Posted by Anthony on July 17, 2002 at 11:51:40:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: John Williams Tuba Concerto posted by Jim Andrada on July 17, 2002 at 04:21:32:
It seems to me that a lot of people who are "child prodigies" generally lack in the musicality department. I hope this isn't an inaccurate generalization-- it is what I've often observed, though. These child prodigies blow us away with their incredible technique, and we often forgive their lack of musicality because of their age... as a result, their musicality never really develops. That's just a theory of mine, though. As for rankings by musicality, I'd definitely have John Fletcher and Steven Mead at the top of my list...
meeting Mr. Mead and seeing him play in person(in a hotel room in D.C., no less!) was a real eye-opener for me. Until that point, the euphonium was just a "shrunken tuba", with no particular use to me. Man was I ever wrong! I'd also put Michael Lind near the top of the list- in my opinion, he has the perfect combinations of technique and musicality, and there's no tubist I'd rather listen to.
Pilafian I've enjoyed quite a bit, myself, and Hilger's I've never listened to. I enjoy Roger Bobo quite a bit when he's not playing a Yamaha tuba. (hey, another subject to rant about?) I find it unfortunate that Yamaha owns so many wonderful musicians. I think John Griffiths would be as widely listened to as Pat Sheridan and Michael Lind if he weren't a "Yamaha Performing Artist". That said, I still LOVE his playing as much as I enjoy Mr. Lind's. Yamaha's another topic for another day, though(and just my personal opinion, which you can take any way you wish).
Anthony