Last Tabuteau oboist dies
OrchestrasFrom the Curtis archive:
Tuesday brought sad news of the death of Martha Scherer-Alfee (oboe, ’47). Mrs. Scherer-Alfee, pictured below as a student in Rittenhouse Square, 1944, played English horn for 15 seasons with the Buffalo Philharmonic, and afterwards was active with the Detroit Women’s Symphony, American Ballet Company, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Preceded by Wilbur Isaac Hilles (oboe, ’52) on August 3, 2023, and Laila Storch (oboe, ’45) on December 2, 2022, Martha was the last surviving member of the Curtis oboe studio of renowned performer and pedagogue, Marcel Tabuteau. Read more on Scherer-Alfee in this 2011 article here: https://marceltabuteau.com/interviews/print-interviews-musicians-who-interacted/scherer-interview-by-djiovanis/
Marcel Tabuteau was a superb musician and teacher. However, his seniority as principal oboe of the Philadelphia Orchestra meant that John de Lancie could not give the first U.S. performance of Richard Strauss’s oboe concerto — despite the composer’s intention.
Mr. de Lancie had better luck with “L’Horage de Flore” by Jean Francaix, which he commissioned, premiered and recorded.
You mean “L’Horloge de Flore”…