Debussy opera in Paris on 6-valve French Tuba
Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:53 am
Hey everyone.
I'm the tubist in the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique. We're an orchestra conducted by John Eliot Gardiner that performs Classical and Romantic music on historically accurate instruments. For those of you who are interested in historical performance, I'm posting this to let people know about a really exciting project we're doing this month.
For the month of June we are in residency at the Opera Comique in Paris, performing Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande. The work was premiered in the same theatre in 1902. It's the only opera he ever wrote, and is a fantastic piece. If you've never heard it, I highly recommend it. It's like a sort of mixture of Ravel and Wagner.
I'm performing the piece on a fascinating instrument, a 6-valve French tuba in C. It's a real challenge for a number of reasons, but blends very well with the other instruments in the wind and brass sections.
Despite having a room full of odd, old low brass instruments, the French tuba is one I don't own, so I had to try and locate one for the project. I had a very difficult time, so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mark Carter of Mr Tuba (a shop in Wales) for very kindly letting me use one from his personal collection. In addition to his shop, he has a some very interesting instruments in his collection, and I had a great day there exploring some of them.
If anyone is interested in knowing more about the instruments or the project, please post a reply. I'll also be writing an article and submitting it to the usual publications.
Cheers,
Jeff Miller
I'm the tubist in the Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique. We're an orchestra conducted by John Eliot Gardiner that performs Classical and Romantic music on historically accurate instruments. For those of you who are interested in historical performance, I'm posting this to let people know about a really exciting project we're doing this month.
For the month of June we are in residency at the Opera Comique in Paris, performing Debussy's Pelleas et Melisande. The work was premiered in the same theatre in 1902. It's the only opera he ever wrote, and is a fantastic piece. If you've never heard it, I highly recommend it. It's like a sort of mixture of Ravel and Wagner.
I'm performing the piece on a fascinating instrument, a 6-valve French tuba in C. It's a real challenge for a number of reasons, but blends very well with the other instruments in the wind and brass sections.
Despite having a room full of odd, old low brass instruments, the French tuba is one I don't own, so I had to try and locate one for the project. I had a very difficult time, so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Mark Carter of Mr Tuba (a shop in Wales) for very kindly letting me use one from his personal collection. In addition to his shop, he has a some very interesting instruments in his collection, and I had a great day there exploring some of them.
If anyone is interested in knowing more about the instruments or the project, please post a reply. I'll also be writing an article and submitting it to the usual publications.
Cheers,
Jeff Miller