences, which dictates our preferences. Izotov sounded great in the Mahler, particularly in the several haunting solos in the slow movement. Very floaty, almost as if time had stopped! Mayer sounded great too, though his reed seemed a little tough in the 4th movement solo of Shostakovich's 10th symphony. It's all swings and roundabouts! Nevertheless, it's always fascinating seeing great players performing live on TV. These concerts, and many more, will remain online upto one week after the initial broadcast. James
Post Edited (2008-09-10 09:41)
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Author: mschmidt
Date: 2008-09-10 17:05
I'm curious just what it is about the American style that you don't like.
Mike
Still an Amateur, but not really middle-aged anymore
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2008-09-10 20:12
It's mainly the sound and posture of the players.
Even though my oboe teacher is American, she doesn't like the American style of oboe playing.
Former oboe finisher
Howarth of London
1998 - 2010
The opinions I express are my own.
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Author: Bobo
Date: 2008-09-14 14:53
James,
Thanks for the links...unfortunately, it looks like the BBC doesn't have the rights to video broadcasts outside of the UK, so those performances are only available on audio this side of the pond. Still very nice. There's some great stuff over on the CSO website right now too - a video of a "Beyond the Score" presentation about Tchaikovsky's 4th where you can see Izotov playing the great solo that opens the slow movement (like an obsessive I was trying to figure out whether he's using forked or left hand F's which was a topic of a past BBoard post). Also on the site is Izotov talking about and playing in Shostakovich's 7th (Leningrad); he really does a beautiful job on the solo there.
See Aug. 7 and Sep. 5 performances at:
http://www.cso.org/main.taf?p=15,1
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Author: jamesoboe
Date: 2008-09-14 18:28
Hi Bobo
like an obsessive, too, listening to Izotov's performance, my guess would be that the 3rd 1st octave F in the Tchaik. 4, 2nd mvt. solo, is almost certainly a forked F. The rest sound quite like normal F's, but I have my suspicions. For my money, go for the best legato option, which is always the Forked F, when approached by, or followed by, an E flat or D flat. Most oboes have good forked F's these days, leaving no good reason to tie oneself up in the technical quagmire of left-hand F's. Just my opinion, however, never having to do that solo, being a Cor Anglaisist!!!! The Dvorak 9 Cor solo does throw up the same problems, but I go by what gives the best legato, unless the reed sounds unusally un-even on the forked F. James
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Author: oboedrew
Date: 2008-09-14 20:16
James,
I have to disagree on the primacy of forked F for legato playing. I find it no more difficult to achieve a good legato slurring from left F to Eb or Db, and I think the ability to make such slurs smoothly with these fingerings is invaluable in certain passages. Just to clarify, it's not that I'm against any use of forked F. Certainly the forked F is very useful at faster tempos, or when one desires the unique color of that fingering, and I use it quite a bit in such cases. On a few oboes I've found it difficult to move smoothly from left F to Eb or Db, but only because there's too much play in the left F key, usually because the bumper cork underneath the left F key is too thin, which is easy enough to fix. But otherwise it shouldn't be a problem, at least not at slower tempos such as in the big Tchaik 4 solo.
Cheers,
Drew
www.oboedrew.com
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Author: Bobo
Date: 2008-09-14 22:53
I find that the new "big" oboes like Loree Royals and Howarth XLs have excellent forked F's, but that the classic and AK models have weaker ones. Perhaps this is a function of the deeper tone holes on the bigger oboes. Similarly, my Loree EHorn has a great forked F and I've thought it might be for the same reason. My 2007 model AK has a weaker forked F than my 1975 classic.
If you look closely at the snippets of Izotov on the Tchaik 4 video, you can infer that he's using a left F even though you can't see his left hand pinky because he reaches for the right Eb key and then moves that finger to the Db, in other words: LH F, RH Eb, LH Eb, RH Db. That's a little bit tricky to do on the last F in the solo (Db, Eb, F, Eb, Db) - instead of LH Eb, forked F, LH Eb (raising two fingers, that's it), you have to go LH Eb, RH Eb, LH F, RH Eb, LH Eb, which is hard to do gracefully.
Post Edited (2008-09-15 00:03)
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Author: jamesoboe
Date: 2008-09-14 23:28
Hi Drew
I agree with everything you said. I suppose it would have been clearer to say, 'use forked F for legato as the technically easiest option.' Try playing F, E flat, D flat, E flat, repeated back and forth, at the very slow tempo of a crotchet equals 40, each note being worth a semiquaver. It's quite do-able, but within several seconds there will be a strong chance of mistakes appearing, reaching for both regular and side E flat, to facilitate the use of side F. The tempo only has to creep up a small degree before side F ceases to be a viable alternative. It seems more sensible to me to improve and equalise the quality of the forked F, to match those notes around it, than improve the technical vagaries of the side F, which quite quickly becomes a losing battle. At practical slow tempos it should, of course, be used in preference to the forked F. My comment in relation to Bobo's observations re: Tchaik. 4 slow mvt. solo, would apply to the 6th and 7th bars of the solo, and again, near the end of the solo. Both options are perfectly viable, but I know which one I would choose, while dealing with the nerves of playing it in a live concert! James
Post Edited (2008-09-14 23:32)
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Author: oboedrew
Date: 2008-09-15 00:22
James,
Very true. I agree that as the tempo increases it becomes more and more efficient to use forked F. And the color of the note, even if it is less than ideal on a given oboe, is less and less noticeable as the tempo increases. In the Tchaik 4 solo it's my preference to use left F throughout, switching from right Eb to left Eb or vice versa mid-note where necessary in order to manage the sequences of F-Eb-Db and Db-Eb-F. But that is neither here nor there. In any case, I agree that it's worthwhile to also improve and equalize the quality of the forked F. It's nice to have a couple viable options for such passages.
Cheers,
Drew
www.oboedrew.com
Post Edited (2008-09-15 00:24)
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Author: borris
Date: 2008-09-15 19:22
This is the normal way the russian musicians played before the better quality instruments came to Russia.
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