Mahler 7 CSO on PBS

TupeloCOTA · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 6:42 pm Post subject: Mahler 7 CSO on PBS

Just caught the CSO playing Mahler 7 on PBS. Great concert. John Hagstrom had his name painted on his mute with whiteout, those plastic Bach straight mutes must be really valuable

JohnHagstrom · Regular Member Joined: 22 Nov 2003 Posts: 27

Actually, the old Bach straight mutes made of softer rubber (and not the newer hard plastic) are very hard to find, but they work really well. And, I bet someone while the program was going on that within a half hour someone on Trumpetherald would write about that.... so thanks!

On a more serious note, it was on only eight days notice that the program was switched to the Mahler 7th for this broadcast taping. Not so easy, and I was honored to play with such conscientious and focused colleagues, especially Chris Martin. It also brings back memories of playing this same piece about 4 hours after the 9/11 attack (6 hour time difference) when the CSO was in Lucerne in 2001. Craig Morris also gave a brilliant performance that day under the most stressful conditions.

John Hagstrom

TupeloCOTA · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 7:13 pm Post subject:

Thanks for a wonderful performance. I really like that they did a great job of highlighting all of the sections throughout the concert.

Bravo.

scott1860 · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 7:22 pm Post subject:

Just caught the performance. I haven't had a chance to hear the CSO live in forever. I forgot how aggressive that orchestra plays. Boulez looked old but I thought his interpretation was very exciting. I know everybody has an opinion about everything and I celebrate that but without speaking in superlatives, this performance was wonderful. Bravo.

-scott
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-scott

trumpetdon · Veteran Member Joined: 28 Sep 2003 Posts: 361

Shoot, I missed the broadcast. But good news, I see that WTTW-11 in Chicago is rebroadcasting it the next few days, Friday at 2:30 am, and Sunday at 11:00 am.

Derek Reaban · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2010 9:32 pm Post subject:

That was awesome! Marvelous playing and really enjoyable camera work. Bravo!
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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Winds / Symphony of the Southwest

Blutch · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 4:26 am Post subject:

Inspiring performance John. I grinned ear-to-ear through the entire last movement. You and Chris and John sound so great together. Congrats!
Michael

ertatta · Heavyweight Member Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 856

wondering also what gold plated Bb tage switched to for a brief passage in the finale? thanku john for the wonderful mention of the performance on 9/11 with craig! btw, looked like a toddler had chicken scratched "HAGSTROM" on that old straight.

MrClean · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 6:40 am Post subject:

Fantastic playing throughout. The orchestra sounds amazing, especially when you consider the circumstances. It seemed to me at least that Boulez wasn't always sure of what he wanted to do from one page to the next (it is a very difficult piece to get a handle on as a conductor) but that the orchestra held it together. A lot of other bands would have had problems at each of those "moments".

John, I remember those Bach mutes. Phil Collins had a white one. I'd love to find one because they are great - much better than the brittle plastic ones they currently make.

Well done!

Jim

After watching some of it again, I think it was the tempos Boulez chose that threw me a bit, particularly in the first movement. They seemed, um, "patient". He also looked like he was a bit buried in the score. He is a great musician, though - a real pleasure to work with.

Seriously, this is what an orchestra sounds like when everyone is on the same page and really cares.
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Jim Wilt
LA Philharmonic
Colburn School

moose1252 · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 4:21 pm Post subject:

Mr. Larsen was playing on a gold plated Schagerl Bb to crank out those F's.

MrClean · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 4:23 pm Post subject:

I_play_trmpt · Posted: Thu Oct 28, 2010 5:18 pm Post subject:

In case you missed it...

http://video.pbs.org/video/1626498784/

abontrumpet · Heavyweight Member Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 1784

moose1252 · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:26 am Post subject:

Mr. Clean,

I believe it is a Bach Malone Conversion. Most likely a 229 with a raw brass reverse leadpipe. It also appears that he has the Ridenour Tweeqers on the port, or elbow of the main tuning slide. It looks like Hagstrom has them too.
Mr. Martin also played a G trumpet for one of the more lyrical excerpts in the final movement.

