Prom 67 (1.9.12): Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra – Mendelssohn

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

A delight from start to finish - my highlight of the whole season .

It was certainly one of the best orchestral Proms of the season, along with RVW 4-6. My review has now been uploaded to Classical Source:

http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_prom_review.php?id=10425

[french frank]

I have e-mailed the orchestra manager to find out what the instrument was as I was interested in this myself. Will let you know the response. (I wd opt for ophecleide - it doesn't look like any euphonium I've seen - perhaps it was a specially manufactured valve ophecleide, designed to be played by one of the reduntant tuba players),

Hello majp111 - that's very enterprising. We'll be interested to hear all about it.

And welcome to the forum!

[french frank]

My review has now been uploaded to Classical Source:

Thanks, IGI. I've recorded it but haven't found time to listen yet. But I'm delighted that a composer who I always feel a bit defensive about admiring has been so much appreciated with this concert.

A picture of his workroom which I took when I made a pilgrimage to Leipzig a couple of years ago:

[majp111]

TO ALL INTERESTED IN BRASS INSTRUMENT IN GEWANDHAUS ORCHESTRA....

I was interested to know about the large brass instrument next to the contra-bassoon, so I e-mailed the Gewandhaus Orch's orchestra mananger, Marco Ekertz and asked him about the instrument, who plays it and why he was sitting with the contra player etc.... his reply cut and pasted as follows.....

To answer your questions:
1. yes, this was an ophecleide, a copy of an old instrument which was made
especially for the Gewandhausorchster
2. it is played by our tuba player and is very close to this instrument
3. very often the ophecleide is played by a contra bassoon and in former days it
was more a wind instrument then a brass instrument; in the case of the concert
you heard, both players (contra bassoon and ophecleide) played the same music;

Best wishes from Leipzig to London,
Marco Eckertz

via Radio 3 forum user, majp111

[Nick Armstrong]

Great inside knowledge Marco, thank you!!

Greetings back from London!

I had a wonderful time in your city, as part of a big road trip to visit friends in Berlin a number of years ago. Still here on the wall at home is a photo of my Lancia parked (shockingly illegally, no doubt!) alongside the statue of JS Bach by the Thomaskirche...

[Roehre]

Great inside knowledge Marco, thank you!!

Seconded

Greetings from wales!

[edashtav]

What a Braying Bass Beast!

Great Sleuthing, majp111!

For3 readers may be interested in a letter from a Liverpool address, dated 18th June, 1838 to the Editor of the Liverpool Mercury:

Sir,
I am induced to notice a paragraph in your last publication, stating that a new and powerful bass instrument had been got up in this town, which was likely to produce a great change in orchestral music, at the same time respectfully to intimate that an error has occurred, as it is by no means new in the musical world. A double bass ophicleide was first used in England at the Birmingham Musical Festival , in October 1834, and was no other than the same-formed instrument, lately introduced at a church in Liverpool, which you say you heard. That such an instrument will produce a great change in he constitution of our musical performance cannot be doubted ; for , if one double bass ophicleide be well played, it will equal the power of four double bassoons, and will be extremely useful as a contra bass for the trombones. The ophicleide was the invention of Mons. Halary [?] ; and according to the report of the French Society of the Arts, dated the 4th of April, 1821, Mons. Labbay’s improvement on that instrument formed a very favourable subject, and a patent was granted on the 9th of February, 1822, for that purpose. I now, Sir, beg to ask you if you were not misinformed relative to the new instrument, and whether the inventor of it ought not to have the credit? I am, Sir, yours, & c., FAIR PLAY

It strikes me that Fair Play would enjoy the For3 Forum were he to come back from the dead as the Ophicleide has!

[David Underdown]

Of course last year's Elijah employed a monster ophicleide. If I recall my now rather distant A-level music correctly, the Grande Messe des Morts should actually use a mixture of ophicleides and tubas (we only got tubas in the performance this year).