It was with mixed emotions that I listened to John de Lancie's translation of Maurice Allard's invitation to serve as a judge for this prestigious bassoon contest. I was well aware of the 'guerre' that exists between the totally different systems of the French ' basson' and the German 'fagott' that we favor in the USA. Nevertheless, the thought of a visit to France in May overcame any doubts and I accepted. Several of my students at the New England Conservatory and in Europe had entered the competition and amongst them was Curtis student Richard Ranti, fresh for his success at the auditions of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
We arrived in Toulon, a beautiful Mediterranean naval base, on May 21 with Ranti in tow, as we had joined the Curtis group on tour at Bordeaux. Our first banquet with the local committee was sumptuous but the 'guerre' was mentioned several times in speeches and in the newspapers. The rest of the jury consisted of Yamahata (Tokyo), Birnstingl (Geneva), Oehlberger (Vienna), Delmotte (solo trumpet), Paris Opera (Paris),. Jacques Bondon (Paris) composer of the competition piece, and Maurice Allard, solo bassoon of the Paris Opera as President. Rules were carefully explained and the first round of 36 performed behind a screen so that no one could be identified. Each player was permitted one note to tune with piano to prevent secret signals and all had to play Weber's "Andante and Rondo" and the Bitsch "Partitia."
At a ceremony in the City Hall on the following day the 12 semi-finalist were announced and the others were permitted to ask the jury for a critique of their playing. They could only be identified by numbers, and it was a great surprise to meet them in person. Almost every country in the world was represented with France predominating.
Twelve played in the semi-finals in the open. Bernaud "Hallucination" and St. Saens "Sonata" (2 movements". by secret ballot of points 1-20, 5 finalists were selected. They performed with Toulon Symphony Orchestra the Vivaldi concerto in E Minor and the Bondon "3 Images Concertantes." The tension an excitement in the audience was matched by my own emotions as Ranti advanced through all these stages. He was imperturbable and didn't turn to me for any help after our initial arrival in Toulon. The finalists were two German lads, East and West, two French players and Ranti (Canadian). They were all superb players, and Audin, who won first prize, had been the third place in the Munich contest in 1975. it was no small wonder that he was so excellent after that success 7 years ago. Reinhardt from East Germany who had been in second place in the semi-finals dropped to third before Ranti's rendition of the Bondon Concours piece in which he pleased the composer-judge more than the other contestants. After it was all over the jury learned that Reinhardt and others from the Iron Curtain Countries had access to the Bondon piece only two weeks before the Concours, as the Ministry of Culture in those countries had to examine the music before they could see it! it was decided to vote Reinhardt a gold medal in face of that.
Our Concours was over. Never did we have a more hospitable time with our colleagues and the local committee. We were wined and dined and celebrated Maurice Allard's birthday in style. he reciprocated with a shore dinner that was endless and included his performance of a piece by Yamahata. And in conclusion Roger DelMotte Spoke and said 'la guerre' had not happened - that the most important lesson gained by this first international French Bassoon Concours was that it is not the instrument that is important but rather how one makes music on the instrument. We left Toulon happy and bursting with pride for the achievement of Richard Ranti, a super bassoonist who upheld the Curtis tradition and reputation for excellence.
(Editor's Note: For the final competition at the Toulon International Bassoon Competition there were 67 applicants -- 25 from France and 42 from 16 other countries. Of these 36 performed in the first round - 23 on the German system instrument and 13 on the French. From the 12 semi-finalists the 5 finalists chosen ended up as follows:
Congratulations to these new "stars" of the bassoon world!)