Ray Still has died

[richardfinegold]

Still was long considered the Greatest American Oboist. He was the principal of the Chicago SO for many years, under Kubelik, Reiner, Martinon, Solti, and retired during Barenboim's tenure.
He was a real virtuoso who never quite cottoned to having to play for a Conductor. He was famous for rarely playing the same phrase in exactly the same manner from concert to concert. This particularly drove Martinon crazy, and when Still refused to play as he wanted, JM tried to have Stills fired. This culminated in the Conductor's getting canned instead.
Still also argued with his stand partner, the eminent Flautist Donald Peck, and they didn't speak to each other for 20 years.
Still was a guest oj a local radio show about a year ago devoted to his art. He was still spouting venom about Martinon, 50 + years after the fact . The recordings that were played, however, including many Bach Cantata excerpts, were stunning in their beauty. I am listening to the Reiner Scherazade as I type this, marveling at Still, Peck, and trumpeter Bud Herseth. What a collection of players.

[Dave2002]

I believe I have/had a recording of him with the Fine Arts Quartet - presumably only 3 of them - playing Mozart - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Still

Here it is on Spotify - http://open.spotify.com/track/4IiNnMvR2AfymEU0ZZjTeO

A very fine oboist I thought - though I didn't know about the details of his character mentioned in the first post.

[Petrushka]

Still was long considered the Greatest American Oboist. He was the principal of the Chicago SO for many years, under Kubelik, Reiner, Martinon, Solti, and retired during Barenboim's tenure.
He was a real virtuoso who never quite cottoned to having to play for a Conductor. He was famous for rarely playing the same phrase in exactly the same manner from concert to concert. This particularly drove Martinon crazy, and when Still refused to play as he wanted, JM tried to have Stills fired. This culminated in the Conductor's getting canned instead.
Still also argued with his stand partner, the eminent Flautist Donald Peck, and they didn't speak to each other for 20 years.
Still was a guest oj a local radio show about a year ago devoted to his art. He was still spouting venom about Martinon, 50 + years after the fact . The recordings that were played, however, including many Bach Cantata excerpts, were stunning in their beauty. I am listening to the Reiner Scherazade as I type this, marveling at Still, Peck, and trumpeter Bud Herseth. What a collection of players.

What a collection of players indeed! They were all there at those unforgettable Solti/CSO in London in the 1980s and when I think of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra it's them (and others) I have in my mind's ear.

[richardfinegold]

What a collection of players indeed! They were all there at those unforgettable Solti/CSO in London in the 1980s and when I think of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra it's them (and others) I have in my mind's ear.

The publicity machine around Solti could make one think that he was the builder of the Orchestra, but it wa really Reiner that created the marvelous instrument.
Solti left his personal stamp on the Orchestra and maintained it, albeit he could be somewhat crude with the brass. Barenboim did a creditable job of taming the brass and having it blend and play more musically. Muti's first season here was sabotaged by his Medical issues; now in his third year, it is time to see what kind of a mark he will leave

[Dave2002]

What a collection of players indeed! They were all there at those unforgettable Solti/CSO in London in the 1980s and when I think of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra it's them (and others) I have in my mind's ear.

I can't say I remember the orchestra in that way, but I think there was one Prom with the CSO and Solti in which Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet was played - though I can't find any record of that one just now. Solti was, for me, an elusive conductor, as it took me several attempts before I actually heard him conduct live. If my memory serves me at all, I do remember thinking how quiet the violins were in the RAH - Solti dared to push the sound level down close to the lowest which the RAH could stand. I don't think many conductors or orchestras would have been happy playing at that level in such a large hall.

[Hornspieler]

I believe I have/had a recording of him with the Fine Arts Quartet - presumably only 3 of them - playing Mozart - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Still

Here it is on Spotify - http://open.spotify.com/track/4IiNnMvR2AfymEU0ZZjTeO

A very fine oboist I thought - though I didn't know about the details of his character mentioned in the first post.

I have that original LP. For me, the definitive performance of the Mozart 4tet.

On the same LP is a fine performance by John Burrows of the Horn 5tet and two of the flute 4tets played by Samuel Baron

The Fine Arts Ensemble of New York was certainly well named for its chamber music.

