Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-11-08 16:03
Symphonic oboists need to be able to play **much** louder than soloists. Focus, plangency, etc. get you only halfway there. Harold Gomberg was known as "the wooden trumpet."
I have several LPs of the Boston Symphony principals playing quintets and Strauss serenades, and the amount of sound is amazing.
Anthony Gigliotti said that when he played clarinet in the Philadelphia Orchestra, the wind players had three volume levels: forte, fortissimo and BTSOOI (Blow The S*** Out Of It).
Katherine Needleman, the principal oboist in Baltimore, makes the best reeds she can, selects the few that are loud enough for symphonic work, and sells the rest on eBay.
It's difficult to be graceful at the top of your lungs. The best players can do that -- make it sound as if they're just letting the tone flow out, while playing loud enough to knock you over at close range. The IDRS obituary tributes to the great bassoonist Maurice Allard made special mention of the extraordinary force of his playing, without visible effort.
Ken Shaw
|
|
The Oboe BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
