Vienna Philharmonic mourns a principal flute
mainThe orchestra has posted news of the death of Meinhart Niedermayr, who inherited his father’s seat as principal flute. Meinhart played in the orchestra from 1962 until his retirement in 2003. His father had held the seat since 1921.
Meinhart was 75 at the time of his death.
I’d be interested to learn if there have been OTHER father-son teams holding down principal chairs in major orchestras. (Renee Voisin and Roger Voisin both played trumpet in the Boston Symphony over a period of at least 40 years, but Renee was never the first chair.)
I think there are a few in the Vienna Philharmonic alone. Ernst and Daniel Ottensamer on clarinet for example, and Wolfgang Tomböck senior and junior on horn (though I am not 100% sure if both were principals). Hans Berger and Roland Berger on horn also, though Hams was not principal. The Öhlbergers on bassoon (son was not principal). I am sure there are other examples.
The Ottensammers are too amazing to be allowed. Father and son are principals in Vienna, and other son Andreas is principal clarinet in Berlin and probably the best of the three.
“The Ottensammers are too amazing to be allowed.”
Andreas almost wasn’t allowed in Berlin.
François and Fernand Oubradous, father and son who successively held the principal bassoon chair at the Orchestre de la Société des concerts du Conservatoire.
Harold Dicterow was long time principal 2nd violin in the Los Angeles Phil. Before his very long tenure as concertmaster of the New York Phil, his son Glenn was Associate Concertmaster and Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Phil
Andreas Blau, former Principal Flute of the Berlin Phil, played in the orchestra with his father, who wasn’t a principal but a section violinist and his father-in-law Principal Trumpet Fritz Wesenigk and finally with his son-in-law Albrecht Mayer, Principal Oboe.
There were the Gombergs. Ralph Gomberg was principle oboe of the Boston Symphony from 1950-1987, and brother Harold Gomberg was principle oboe of the NY Philharmonic from 1943-1977.
Peter Schmidl was principal clarinet of the Wiener Phil. from the 1970s until the 1990s. I think that both his father and his grandfather played clarinet in the same orchestra.
Asst. principal trumpet Toronto Symphony: Barton Woomert for 30 years, and now his son Steven.