Posted by Richard on March 19, 2001 at 20:10:25:
In Reply to: Tuba players in Vienna Phil posted by Curious... on March 19, 2001 at 18:05:41:
The Vienna Philharmonic played a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall a few weeks ago. The personnel page did not list a tuba player, although a tuba player played as required, obviously an interim until a successor is designated.
The player who passed away on January 2nd was an American from upstate New York named Ron Pisarkiewicz. He was a graduate of Manhattan School of Music and a pupil of Herb Weklselblatt. One of his schoolmates quipped that here he was Ron Pizarkowitz, but when he became the principal tubist of the Vienna Philharmonic, he became Herr Pizarkyevitch. One can depend on the descendents of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to pronounce regional names correctly, and with a name like his, Ron fit right in. He was there for some 20 years, and he more than fit in, he was a key element in the improvement of the VPO low brass.
Before Ron, the tuba players had been mostly products of Viennese schooling. The VPO has been a traditionally closed shop, and as we are occasionally reminded, a "guy thing." Ron was a break in the tradition, and a few other non-Austrians have gained positions elsewhere in the orchestra.
In the '60s, Bob Tucci went to Vienna to study, and lucked into an extraordinary string of subs, including the Solti Ring recordings of Die Walkure, and Gotterdammerung for Decca. It was a fluke for him as well as them, but the recordings document the results. A 6/4 Holton in the VPO. Ron played a Hirsbrunner CC for a lot of the work but NOT a 6/4.
If anyone has more detailed information on Ron and the Viennese scene, pile on.