They say a teacher's work lives after him, and the legacy of Marcel Tabuteau, first oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1915 to 1953 and longtime master teacher at the Curtis Institute of Music, was demonstrated in a commemorative program at Curtis Sunday. Seven first oboists from major U.S. symphonies, all former Tabuteau students, performed at two concerts.

Films of Tabuteau were also shown, and despite the moving performances by the seven live oboists, the highlight for many was the playing of a Tabuteau recording of Handel's Oboe Concerto in G minor.

"This was not a good recording technicalIy," said John de Lancie, who succeeded his teacher as first oboist of the Philadelphia Orchestra and is now director of the Curtis Institute. "It was before the LP record and in the early days of tape." Nevertheless, it demonstrated the master's unmatched purity of tone and superb smoothness of phrasing.

Robert Bloom, New York oboist, was soloist, with the string orchestra of Curtis students conducted by de Lancie, in the six-minute requiem that he composed in his teacher's memory. It is a somber yet uplifting work.

The Cleveland Orchestra's John Mack displayed variations in tone and a virtuoso technique in five pieces by French composers, with Vladimir Sokoloff, pianist. Boston's Alfred Genovese, with his colleague violist Burton Fine and Sokoloff, played two Loeffler rhapsodies -- the reflective "The Pool" and "The Bagpipe," which conveyed the best bagpipe sound that this listener has ever heard. The New York Philharmonic's Harold Gomberg won an ovation for his playing of the Cimarosa-Benjamin Oboe Concerto.

A room at Curtis was dedicated in Tabuteau's memory by Laila Storch, formerly first oboe of the St. Louis Symphony.

Boris Goldovsky recalled when the Philadelphia Orchestra was in the pit for an uncut "Tristan and Isolde" of nearly seven hours. At its conclusion, Tabuteau emerged from the orchestra pit and asked Goldovsky,"Is Roosevelt still President?"

Members of the audience included a veritable "who's who" of the oboe-playing world. It would be impossible to list them all, but some recognized by this writer included Richard Woodhams, Joseph Robinson and Elaine Douvas (principal oboists of the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Metropolitan Opera respectively); James Gorton and Harold Smoliar of the Pittsburgh Symphony; Vance Reger of the North Carolina School of the Arts; Jan Eberle, now at the University of Akron; Philip West of the Eastman School; Don Hefner, Patricia Grignet Nott, Evelyn McCarty, all distinguished teachers; and IDRS Honorary Member W. Hans Moennig. Others included flutists Julius Baker and John Krell and clarinetist Bernard Portnoy.

Speakers at the dinner following the cocktail reception between concerts held at the elegant Barclay Hotel included de Lancie, Adrian Gnam and Mitchell Miller, all of whom passed along light-hearted Tabuteau reminiscences, supplementing those of Boris Goldovsky and Jorge Bolet which had been part of the formal concerts. For many an emotional high point was the playing of Tabuteau's recorded performance of the Handel "Concerto in G Minor". But surely, at least for the oboists in the audience, hearing these distinguished performances by the leading players of the generation was a unique experience. And though there were sometimes dramatic differences from one performance to the next, the aura of the Tabuteau tradition pervaded them all. John de Lancie deserves every credit for making this event a reality.

D.S.

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