Posted by John Swadley on June 27, 2003 at 10:11:12:
In Reply to: Article on new tubist in Vienna posted by Morris Kainuma on June 27, 2003 at 01:09:18:
Thanks to Morris for posting this. I would like to throw a little light on the tuba situation in Vienna. The Philharmonic has an excellent tubist named Paul Halwax, you can see him with his tubas at www.gymnasium-neusiedl.at under Absolventen. He of course has almost all the duties at the State Opera on tuba and cimbasso. Until the arrival of the late Ronald Pisarkiewicz in the early eighties, the only instrument played in Vienna was the six-valve F. They did this to keep the unique Viennese sound. In fact, professor Josef Hummel played this instrument in the Philharmonic concerts and the opera until he retired in 1995. The repertoire of the Vienna Phil was never very modern, so it was possible for Hummel to do this while leaving the really low parts (like Prokofiev) to Pisarkiewicz. As Halwax also plays the Vienna F, probably they'll keep this arrangement with the new team Halwax/Sugiyama. It is almost impossible for a foreigner to enter the Opera in Vienna, much less an Asian. Hats off to Sugiyama, he has to be absolutely phenomenal. As the Vienna Phil has no permanent conductor, the other brass players will influence Sugiyama's choice of instrument, but in the end it will probably have to be BB flat and F which is what Pisarkiewicz wound up with. John