The wicked witch is dead in Mahler 7th

The wicked witch is dead in Mahler 7th

Why Mahler

norman lebrecht

April 09, 2024

A masterclass from Philadelphia Orchestra Principal Timpani Don Liuzzi:

Comments

  • Fred Funk says:

    Keeping the viola players honest….

  • Susan Bradley says:

    “It’s a lotta fun” – that man enjoys his work!

  • Philly Joe says:

    That guy is the greatest!!!

  • Rob says:

    Not to be attempted after a few double vodkas

  • Mark Cogley says:

    “Harlen”? It’s Arlen, Harold Arlen.

  • Shalom Rackovsky says:

    I don’t think there is anyone in orchestras who have more fun than the timpanists. They always look like they’re having a blast!

    • Ari Bocian says:

      Except for Rainer Seegers.

    • Helpsalot says:

      It is a fun gig, except in rehearsal, when you’ve counted 78 measures, are ready to play your part and the conductor goes back to square one, and you have to count it all over again. Unless you know the piece well enough that you can hear when to enter.

  • Rich C. says:

    I guess Timpani players and Double bass players have to keep a spare instrument at home in order to practice. How many other players schlep their instruments home after a concert rather than keep them locked up in the concert hall?

    • Enquiring Mind says:

      I see the musicians of my local top 15 orchestra leaving Symphony Hall after a concert and they are all carrying an instrument. Pssst: they practice, too.

    • Helpsalot says:

      Bassist usually cart their instruments or have a service to cart them to the gig and back. Timpanists have set at home or in a studio that they rent.

  • Philipp Lord Chandos says:

    Reminds me of the “Oh, Du Fröhliche” plagiarism in the final movement of Mahler’s 2nd.

    “Christ ist erschienen, uns zu versühnen.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq81rXbee3o

  • David K. Nelson says:

    Those of us whose symphonic work was/is confined to (mostly) melody instruments (violin, and now and then viola in my case) tend to be unaware and thus potentially unsympathetic to the many things a tympani player must think about (and not least, actually be able to do!) for the preparation for and performance of a major piece such as Mahler 7. This opens the window a bit. And it also put me in mind of the famous (or at least, attributed) quote by Brahms: “I used to think Richard Strauss was the Chief of the Insurrectionists, but now I see it’s Mahler.”

    • Chiminee says:

      If Don had more time I’m sure he would have talked about the timpani’s role in the third movement.

    • Helpsalot says:

      Until the invention of mylar heads, the most difficult part was keeping the drums in tune. Any change in temperature changed the tuning.

  • Anon says:

    Fabulous!

  • zandonai says:

    Amazing agility at his adanced age.

  • Ben G. says:

    Let’s not forget another tid-bit that was also stolen from Mahler’s melodic cave, and made a fortune for those involved working in the mouse industry.

    “Alan Menken’s song “Be Our Guest” from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast sounds familiar to a theme from the first movement of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3”.

    Here is a comparitive video:

    https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&q=be+my+guest+mahler#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:e18e8264,vid:ianiq1274EA,st:0

    • Kyle says:

      Not to mention the setting of the words “Beauty and the Beast” coming from the Pathétique sonata (the last movement coda in particular).

  • microview says:

    The LSO’s Kurt Hans Goedicke was a very suave former principal. (You can see him talking Star Wars at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABHokxGFPRc.)

  • Fanofinstruments says:

    I enjoy all the instruments like timpanis and also flutes and bassoons, they are all good and sound good when they play. My favorite is the English french horn cause it sounds so good.

  • Fenway says:

    Don,

    This is how the opening of the Rondo is done:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCwSbAjp_dw

    Ray Curfs is the best timpanist on the planet. He was Abbado’s timpanist of choice.

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