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Scooby Tuba wrote:Thought this review from 28 June 1954 was interesting...

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The quote from the London Times is telling:

The tone . . . was sufficiently rich and warm to fire any composer's imagination, but [Catelinet] did not suggest that the tuba can do much in the way of varied phrasing or dynamic nuance to repay promotion to a solo status.

I have a recording that Catelinet made the following day, with RVW in attendance. Without the excuse of the mixed-up program, most of the reported description still applies, including the bit about the first-movement cadenza being a bit too intricate for the tuba. It was a bit too intricate for Catelinet, perhaps, especially in those early years. Bell did better on short notice a year later, and the following decade put that assessment to rest once and for all.

Rick "thinking Vaughan Williams needed a John Fletcher for his premiere" Denney

Thanks for posting this bit of history!

Have you seen anything like it concerning the Hindemith premiere?