Philadelphia Orchestra Closing Night

phoenix · Post by **phoenix** » Sun May 15, 2005 1:19 am

I was at the Tchaikovsky concert earlier this evening for closing night for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Great concert! They played Tchaik Piano Concerto No. 1 and his 5th Symphony. I happened to notice that Krzywicki was not playing on closing night. There was another guy in his place. I'm just wondering who that other guy was. If any of you were there, please let me know who this guy is! He can really fill up that horn. Possibly one of the finalists/semi-finalists in the audition? Also, what horn was he playing on? I could have sworn it was a 1291 at first, but then i realized it was too big and the slides weren't in the same place as a 1291. This guy was good, and if he's going to be there permanently, it will make these trips to the orchestra even more exciting than they already are.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Mon May 16, 2005 8:47 pm

I was not there, but I believe the tuba player was a sub named Ed Diefus. He would not have been one of the finalists, see viewtopic.php?t=6853
I would have no idea if he auditioned at all.

phoenix · Post by **phoenix** » Tue May 17, 2005 12:02 am

Where is he from? Do you know if he is staying in Philly? And what horn was he using?

rodmathews · Post by **rodmathews** » Tue May 17, 2005 4:04 am

Ed went to Juilliard and Curtis, and currently plays in the Syracuse Symphony. He's a fine player and a heck of a nice guy. I haven't seen him in years, so if you are reading this Ed, howdy from California!

Rod

Steve Marcus · Post by **Steve Marcus** » Tue May 17, 2005 10:45 pm

About 15 years ago, as a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, Ed Diefes was interviewed by Dudley Moore for PBS' "Orchestra!" series of programs with Sir Georg Solti. Moore asked Ed to demonstrate how low he could play. On an F tuba, Ed played down to double pedal F. Trying to figure out how low that was, Moore played the bass notes on a piano and realized that this was the F just below the lowest A on the piano. "Don't ever do that again!" Moore exclaimed. Ed just laughed.

David Zerkel · Post by **David Zerkel** » Wed May 18, 2005 10:28 am

The tubist on the final concert was indeed Ed Diefes. He is currently on tour with the orchestra in Asia. Their tour rep is nuts: Mahler 1, Mahler 5, Mahler 9, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra!

tuba_bloke · Post by **tuba_bloke** » Wed May 18, 2005 10:43 am

Has the winner been anoucned for the recent philly finals???

Dave Roberts · Post by **Dave Roberts** » Sun May 22, 2005 5:15 pm

David Zerkel wrote:The tubist on the final concert was indeed Ed Diefes. He is currently on tour with the orchestra in Asia. Their tour rep is nuts: Mahler 1, Mahler 5, Mahler 9, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra!

Dave...they're also doing Tchaikovsky 5. All of the Mahlers will be recorded during the tour. There's one 2 hour patch session for all three symphonies AFTER the Mahler 9 concert. Talkin' about stressin' out.

Tom Holtz · Post by **Tom Holtz** » Sun May 22, 2005 11:43 pm

phoenix wrote:Where is he from? Do you know if he is staying in Philly? And what horn was he using?

Ed is a stud. He was kicking my butt at Interlochen twenty years ago. I believe he just nabbed the handmade Yorkbrunner that Dave Fedderly had a few months ago at Baltimore Brass. A weapon like that in the hands of a man who knows how to use it--be very afraid. Ed definitely does not suck.