Hs

[Hornspieler]

The publicity machine around Solti could make one think that he was the builder of the Orchestra, but it wa really Reiner that created the marvelous instrument.

Very true.

In fact Solti (known to us all in the UK as "The Screaming Skull") had a run in with Ray Still as soon as he arrived in Chicago and wanted to replace him, but the other orchestra members stood by Ray and Solti had to back down.

Hs

[richardfinegold]

Very true.

In fact Solti (known to us all in the UK as "The Screaming Skull") had a run in with Ray Still as soon as he arrived in Chicago and wanted to replace him, but the other orchestra members stood by Ray and Solti had to back down.

Hs

The obituary by the long serving chief music Critic of the Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein, also mentions that Still had a run in with Reiner almost immediately after he was hired. On the radio interview that I mentioned, Still dwelt on his distaste for Martinon, speaks of Reiner with reverence and Solti
with respect. He also clearly would have pursued a solo career if the literature for the oboe had not been so limited.
It must be an interesting dynamic when outstanding players, true virtuosos in their own right, such as Still or Dennis Brain, play in Orchestras with autocratic Conductors. I imagine that the dynamic works more in the instrumentalists favor now than it did in the era of the "Golden Age" Conductors.

[Richard Tarleton]

Chapter 6 of "Solti on Solti", published 1997, gives credit where it's due, in fact he glows about the CSO and its players. He does say that when he first arrived he looked through the players' dates of birth and how he made the mistake of saying that there were too many elderly players in the string section, but realised his mistake and said so. He says, in his only mention, "Ray Still, the first oboe, was an outstanding player and teacher". A fascinating chapter, outside the cope of this thread.....

[Petrushka]

I can't say I remember the orchestra in that way, but I think there was one Prom with the CSO and Solti in which Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet was played - though I can't find any record of that one just now. Solti was, for me, an elusive conductor, as it took me several attempts before I actually heard him conduct live. If my memory serves me at all, I do remember thinking how quiet the violins were in the RAH - Solti dared to push the sound level down close to the lowest which the RAH could stand. I don't think many conductors or orchestras would have been happy playing at that level in such a large hall.

You are most likely referring to the Berlioz Damnation of Faust given by the magnificent Chicago Symphony Chorus (directed by Margaret Hillis) and CSO under Solti at a 1989 Prom. I was present at both rehearsal and performance and it was wonderful to watch Solti in rehearsal, running to the back of the Albert Hall, checking the balance while Henry Fogel, the assistant conductor, directed the Hungarian March. The performance is available on DVD.

[Dave2002]

Petrushka

Maybe - but I'm sure there was a very quiet section, which I thought was from Romeo and Juliet rather than the Damnation of Faust. The year is definitely a possibility. I remember promming and I think three of us, including one rather young one, went.

I also heard Solti again later, at a concert performance of Cosi fan Tutte in the RFH - probably 1994, but a different orchestra.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Sadly, no performances of R&J conducted by Solti mentioned in the Proms Archive.

[richardfinegold]

Chapter 6 of "Solti on Solti", published 1997, gives credit where it's due, in fact he glows about the CSO and its players. He does say that when he first arrived he looked through the players' dates of birth and how he made the mistake of saying that there were too many elderly players in the string section, but realised his mistake and said so. He says, in his only mention, "Ray Still, the first oboe, was an outstanding player and teacher". A fascinating chapter, outside the cope of this thread.....

Thanks Richard. I was just browsing that same chapter from Solti's book in my local lending library tonight.

[Dave2002]

I can't say I remember the orchestra in that way, but I think there was one Prom with the CSO and Solti in which Berlioz' Romeo and Juliet was played - though I can't find any record of that one just now. Solti was, for me, an elusive conductor, as it took me several attempts before I actually heard him conduct live. If my memory serves me at all, I do remember thinking how quiet the violins were in the RAH - Solti dared to push the sound level down close to the lowest which the RAH could stand. I don't think many conductors or orchestras would have been happy playing at that level in such a large hall.

It must have been Solti's 1989 performance of Damnation of Faust. It was a very good performance. The quiet sections were presumably the Will-o'-the-wisps and the Ballet of the Sylphs, rather than passages from Romeo and Juliet.