oboeinsight

Randy: “Dog, the purple reed was just [inhale on] sheee, I don’t know, dude. It’s a little weak, a little weak. The rose reed was just alright for me. A little pitchy at times, but you stepped up at the end.”

Paula: “First of all, let me just say you look beautiful tonight. I could just use more range and really show us why you’re in this competition. You know I love you.”

Simon: “I don’t know what reeds this audience were listening to. They look old, from the staple to the thread to the ratty tips, and they sound old too. It wasn’t horrible, but I’m not jumping out of my chair. You’ve got to do better than that if you want to stay in this competition.”

Oh Jill … these are priceless! Brava!

And what would I say about your reeds? “I’LL TAKE ‘EM!”
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In one painful rehearsal for Stravinsky’s The Firebird, the principal cellist didn’t play the solo well, so Stokowski had every single cellist play it – an exercise in mass humiliation. “You just sat there and prayed for each man to get through it,” Minsker recalls. Some did, some didn’t.

Ah yes, old school conductors. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with them.

The 95 year old MInsker is the former English hornist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. The article is definitely worth the read.
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