MrClean · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:20 am Post subject:

I looked a bit more closely and you're probably right.
_________________
Jim Wilt
LA Philharmonic
Colburn School

moose1252 · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:34 am Post subject:

Yes, I was told that Mr. Martin played Bud's old horn for the majority of last year. Serial #13959. Mr. Winans told me that he did some work on that horn in addition to the other horns that belong to the CSO from the Bud era. (#13960...etc.)
I was told that Mr. Martin and Mr. Hagstrom did not like the size of the receiver from the older horns and that they wanted something smaller, but of course wanted to keep the "historical" horns in their proper state, so they play the Yamaha's or the Bach Malone Conversions to get the size of receiver that produces the feel and sound that they're looking for

Jerry · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 9:58 am Post subject:

Does this mean that Mr. Hagstrom is not playing a Yamaha Chicago C?

moose1252 · Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:02 am Post subject:

I'm fairly certain that he does play the Yamaha Artist Model Chicago C on the majority of the concerts, including the Mahler 7 that you can watch on PBS.

Adam West · Veteran Member Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 416

Mr. Martin seemed to be playing a Bach mouthpiece instead of his GR. Any ideas what it was?

btw, spectacular playing!

JohnHagstrom · Regular Member Joined: 22 Nov 2003 Posts: 27

"I was told..." is never a good preface for posting information in a public forum.

I was there. We all played our Yamaha C trumpets. No Tweekers. No "Bud horn". No Malone conversions. And, Chris did not play Bud's horn for most of last season as "reported". He played the horn you see on the broadcast. I picked up my Yamaha Chicago Bb for several passages that go down to concert Eb's and E's in the second and fifth movements respectively. Tage was testing a Bb for Shagerl that he played on some other low passages. Chris played his Yamaha G trumpet for the soft high solo in the last movement. Chris also played a Bach 1 1/2B mouthpiece into which I cut the backbore/throat. I played on the "John Hagstrom" model stock mouthpiece made by Yamaha.

We do experiment from time to time with various trumpets (or trumpet components) that may or may not lead to changes in how the trumpets are manufactured; or leading to plans for models that may or may not be publicly available in the future. An orchestra is the very best testing ground for evaluating how an instrument fits into the combined sounds of strings, woodwinds, and other brass in a large acoustic. What seems like the "best horn ever" in a shop (or at home) often fails in some significant ways that are much easier to detect in the context of playing it in the orchestra.

Thanks to all for taking the time to take a look at this broadcast. Thanks also for the positive comments. This program was produced by PBS and they created the final audio "mix" that, for the sake of television audio, significantly magnified or diminished the relative presence of each instrumental section, depending on the musical moment. Many vintage CSO recordings (especially on the London Decca and DG labels) were also produced in this way. It is tempting for listeners to feel like they know what the CSO "really" sounds like (or sounded like) because they have listened to many recordings. However, every sonic capture of an orchestra is just as much of a "performance" of the sound engineers' choices, which may or may not reflect the sound of the group in a concert hall. Furthermore, every concert hall (or concert hall renovation) dramatically colors the listeners' perceptions for what the color balance and overall impact of a group seems to be.

One specific example of that involving Mahler 7 comes from the last time we played in Symphony Hall in Boston. Mahler 7 was the only piece on the program, and accompanying the CSO on tour was a patron's tour made up of many long time listeners. The hall in Boston is extremely responsive and reverberant, and as a result the CSO sounded much more intense to those who were used to hearing it in Chicago's Orchestra Hall (as it currently exists acoustically). After the concert several of these individuals remarked to a few of the players, "That was amazing--why don't you play like that in Chicago?"

A few of us answered together, "we do".

Best regards,

John Hagstrom