William Allgood, 1/10/82 Faculty Recital, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo. Works included Le Phenix for four bassoons (Christlieb arrangement), Trio for tenor saxophone, horn, and bassoon by David Amram, Polonaise for bassoon and piano by Ludwig Milde, Pentacycle for bassoon and four- channel tape by William Allgood, and Trio Pathetique for clarinet, bassoon and piano by Mikhail Glinka.
Joyce Kelley, 9/25/82 Carnegie Recital Hall, New York. Works included the Sonata for bassoon and cello by Mozart, Concerto by Hummel, Five Moods (New York premiere) by Arthur R. Kelley, the Sonata by Etler and the Andante and Hungarian Rondo by Weber.
Judith LeClaire, 3/11, 3/12, 3/13, 3/16/82. Solo bassoonist with the New York Philharmonic performed the Concerto in A Minor by Antonio Vivaldi with the orchestra conducted by Raphael Kubelik.
Lewis Lipnick, contrabassoon, in the New York premiere of the Concerto for Contrabassoon and Orchestra (1979) by Gunther Schuller in Alice Tully Hall, accompanied by the American Composers Orchestra with the composer on the podium. (Note: the exact date of this performance in the spring of 1982 is not known to the editor.) In reviewing the work, Theodore Libbey Jr. of the New York Times said:
"For this listener, present at the world premiere in Washington 1979, Wednesday's performance confirmed the extraordinary merits of the four-movement score, beginning with its skillful integration of the contrabassoon into a concerted texture, and extending to its sure handling of form, the brilliance of its orchestration, its memorable imagery and, not least, its humor and animation.
Save for a few unwanted buzzes in the cadenza, Lewis Lipnick, the contrabassoonist of the National Symphony Orchestra at whose behest the work was commissioned, played the solo with commanding virtuosity. His fine legato and sure negotiation of large leaps and rapid passage work, both fluid and tongued, stood out."
Charles Lipp, in April 1982, performed Mauricio Kagel's theatre work Atem under the composer's direction in a concert in Ottawa, Ontario. (Lipp also performed Atem at the IDRS Conference in Los Angeles in 1979.)
Yoshiyuki Nakanishi (London debut) 3/16/82. With the London Mozart Players. Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. Works included: Concerto K. 191 for bassoon and orchestra by W. A. Mozart; Concerto for bassoon, strings, piano and harp by A. Jolivet; Concerto Op. 75 by C. M. von Weber (Stanley Sadie of the Times called the three bassoon concertos in one evening ". . . almost an orgy, indeed practically a repertory . . . and at the end he looked ready to embark on another trilogy ")
Jo Ann Simpson, 1/23/82 in a recital by soloists from the Orquesta Sinfonica Municipal de Caracas, Venezuela. Works included: Trio in Bb for violin, cello and bassoon by F. R. Gebauer, Treizieme Concert for bassoon and cello by F. Couperin, Duetto Concertante for viola and bassoon by M. Spisak, and Suite for bassoon and string quartet by Gordon Jacob.
Daniel Smith, 6/11/82 New York Public Library at Lincoln Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium. Program included: Introduction and Polonaise by J. Demersseman, Romance by Elgar, Variations by Reicha, Duetto by C. Schaffrath, Six Studies in English Folk Songs by Vaughan Williams and the Second Concerto by Mozart (Devienne?)
Richard Spittel, Bassoon and Contrabassoon, 3/14/82 Faculty Recital, Western Maryland College, Westminster. Works included Sonatine pour flute et basson by Pierre Gabaye, the Hungarian Fantasy by von Weber, Three Dances in A minor for piccolo and contrabassoon by Telemann, The Bass Nightingale for solo contrabassoon by Irwin Schulhoff, and Trio for flute, bassoon and piano by Beethoven.
John Steinmetz, California bassoonist, has been active with a number of performances with groups such as the Ragdale Ensemble, a wind piano group that takes its name from the artists colony in Lake Forest, Illinois, where the members gather each year for three weeks of intensive rehearsal and "L'Eau," a consort of low instruments (viola and viola d'amore, bassoon, contrabass, and percussion) playing music" spanning the centuries from the Dark Ages to the current recession." In a recent solo bassoon recital (exact date unknown) at San Diego State University, John, with Bill Moulton, piano, performed works for bassoon and piano from a list that included: Blossom by Amiya Dasgupta, Flower by Bill Douglas, Music for Dr. Who by David Maslanka, Slow Dance on the Circle by David Ocker, Duo, and Melody with Endings by Bill Moulton and Duo and a sonata by John Steinmetz.
Kim Walker, 5/10/82 (London debut) Wigmore Hall. Works included: Suite No 4 in G. minor attributed to J. J. Quantz (ca. 1740); Sonata in C by W. J. Fasch, (realized by Ms. Walker); Sonata in Eb by G. P. Telemann (Realized by Ms. Walker); Sonata for bassoon and cello by Mozart; In Freundschaft (1977) by K. Stockhausen (world premiere of the bassoon version); the Hindemith and Saint-Saëns Sonatas; and "Una Furtiva Lagrima" from L'Elisir d'amore by G. Donizetti. In reviewing the performance in the Manchester Guardian (5/11/82), Merion Brown called Ms. Walker's rendition of the Stockhausen work ". . . a performance of great panache" and a ". . . purposeful realization." Moreover Brown also praised Ms. Walker's overall performance for her "fulsome expressiveness."
In an interesting sidelight to the 1982 Digital re-recording of the original music used in Walt Disney's Fantasia in Hollywood, California, the following oboists and bassoonists participated: Oboe: Gordon Schoneberg, Arnold Koblentz, Earle Dumler, Gordon Pope and Norman Benno (part time); Bassoon: David Breidenthal (Rite of Spring and part time), Jack Marsh, Don Christlieb, and Charles Gould (part time); Contrabassoon: Robert Tricarico and David Riddles.
The recording session consisted of 15 three-hour sessions. There were actually four performers, Don Christlieb and Jack Marsh bassoons, along with violinist George Cast and violist Sven Reher, who participated in both the original 1939 and the 1982 recording sessions. Bravo, Don and Jack!