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Double Bass berlin philharmonic tutti audition

#22
Dr_Atomic said:
the one bassist i know in the berlin phil is so freaking cool - i don't know how he feels about french/german bows, but when i was stand partners with him last summer, we switched bows and just had a laugh over it. it was cool. maybe they're getting less strict over it.
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Maybe, but going for a job there you'd want to hedge your bets. I might add that BPO auditions are sometimes behind a screen so the sound is what matters.
A couple of obvious points though are:

1. Tune up before you go in! The piano in the warm up room won't be that different in pitch from the one in the hall.
&
2. If you do get a trial, wear a clean shirt and go for the coffees!

nuf said!
 
#24
ekspain said:
You probably have to be IN with the Berlin crowd, like know what sound they look for, play like them, etc....American bass playing isn't Berlin playing. The sound is quite distinct. And if you don't "play with them, you're against them :)".
Not to take the wind out of your sails, but thats my thought on the matter. Lots of European orchestras can be "endogamic". Sad fact. Unless you kick SERIOUS ass.
But then it probably wont matter anyway. They'll still choose one of their own.
Enroll in the Karajan Academy....
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I think you're lost in the distant past - their current musical director is Sir Simon Rattle, who is a great champion of new music - I have seen them in the last couple of years at the Proms (Albert Hall) taking on challenging and interesting repertoire ! :)

Last September I watched a great Turangalila Symphonie!

Plus their 1st Principal is Matthew McDonald - who is actually Australian!!
 
#26
From the Berlin Phil website :

Matthew McDonald
Born 1977 in Canberra (Australia)
1st Principal Bass



As a child Matthew McDonald was actually interested in playing only jazz and rock music. His parents gave him an electric bass for Christmas – but only under the condition that he would also learn to play the double bass. Matthew quickly fell in love with the big instrument’s dark, mellow sound. In 1996 he began his studies with Max McBride at the Canberra School of Music, later continuing with Kees Boersma in Sydney, where he completed his bachelor’s (BMus) degree in 2000. From 2000 to 2001 he was a scholar of the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Orchestra Academy, and then was immediately engaged as deputy principal bass of the Danish National Orchestra. He relinquished that position in order to prepare for his concert exam with Esko Laine at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" in Berlin. Engagements followed as principal bass with the Ensemble Modern (2003-06) and with Berlin’s Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester before he came to the Berliner Philharmoniker. As a chamber player, Matthew McDonald is a regular visitor to the Open Chamber Music seminar at Prussia Cove in Cornwall. He devotes his free time to his family, first and foremost, and also enjoys reading and going to the cinema.

(PS - to be clear - I was responding to the point about "American bass playing isn't Berlin playing."...? )
 
#27
I believe his point was not 'foreigners cannot win', but 'one must already have a strong affiliation with the orchestra'. IE Karajan Academy. Using Matthew McDonald as an example of them not hiring one of their own wasn't really the best idea, I think.

I also didn't see him say anything about BPO omitting progressive repertoire from their programs.



E'erbody tryin' to start somethin' these days.
 
#30
Peter Ferretti said:
I believe his point was not 'foreigners cannot win', but 'one must already have a strong affiliation with the orchestra'. IE Karajan Academy. Using Matthew McDonald as an example of them not hiring one of their own wasn't really the best idea, I think.

.
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I suppose it depends on how you interpret that statement :

"They'll still choose one of their own."

.....? :eyebrow:
 
#32
I don't see it as a problem - but the implication was clearly that it didn't matter how good you were - it would just be a case of maintaining the tradition - whereas I was saying that by appointing Simon Rattle as a champion of new music, the orchestra could hardly be seen as "conservative"...?

Also that Matthew McDonald seems to have a pretty "eclectic" CV, so why would they not be looking for similar...?
 
#35
Sorry, this may be a tad off topic but have any of you seen the new Klaus Stoll DVD? The clip of him playing Beethoven 5 in the preview shows how powerful this man's tone is....Imagine 12+ bass players with THAT kind of tone playing Beethoven...
 
#36
Word round the campfire is, one American won the spot, the other is still open. No name or origin, possibly Chicago or Boston. Sorry, for no specific information. I have my guesses, but, this is not the place for that.
 
#37
Americans seem to have really done some scientific work on bass playing recently and as a result they now field not just a wide range of players (both German and French bows) but a depth of reserve too. Europe still tends to be old school. I remember in London XX years ago sitting with a bunch of fellow students discussing how Tom Martin was too clinical in his approach to teaching, but since then he's proved his point having students in nearly all the major orchestras across the continent! Sometimes new is good....
FC
 

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