Day 044: My new horn teacher–Professor Gabler
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
44 — My new horn teacher—Professor Gabler
15-September-1971
(Wed.)
TRANSCRIPT
In morning, I went to the Volksoper to see Professor
Gabler [my new horn teacher]. For a few minutes, I
played, and he told me a few things—I will have to
really try to straighten (literally) my embouchure
out.
Then went and sat in the [orchestra] pit of the
rehearsal for ”Der Wildschutz”—a rehearsal for the
whole opera. It was very interesting. I would watch
the conductor, the other musicians, and the singers.
The best thing is that musicians are the same
everywhere. Horn players, I guess, must have it built
in to talk with each other, etc. (exactly like I
would do in orchestra in school).
That night’s performance of “Lucia di Lammermoor”
[Donizetti] was very good. Some very good
singers—good horn parts.
I am beginning to really enjoy opera, and I’ll try to
go as much as possible.
REFLECTIONS
My
new horn teacher. Yes! I
finally get to meet my new horn teacher, Professor
Gabler. He is a truly nice man and a great horn
player. As I mentioned earlier, I learn today that he
is the first horn in the Volksoper.
I play for him and he comments. As you know, I am
totally convinced that I need to change my embouchure
(lip position) to become better. I am not that bad of
a horn player but not as good as others. If you want
to be a pro in the top orchestras, you can
never
make a
mistake. And I make a few mistakes when I play,
especially on very high parts. So, I am ready to
begin my journey on playing the horn.
In
the pits. I actually
met Professor Gabler at the Volksoper. After our
meeting, I am suddenly sitting next to him in the
orchestra pit for a rehearsal of the German comic
opera, Der
Wildschutz [The Voice
of Nature] (1842) by Albert Lortzing [Opera 02]. How
cool is that! I’m getting to see first hand what a
professional horn player does at a rehearsal for a
professional opera house. Ok, they talk a bit. It was
great. At Montclair State College, I played in plenty
of orchestra pits myself for theater presentations
and musicals, and on-stage for many other concerts.
That was college—this is pro. Just like being in the
pit of the Metropolitan Opera.
That was a great experience. It was very kind of him
to give me that opportunity. Thanks, Professor
Gabler. [I am now using some last names in the blog.]
Opera—
Lucia di Lammermoor.
At night,
I’m at the Volksoper again, at a performance of the
Italian opera, Lucia
de Lammermoor (1835) by
Donizetti [Opera 03]. I’m learning to enjoy opera,
and hope that I’ll go more often.
Here are two Wikipedia articles on these operas.
Der Wildschütz: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_Wildschütz
Lucia di Lammermoor:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucia_di_Lammermoor
Isn’t Vienna great? The city of music.
John
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