Jacobs CDs reviewed in Chicago Tribune
Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2007 7:26 am
RECORDINGS
`Portrait of an Artist'; `Legacy of an Artist'
Arnold Jacobs, tuba; various other musicians and Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Summit Records, two separate CDs)
John von Rhein, Tribune Music Critic
Published January 12, 2007
Arnold Jacobs served as principal tuba of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 44 years, retiring in 1988, 10 years before his death. Revered as a peerless artist, inspiring teacher and wise mentor to generations of orchestral wind and brass players, he was an integral part of the special tradition of brass playing that has made the CSO world-famous. Indeed, it is often said that with trumpeter Adolph Herseth on the top and Jacobs at the bottom of the CSO brass choir, its playing could not have been anything less than perfect.
Summit has gathered on a pair of discs a detailed aural biography of Jacobs that pays loving tribute to a great musician of whom conductor Josef Krips once exclaimed, "My God, he plays the tuba like it was a violin!" The tracks include private recordings from Jacobs' home studio and tuba solos from various CSO recordings to chamber and orchestral works that spotlight Jacobs' extraordinary musicianship and virtuosity. These are interspersed with bits of pedagogical and human wisdom Jacobs passed on to his many students. ("Become a singer in your brain" is a typical example.)
Listen to Jacobs playing Richard Strauss' Horn Concerto No. 1 on the tuba, in a live 1962 performance with wind band accompaniment, and you would swear no hornplayer could do it better. Or be astounded by how brilliantly he could articulate the manic Gypsy flourishes of Monti's "Czardas," just like the Heifetzes to whom Krips compared him. The booklets include informative essays; a respectful appreciation by Gene Pokorny, Jacobs' successor at the CSO; encomia by other Chicago musicians; a bibliography and discography. A classy "time capsule" indeed.
I cannot imagine an orchestral musician who will not learn from and be moved by the words and wisdom packed onto these CDs, but there is much here to commend them to ordinary music lovers as well.
(note: these CDs are available from Windsong Press and directly from Summit Records)
`Portrait of an Artist'; `Legacy of an Artist'
Arnold Jacobs, tuba; various other musicians and Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Summit Records, two separate CDs)
John von Rhein, Tribune Music Critic
Published January 12, 2007
Arnold Jacobs served as principal tuba of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 44 years, retiring in 1988, 10 years before his death. Revered as a peerless artist, inspiring teacher and wise mentor to generations of orchestral wind and brass players, he was an integral part of the special tradition of brass playing that has made the CSO world-famous. Indeed, it is often said that with trumpeter Adolph Herseth on the top and Jacobs at the bottom of the CSO brass choir, its playing could not have been anything less than perfect.
Summit has gathered on a pair of discs a detailed aural biography of Jacobs that pays loving tribute to a great musician of whom conductor Josef Krips once exclaimed, "My God, he plays the tuba like it was a violin!" The tracks include private recordings from Jacobs' home studio and tuba solos from various CSO recordings to chamber and orchestral works that spotlight Jacobs' extraordinary musicianship and virtuosity. These are interspersed with bits of pedagogical and human wisdom Jacobs passed on to his many students. ("Become a singer in your brain" is a typical example.)
Listen to Jacobs playing Richard Strauss' Horn Concerto No. 1 on the tuba, in a live 1962 performance with wind band accompaniment, and you would swear no hornplayer could do it better. Or be astounded by how brilliantly he could articulate the manic Gypsy flourishes of Monti's "Czardas," just like the Heifetzes to whom Krips compared him. The booklets include informative essays; a respectful appreciation by Gene Pokorny, Jacobs' successor at the CSO; encomia by other Chicago musicians; a bibliography and discography. A classy "time capsule" indeed.
I cannot imagine an orchestral musician who will not learn from and be moved by the words and wisdom packed onto these CDs, but there is much here to commend them to ordinary music lovers as well.
(note: these CDs are available from Windsong Press and directly from Summit Records)