Editors Note: Evelyn Barbirolli is one of the world's leading oboe soloists. She was the featured artist at the Double Reed Society's Toronto meeting in August, 1976. The third volume of her "Oboist's Companion" published by the Oxford University Press has just become available. In the accompanying photo she is seen working with Robert Royse during her visit to the Intertochen Arts Academy - in October of 1976 where she taught a master class with the pupils of Daniel Stolper and gave a recital.
Prague is surely one of the loveliest of cities, and its beauty is little spoilt by the depredations of war or of modern architectural "improvements." It is an endearing city, to which many long to return. Among its inhabitants are many intelligent and deeply artistic men and women who care for and love its treasures. For me there are loyal friends whom it is a joy to see again. This preamble is only to emphasize my own genuine joy in being asked to be a member of the International Jury for the Wind Competition which is organized by the Prague Spring Festival every few years.
On this occasion I was concerned with the Jury adjudicating oboe and clarinet players-- another similar jury was there at the same time to judge the flautists and bassoonists. Both juries were large and representative of many nationalities. Ours consisted of 12 oboists or clarinetists, plus one well known administrator and composer. They came from Czechoslovakia, Russia, East and West Germany, Hungary, Poland, Roumania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, and England.
I often hear uninformed complaints that international competitions are not run fairly and that the results are "rigged" and not genuine. Maybe there have been occasions when this has been so but this was not one of them. In fairness to the Prague administration, I would like to outline briefly the procedures which are designed to make everything as fair as possible.
For the first round only, all competitors play behind a screen, so that one can only hear and not see them. The order of their appearance is decided by a draw the result of which is not known by the jury nor by the performers until both groups are completely segregated from each other. There is no possibility of communication between judges and those to be judged, and the rules to preserve the anonymity are exceedingly strict and rigidly enforced. The portions of the obligatory works to be played are exactly decided: tuning may be done only in one particular way: no word, no cough or sneeze, no scrape of a music stand being moved, NO extraneous sound is permitted on the stage, lest it hint at an identity.
Each member of the jury has a card for marking each player: these cards are collected at the end of each session or part of a session.
At the end of each round (there are three--the first anonymous, the second and the final) the marks are announced, first to the President and to the two Vice Presidents, and shortly after to the whole of the jury. This year our excellent president was the distinguished Czech clarinetist, Milan Etlik. The Vice Presidents (chosen by the Jury) were Ivan Pusechnikov of the USSR and myself, of England. The marks are fully discussed by the whole jury, as are any problems or queries which may arise in connection with them. For all jury meetings, each member has an interpreter so that no misunderstanding could possibly occur. We were all free to comment and invited to voice our opinions. The marks decided the competitor's place in the lists of course, but other matters arose such as the decision whether to allow more players to go through to the next round than the number originally decreed because a greater number received the agreed minimum aggregate of marks. Every point of this kind was discussed fully and fairly. After the jury meetings, the marks are announced to the candidates.
Competitors are housed by the Prague Spring Festival as long as they remain in the running. Once they are eliminated their board and lodging must be their own financial affair if they wish to remain. The age limit is generous, 30 years old, so that many competitors come back to try again. They are of many nationalities, of many different schools of playing and of varying age.
The standard of performance this year was extremely high technically. The obligatory music was exacting--for example the oboists had to play in the first round two movements of the Haydn and two movements of the Martinu Concerti. Almost all the 50 or so competitors played these works very well technically. Unfortunately, the standard of musicality was much lower. Only comparatively few players gave to the listener some real musical pleasure as well as technical proficiency. There seems to be a trend in the young world of music today that technique is all-important. Let us hope that before too long this will change and that the entrants for the Prague and similar competitions will realize that virtuoso technique, while essential to a distinguished player, is but a means to the end of making music, NOT an end in itself.
The Prague competition sets a great challenge. The candidates must deliver three first class performances within a few days. Inevitably, some play better in one round than in another. Indeed, in my personal opinion, one of the 1977 winners played more beautifully in the second round than any other player at any time! One can say therefore that there is an element of luck in producing the best at the most vital time. But the finest players stand out through all the rounds and one can truthfully say that these get to the final. Previous oboe winners have included such players as Lothar Koch, Maurice Bourgue, Andre Lardrot, and a great young oboist Radu Cisu from Roumania of whom I think we should hear much in the future.
This year the winners of the oboe competition were 1st, Jan Adamus of the CSSR, an accomplished player of personality; 2nd, Chanjafi Cinakajev of the USSR who had a flawless technique; and 3rd jointly, were Jurgen Dietze of N D R and Thomas Indermuhle of Switzerland, both oboists of character and musicality in their very different ways.
Unfortunately, due to a late change of date necessitated by repairs to the main concert hall in the building, I was unable to remain for the final of the clarinet competition and I have not yet heard the result. In the preliminary rounds I felt, as I know did most of the jury, that the standard was less high than that of the oboists, and the average performance less musically interesting, though there were some very fine players taking part.
The jury members for this year, as on a previous occasion a few years ago, were extremely conscientious and we worked very hard for long hours daily. But over more than two weeks we became good friends, managing to converse in various languages (mostly good or pidgin German, with some French and English!) The atmosphere was always amicable, and most pleasantly leavened with humour (and in leisure moments by the excellent Czech beer!). Naturally we all had our preferences--for schools of playing, qualities of tone, types of interpretations etc.--but we were all concerned with the justice of the final result and delighted by the generally high standard of performance. We were greatly impressed by, and appreciative of, the most efficient organization of the competition by the marvelously hardworking and ever good-tempered secretariat staff. Our job was simple compared to theirs! All in all, it was a period of good companionship and friendliness, of musical satisfaction and absorbing interest. It was one of those rare times when very hard concentrated work was extremely pleasant and rewarding. All wind players, whether of competing age or older, should be grateful that such competitions as Prague Spring exist, to give young talent a chance to show itself.