What's the best complement you've ever had ?

[Slamson]

Depending upon your point of view, this “compliment” may be found a bit risqué…
I was playing in an orchestra doing the Four Sea Interludes from Britten’s “Peter Grimes”. “Dawn” has the distinction, as I recall, of being a part that never goes as high as the bottom of the bass staff… a real load of ledger lines.

At the break, one of the cellists, who was what some gentlemen would call a “lovely young lady” came up to me and said “I just love listening to you play that part on ‘Peter Grimes’! You know, all those low notes? They seemed to vibrate right up my cello peg and go right between my legs!”

Being a gentleman, and being recently married at the time, I thanked her politely and went outside and dove in a snowbank.


Was this a compliment? I played for Arnold Jacobs at one of the first TUBA Symposiums, where he said “You play beautifully! Such expression, and wonderful phrasing!” Then he lowered his voice (in pitch as well as volume), and said “but nobody can hear you.”
Ouch. In 30 seconds I had just learned what I had been doing wrong for four years. That “compliment” probably changed my playing more than my entire undergraduate career.


I guess my favorite compliment was given to me by some guy who was running a TV camera at a live broadcast of a concert. His station was right behind me, and during rehearsal we’d spent a lot of our idle time chatting, joking around, etc.
At the gig I was warming up on stage, doing the usual long tones, a little Bordogni maybe, and I often play show tunes or other popular songs from the 30s and 40s. (The conductor wouldn't let us practice licks from the concert on stage). The camera guy leaned down behind my shoulder and said “Man, you are the Robert Goulet of the Tuba!”

And now for a medley of tunes from “Camelot”….