Concertgebouw mourns principal oboe, 82
RIPThe Dutch oboist and activist Werner Herbers has died after a lengthy illness.
He was principal oboe from 1970 of the Netherlands Radio Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic and, from 1970, of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam.
In 1990 he founded the Ebony Band to revive music by composers banned under the Nazis and forgotten ever since. They made 20 recordings and Herbers amassed an archive of 600 pieces by 150 composers, which he donated to the National Music Institute in The Hague.
He was not simultaneously principal of multiple orchestras. The RCO gig started in 1970; the others were before that.
So many Philips great records at this period…
typo, apparently
A real loss. Herbers was a great musician and he performed indeed music that “others” did not play.
Personally, I have very fond memories of a hommage to Darius Milhaud .
I would like to know if he played with Edo de Waart who was also oboe at the RCO.
I think de Waart’s brief tenure was during Han de Vries’ time. He won a major conducting competition shortly after gaining his Concertgebow post and left to focus on his successful conducting career.
Did he play in the Netherlands Wind Ensemble directed by Edo de Waart?
Yes, he is listed as the principal oboe on the majority of their recordings with de Waart.